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How Augmented Reality Affects People’s Perceptions: Adoption of AR in

Product Display Improves Consumers’ Product Attitude
To cite this article: Dong Sun et al 2019 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1288 012037

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

How Augmented Reality Affects People’s Perceptions:

Adoption of AR in Product Display Improves Consumers’
Product Attitude

Dong Sun1, Lan Xu1, Lei Zhang1 and Nan Cui1

1
Department of Marketing and Tourism Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan,
China

Abstract. Augmented reality has emerged as a novel communication tool which adds virtual
computer-generated information to viewers’ real life. Although a wealth of research has
investigated the effect of AR technology on consumers’ attitude, little is known about the
underlying mechanism of how it influences consumers’ attitude. The purpose of this paper is to
address the problem. Two experiments were performed to test the effect of AR based product
display on consumer’s attitude and the underlying mechanism of the effect. Specifically, in
Experiment 1, the authors presented a bottle to 92 participants (43 women, 39 men, mean age =
25.78) via three different methods: AR based display, non-AR based display without background,
and non-AR based display with a background to verify the main effect. Additionally, another 100
volunteers (65 women, 35 men, mean age = 24.16) participated in Experiment 2 to verify the
mediating effect. The results have demonstrated that the effect of AR based display on
consumers’ product attitude is mediated by Self-referencing reality simulation. The current
research suggests that managers should develop and adopt AR technology in their product
display which can improve consumers’ product attitude.

1. Introduction
In recent years, many companies such as Nike, Ikea, Google and Nintendo have been adopting AR
technology in developing interactive games, designing an advertisement and enhancing consuming
experience. Through AR technology, companies allow consumers to view virtual objects superimposing
onto their real world without placing the objects physically in front of them (Yim et al., 2017). In many
cases, consumers view virtually displayed objects by scanning an icon on the package of products. For
example, customers can scan the logo of Starbucks by their smart devices to learn brand stories which
are displayed as a virtual form. In addition, marketers have also tried to represent products in a virtual
format, such as Ikea produced the virtual furniture which customers can move on the screen of their
mobile devices to anywhere they want rather than arranging them physically. So far, various forms of
AR have been used in people’s daily life to assist viewers to understand products (Scholz and Smith,
2016).
While prior research has extensively examined consumers’ responses to characteristics of AR
technology such as interactivity (Yim et al., 2017), vividness (Schlosser, 2006), playfulness (Huang and
Liu, 2013), little is known about the mechanism of how consumers view and perceive a virtual object
overlaying upon the real world and how the new form of product display method affects viewers’
attitude toward the object. Existing literature revealed that people extend the real self to the virtual
images or avatars in virtual spaces (Belk,2014; Jung and Pawlowski,2014). However, little research has
investigated how the virtual products or images connect to the self in real spaces and how this
connection between the virtual product and the self affects the product attitude. We attempt to address
the three research questions in this study: (1) how does AR based display, a novel presentation form
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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

affects viewers’ attitude toward the product, (2) what is the underlying mechanism of the effect; and.
To address these issues, we firstly review the previous research of AR technology adoption in the
field of marketing which helps to understand the core features and advantages of AR based display
comparing to traditional displays. Due to its supposition of virtual images upon the real world, AR based
display augments the consumers’ personal experience and enhance their product attitude. Different from
other traditional displays, the increased persuasion effect may result from a unique and personal
simulation experience consumer generate in the use of AR. Based on the self-reference literature, we
then investigate the mediating effect of self-referencing reality simulation, mental imagery of how the
self-processing and consuming the product in the physical environment, on the increased persuasion
effect. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

