The Role of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Shaping Retail Marketing: A Meta-Analysis

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), transforming consumer behavior in retailing and arousing the interest of scholars in studying customer responses to these technologies in retail settings. However, owing to variations in specific contextual factors, the results of related research have been mixed, which impedes retailers’ capacity to gain a systematic understanding of the formulation of well-informed marketing decisions in the context of AR and VR retailing. To address these gaps, this systematic review synthesizes extant empirical evidence with 1099 effect sizes from 111 published studies with 136 datasets and 547,415 sample sizes. This study is based on well-established theories, including the technology acceptance model, the customer journey theory, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, which are extended to create a more comprehensive framework that is adapted for the customer journey in AR and VR retailing. Our findings reveal significant and positive correlations for all the proposed constructs, including the experience; intrinsic, extrinsic, hedonic, and utilitarian factors; and customer experience, attitude, intention, and loyalty, and verify the significant moderating effects for technology and product types. From a management perspective, our findings provide a systematic understanding of enhancing retailers’ integrated sustainable marketing strategies in the context of AR and VR retail and propose a forward-looking research agenda.