Content area
Full text
1. Introduction
Augmented reality (AR) has become a central part of online retailing’s repertoire, promising an evolution for e-commerce. AR technology integrates the real world with the virtual (computer-generated) objects that appear to co-exist in the same space as the real world (Kowalczuk et al., 2021). The global AR market is expected to maintain an average market growth of 46.3% from 2020 to 2026, meaning that the market size will reach $89bn in 2026 (KBV, 2021). Moreover, it is estimated that 20% of e-commerce sales will be generated from AR retailing within 5 years (Thinkmobiles, 2021). Hence, e-commerce giants (such as Amazon and Alibaba) have incorporated AR technology into their marketing strategies. By integrating AR technology into online shopping channels, consumers can online experience products themselves in real-time or in their immediate real surroundings (Smink et al., 2020). The application of AR in online retailing helps customers gain a better understanding of product information in a specific setting. Therefore, consumers are 90% more likely to buy a product if they see it with AR content, indicating a high conversion rate (Motti, 2021). Moreover, AR retailing addresses the achievement of organizational goals and offers opportunities to explore how consumers process product information in a novel field (Sun et al., 2022).
Through consolidating reality and virtuality, AR establishes a highly informed shopping scenario. For example, accurate product information can be obtained since virtual products can be presented as real and seamlessly integrated into the actual physical environment. Moreover, functions such as zoom, rotation and movement allow users to view products in more detail (Kowalczuk et al., 2021). Product information can be presented in a variety of information formats, such as images, videos and animations, allowing consumers to obtain multiple informational cues about the products (Barhorst et al., 2021). These additional informational cues will enhance consumers' understanding of the advantages of AR retailing, attract consumers to the novel effects of AR and bring consumers to light the quality of augmentation (Javornik et al., 2021). As a result, their positive perceptions toward products and AR retailing will further result in consumers’ purchase and continuance intention in AR retailing (Chiu et al., 2021; Qin et al., 2021a; Whang et al., 2021)....