2. Ar Based Product Display in Marketing

AR is defined as “a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment that has been
enhanced/augmented by adding virtual computer-generated information to it “(Carmigniani et al, 2011).
AR technology is increasingly adopted by marketers as a tool of product display. For instance, in the
virtual fitting rooms, the screen with AR displays both the clothing items and images of the consumers
wearing them in their surroundings; with AR apps on smart devices, products can be displayed as if they
were situated in the real environment where the consumer is; through scanning a QR code that
transforms into at an AR based display, tourists can be presented with historic buildings or events on the
scene.
In terms of media communication, interactivity is considered as one of the crucial characteristics of
AR technology. AR based product display enables consumers to engage in computer-mediated
communication and interact with the interface, which increase perceived interactivity. Research has
examined that perceived interactivity can further impact satisfaction, immersion, attitude of consumer
(Gao et al., 2009; Hoffman & Novak, 2009; Song & Zinkhan, 2008).
Although AR is one of the interactive technologies, some research on AR identified other
characteristics such as virtuality (Blascovich and Bailcnson, 2011), mobility (Vardarajan et al., 2010),
synchronization (Huang and Liao, 2015), location-specificity (Vardarajan et al., 2010). Huang and Liao
(2015) concluded that, unlike virtual reality (VR), where the user is completely immersed in a virtual
environment, AR allows the user to interact with the virtual images using real objects in a seamless way.
In this way, AR based display aligns real and virtual objects with each other in real time, which offers
consumers both utilitarian and hedonic values and thus may enhance consumers’ attitudes towards the
product displayed (Fiore et.al, 22).
Augmentation is further proposed by Javornik (2016) as a unique media feature that emphasizes the
AR display can augment or superimpose the surrounding space with virtual elements in real time. The
concept highlights the perception of the augmented physical environment which AR based display
creates through synchronizing virtual product image with specific place consumers located and even
updating the information with the movement of consumers. Javornik (2016) found that AR features had
no significant effect on perceived interactivity, while perceived augmentation was the most salient
characteristic of AR applications which impacts people’s affective responses, cognitive responses and
behavioral intention.
In sum, when AR is employed to be as a unique communication tool for product display, it enables
consumers to experience a product virtually in a specific context. This will increase consumers’ product
attitude since the AR based product display helps to reveal more product attributes and produce more
experiential value than traditional online product displays in the form of picture and text (Li et al, 2001).
H1: In comparison to a non-AR based product display, AR based product display enhances the
consumers’ product attitude.

3. The Mediating Effect of Self-referencing Reality Simulation

Although AR is regarded as a unique tool for mediated communication, little research has investigated
the mechanism of how it influences consumers’ attitude. From the perspective of media characteristics,
Javornik (2016) proposed that flow experience mediates the effect of perceived augmentation resulting
from the AR apps on consumer affective, cognitive and behavioral response towards the brand. However,

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

flow experience also mediates the effects of other media characteristics such as telepresence, vividness,
and interactivity on consumers’ product attitude. It may not reflect the essence of the ways in which AR
based display affects consumer response.
Due to superimposing virtual product upon the real world, the AR based display creates an
interactive simulation experience that helps people rehearse a consumption scene. Based on Fogg’s
(2003) points of view, Huang and Hsu (2013) distinguished three types of simulative experience--object
simulation, environment simulation, and cause and effect simulation--formed by AR technology. In
essence, the three types of simulation experience cannot be separated from each other. They put together
to form the entire experience of simulation: object, environment and the causal relationship between the
object and environment. However, this still cannot identify the profoundly different nature of AR based
display in relative to other interactive technology. For example, consumers watching a commercial
advertisement can also gain access to the three types of simulation experience.
The simulative experience created by AR based display, by its very nature, implies mental imagery of
how the self-interacting with the product in the real-life scenarios, which is referred to self-referencing
reality simulation. For example, AR apps with smartphone render consumers to view a virtual product in
their real environment such as home or office. The familiar life scenario provides diverse cues that
enable consumers to visualize themselves in the specific context for product use.
The self-reference literature has argued that people show more recall, evaluation and liking of
self-related objects than the objects that are not associated with the self. The reason that the use of self as
a positive source to generate changes in attitude toward an object is people transfer their liking from the
self to an object that is in conjunction with the self. For example, consumers perceive a product in the
store as more desirable and attractive when the product (such as taste or smell) evokes the personal
moments in consumers’ memory and becomes part of their personal stories (Ardelet et al., 2015; Kleine
et al.,1995).
Given that augmentation (superimposition of the real environment with virtual elements in real time)
is the most unique feature of AR technology, self-referencing reality simulation may account for the
effect of AR based display on consumers’ product attitude. First, AR based display is able to
simultaneously reflects the movement of the product on the screen when consumers’ finger moves the
product, providing a precise response to consumers in real time. This increases consumers’ behavioral
control and makes them feel like an actor rather than an observer in the simulation of product use.
Second, AR based display simulates the product interacting with the physical environment in which
consumers are living, allowing consumers to take a first-person perspective to visualize how it would be
if they consumed the product in their real life. This activates a self-centric mental simulation of product
use. Third, AR based display connects the product with consumers’ real life, prompting consumers to
generate self-related product stories. In the self-related product stories, consumers match the product
displayed with episodes recollected from their life history to comprehend new information (Ardelet et
al., 2015).
According to the self-reference literature, the effect of AR-based display on product attitude results
from consumers’ imagery of real-world scenarios, in which the positivity from the sense of self (evoked
by the real environment) is transferred to the product connected to the scenarios. Thus, we proposed that,
H2: Self-referencing reality simulation mediates the effect of AR based product display (versus non
AR based product display) on the consumers’ product attitude.

4. Experiment
Three different lab experiments were conducted to examine the positive effect of AR based product
display on consumers’ product attitude. In our experiments, we asked participants to report their attitude
toward the product displayed on the screen of smart devices. In experiment 1, we explored whether AR
based product display can induce a more positive attitude. To examine the underlying mechanism of the
effect, participants in experiment 2 were required to report whether they felt linking with the displayed
product.

