Acceptance of VR Shopping: Examining the Role of Technological Characteristics and Consumer Fashion Involvement

The present study examined the effect of vividness and interactivity, the two technological characteristics of VR, and fashion involvement, a consumer characteristic, on consumer’s intent to use VR stores under the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The subjects of the present study were asked to experience a commercially available fashion-brand VR store through a computer monitor and their responses were measured. The results revealed the effects of the technological characteristics of the VR store on consumer beliefs. The higher the perceived vividness of the VR store, the greater the perception that it is easy to use and playful. A higher level of perceived interactivity meant a higher degree of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and playfulness. The results also showed that consumer fashion involvement had a significant impact on perceived playfulness but not on perceived usefulness and ease of use. In addition, a higher degree of perceived ease of use translated into a higher level of perceived usefulness. Regarding the effect of consumer beliefs on usage intention, the more the VR store was perceived as being useful and the greater the playfulness derived from the experience, the higher the consumer intention to adopt the shopping platform. However, the perceived ease of use had a significantly negative impact on consumer usage intention. This shows that, even if VR stores are perceived as easy to use, a lack of perceived benefits, such as usefulness or playfulness, will negate their positive impact on consumer usage intention