I Want to Pay more But I Don’t Remember What You Just Said: Augmented Reality Effects on Attitude, Willingness to Pay and Memory Recall

Resumo

Through Augmented Reality (AR) apps on smartphones, many products are bringing information and entertainment to their consumers in its packaging. With AR technology, virtual elements are superimposed on the real world, allowing the reality to expand and add images, sounds, and animations. Despite having numerous applications and advantages for the success of marketing activities already documented by previous studies, little is known about the underlying mechanisms on the effect of AR on consumer’s attitudes toward the brand, willingness to pay, and memory recall. In two experiments, we empirically demonstrate that while a positive attitude toward the brand and willingness to pay increases, memory recall decreases when consumers are exposed to AR media campaign compared to a traditional video campaign. The perception of the media’s innovation and entertainment mediate the effect of AR on attitude toward the brand. Moreover, when the product is perceived as already new, there is no difference between the type of media. Thus, the novelty perception of the AR media, which contributes to its positives results on consumers has no effect when the product is already perceived as new.