4.1. Experiment 1
Experiment 1 aimed at testing whether AR based product display triggered a more positive attitude

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

toward the product than non-AR based product display. All participants in this experiment were
requested to evaluate a nice white bottle and reported their attitude toward it. In addition to AR based
display group, we also set two different non-AR based display conditions as control groups: a picture of
the product without any background and a picture with background. Also, AR based display group was
set for participants to report their attitude toward the bottle. See Appendix for an example of AR and
non-AR based display groups.

4.1.1. Method and procedure. Ninety-two volunteers (53 women, 39 men, mean age = 25.78)
participated in this experiment. Upon arrival at the lab, all the participants were randomly assigned to
the three different conditions, and they were told that the experiment was interested in collecting
consumers’ evaluation for a newly designed bottle. In the AR based display condition, participants were
asked to use their phone to download an AR application which could display the bottle in a virtual form.
And participants in each of the two-picture display group were presented with three pictures of the bottle
from different angles.
Next, all participants were requested to read a general description of the bottle and complete the
following questionnaire. After that, participants need to report their attitude toward the bottle along with
four semantic differential items (bad-good, dislike-like, unfavorable-favorable, and
unappealing-appealing), and all the items were on 7-point scales. The attractiveness of the display
method was assessed as a control variable by asking whether they felt the display method was attractive
(1 = Not at all, 7 = completely). As an additional control, participants also need to report the extent to
which they felt happy and arousal (1 = Not at all, 7 = completely).
At the end of the experiment, participants reported demographic information, such as age and gender.
Then they were thanked, and no one guessed the purpose of the experiment correctly.

4.1.2. Results. Results showed that participants reported no differences in emotional (MAR = 5.29,
MWithout B = 5.26, Mwith B = 5.10, F(2, 89) = 0.224, P=0.800) and arousal state (MAR = 5.32, MWithout B = 5.16,
Mwith B = 5.33, F(2, 89) = 0.220, P=0.803). Also, participants in AR condition did not report higher or
lower interested in AR based display than participants in the two non-AR condition (MAR = 5.74, MWithout
B = 5.48, Mwith B = 5.37, F(2, 89) = 0.610, P=0.545). However, participants in AR condition reported
more positive attitude toward the bottle than participants in control conditions (MAR = 5.46, MWithout B =
4.24, Mwith B = 4.38, F(2, 89) = 6.69, P < 0.01), see figure 1.
Therefore, although AR based product display improved participants’ product attitude, it did not
affect emotional and arousal state and their interested in the display method.
8
5.46
6 4.24 4.38
4
2
0
AR Background No
background

Product Attitude

Figure 1. Product attitude of the participants in Experiment 1

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

4.1.3. Discussion. As expect, Experiment 1 showed that different product display could impact people’s
attitude toward the displayed object. If a product was displayed via AR technology, it would induce
more positive attitude from consumers. However, one limitation of the findings in this experiment was
that the participants in AR condition downloaded the AR app and viewed the displayed product via their
own phone, which created a connection between the displayed product and viewers. The other limitation
is that although we had examined the effect of AR technology on consumers’ attitude, we did not verify
the underlying mechanism of this effect. In experiment 2, AR devices were provided for all participants
to avoid utilizing personal phone. More importantly, the mediated effect of Self-referencing reality
simulation would be examined.

4.2. Experiment 2
The goals of Experiment 2 were to replicate and substantiate the results of Experiment 1 by using a
different object and test underlying mechanism of the effect. In this experiment, all participants were
requested to report their attitude toward a wastebasket.

4.2.1. Method and Procedure. One hundred volunteers (65 women, 35 men, mean age = 24.16)
participated in this experiment. Like experiment 1, all participants were randomly assigned to three
different conditions: AR, non-AR based product display with background, and non-AR based product
display without background. The only difference was that a smart phone has been pre-placed on each
table. All participants were requested to unlock the phone and reported their attitude toward the
wastebasket which was displayed on the phone screen. In AR condition, participants need to view an AR
based wastebasket via AR app as same as experiment 1. To control the effect of difference between
smart phone and pictures, the images of wastebasket were shown on smart phone as well. In addition, a
general description of the wastebasket was provided for all participants.
After reading the description, participants were asked to complete the following questionnaire. Like
experiment 1, participants need to report their attitude toward wastebasket along four semantic
differential items (bad-good, dislike-like, unfavorable-favorable, and unappealing-appealing) on 7-point
scales. In addition to this, Self-referencing reality simulation that participants felt to the product was
measured by rating the extent to which they agreed with three statements (e.g. “I feel attached to
wastebasket.”) on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Also, all participants were
told to report how much interest they held in display method and their emotional and arousal state.
At the end of the experiment, the participants reported demographic information, such as age and
gender. Then they were thanked, and no one guessed the purpose of the experiment correctly.

