Augmented reality (AR) brand storytelling: The role of flow in attitude formation and associative learning

Organizations and brands have long since used stories to communicate and resonate with their audiences. Nowadays, novel interactive media formats are used to enhance these brand-consumer interactions. Augmented reality (AR) holds the potential to aid brands in having immersive and exploratory interactions with consumers. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of AR in brand storytelling on brand attitude and brand associations, and to explore to what extent (the dimensions of) flow can explain these effects. A single factorial (Type of brand storytelling: AR vs. non-AR) between-subjects field experiment is conducted (N = 83). The results show that AR brand storytelling leads to a higher perceived flow than regular brand storytelling. Furthermore, flow mediates the effects of AR brand storytelling on both brand attitude and brand associations. Notably, the flow dimensions control and attention focus are found to be particularly important for explaining the effect on brand associations