4.2.2. Results. The participants reported more positive attitude toward AR displayed wastebasket than
non-AR based product display method (MAR = 5.43, MWithout B = 4.32, Mwith B = 4.21, F(2, 97) = 12.42,
P<0.001), implying that adopting AR technology in displaying product results more positive attitude
rather than traditional method, see figure 2. We observed no difference based on display method on
emotional (MAR = 5.30, MWithout B = 5.38, Mwith B = 5.24, F(2, 97) = 0.12, P=0.890) and arousal state (MAR
= 4.97, MWithout B = 4.68, Mwith B = 4.45, F(2, 97) = 1.32, P=0.273). And the participants reported no
difference on their interested to the method (MAR = 5.61, MWithout B = 5.24, Mwith B = 5.15, F(2, 97) = 1.17,
P=0.314). Therefore, although AR based product display induced more positive attitude toward the
produce, it did not affect participants’ emotional and arousal state, as well as their interested to the
product.
In order to test our hypothesis that Self-referencing reality would mediate effects of AR based
product display on people’s attitude toward product, we followed Hayes and Preacher’s (2012),
mediation script to calculate direct and indirect effects. Bootstrap results showed that Self-referencing
reality simulation fully mediate the AR’s effect on product attitude (indirect effect = -0.2638, 95%
confidence interval: -0.45, -0.11), and the direct effect of AR based product display on product attitude
was no longer significant (direct effect = 0.2138 CI: -0.45, -0.11).
The present results indicated that the effect of AR based product display on product attitude was
mediated by Self-referencing reality simulation which supported our hypothesis.

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8
5.43
6 4.32
4.21
4
2
0
AR Background No
background

Product Attitude

Figure 2. Product attitude of the participants in Experiment 2

4.2.3. Discussion. As expected, Experiment 2 has examined that AR technology bridged the connection
between consumers and product which affected consumers’ attitude toward the product. Moreover, in
this experiment, we have controlled the effect of holding a personal smart phone by providing a smart
phone for each participant to view the AR and non-AR based product display.

5. Conclusion

5.1. Theoretical Contribution

The primary goal of this study was to explore the impact of adopting technology in marketing on
consumers and how this effect could be strengthened or eliminated. Therefore, the current study
reviewed previous research on AR technology, self-reference and perceived objectivity, which offered
support for our hypotheses. Then, three laboratory experiments were conducted to verify these
hypotheses. Specifically, we had examined the positive effect of AR technology on consumer attitude
toward the displayed product (Experiment 1 and 2). Further, the mediated (Experiment 2) effects had
been examined. Overall, three key contributions can be derived from our study.
The first finding concerns the underlying mechanism of the effect which contributes to the literature
on self-referencing. AR technology bridges the gap between virtual products and real life, and it also
links the target products to consumers (Azuma 1997; Verhagen et al. 2014), which generates more
self-reference in judging the products. In addition, AR technology can also create the connection
between target products and consumers. And self-referencing is one of the most important factors that
influencing people’s attitude (Gawronski, Bodenhausen &Becker, 2006; Ardelet, Slavich & Kerviler,
2015; Fennis & Wiebenga, 2017). As results of these, consumers report more positive attitude toward
the AR displayed products.
Second, our finding also has important implications for the effect of high technology on consumer
behaviors. We find that adoption of AR technology on product display could positively affect consumers’
attitude towards displaying product. Currently, limited research has focus on the effect of high
technology on consumer behaviors, this study adds to the literature on consumers’ attitude in the context
of high technology.

5.2. Practical Meaning

The current research suggests that managers should develop and adopt AR technology in their product
display. Although the development of AR application costs much currently, it still worthy for attracting
consumers and improving their product attitude. With the help of AR technology, products could be
displayed in consumers’ real life which link both products and brands with consumers.

5.3. Limitations and Future Research

Nevertheless, there are still several limitations of current research. Due to the limitation of the laboratory,
all target virtual products must be the common items placed on the desk, such as a lamp. Displaying
furniture or a car on the desk break the link of target objects with the real surrounding. Future research
could adopt different types of target objects and further verify the effect of AR technology on product

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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1288 (2019) 012037 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1288/1/012037

attitude. Second, as a result of experiment sample (college students), the external validity of the effect
was not fully considered. Future research could focus on other population and validate the applicability
of the findings.
Our findings also provide several directions for future research. For the study of AR technology,
future research could view the relevant questions from a different perspective. It is because AR
technology is not just a medium, but also a displayed method or even some other tool. More importantly,
the combination of two kinds of technology, rather than adoption of single technology, will affect
consumers’ behavior, such as adoption of AR and artificial intelligent in online shopping.

6. Acknowledge
This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (no.71472142,
no.71772141, no.71472141)

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