The Reality of Virtuality: Harness the Power of Virtual Reality to Connect with Consumers

Kirsten Cowan; Seth Ketron; Alena Kostyk

Published by De Gruyter 2023

The Reality of Virtuality

Harness the Power of Virtual Reality to Connect with Consumers

Kirsten Cowan , Seth Ketron and Alena Kostyk

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110980561

Overview
Contents

About this book

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has become more sophisticated and widespread. Consumers embrace it for gaming and entertainment. New industries are using it to showcase their products and services, with VR experiences becoming more immersive and realistic than ever. Where does VR fit into your marketing strategy? How can your brand use it to leave a lasting impression on users? And how can your brand utilize VR to interact with your target market to improve consumer engagement and loyalty?

The Reality of Virtuality is both practitioner-oriented and evidence-based, showing marketing managers in the B2C and B2B sectors how to design a compelling VR marketing strategy and leverage it for their brand. It discusses how to select the appropriate VR type dependent on resources, technology, and audience. It shows how to align the VR experience with marketing objectives and how to create a purpose-driven VR experience to ensure it is engaging and meaningful. Lastly, it shows how to incorporate VR into the consumer journey, ways to reach consumers before the VR experience, and the long-lasting effects after it. The authors use examples, references, and industry expert opinions throughout, giving marketers a solid foundation for their VR endeavours.

Unique focus on marketing and branding, delivered by knowledgeable marketing experts.
Purpose-driven structure, allowing marketing managers to select application features depending on a specific objective their company is pursuing.

Author / Editor information

Dr. Kirsten Cowan (Senior Lecturer in marketing at University of Edinburgh) researches how immersive technologies engage consumers at each phase of the consumer journey. As such, VR has been the focus of her latest research. These projects review extant research on VR, investigate how consumer involvement in VR affects information processing, evinces how sensory marketing shapes consumer responses toward brands, and examines how virtual experiences differ from real experiences. Her publications on VR appeared in Journal of Business Research and European Journal of Marketing. One of her current projects with Dr. Ketron and Dr. Kostyk investigates sensory inputs in VR.

Dr. Seth Ketron is an Assistant Professor of marketing at the University of St. Thomas, USA. His research interests are primarily in consumer behavior and retailing, specifically focusing on sensory marketing and information processing as well as VR. He has co-authored publications on virtual reality with Dr. Cowan in Journal of Business Research and European Journal of Marketing and, along with Dr. Cowan and Dr. Kostyk, won "The Most Innovative" paper award at the 2019 Academy of Marketing Global Branding SIG.

Dr. Alena Kostyk is a Senior Lecturer in marketing at the University of Glasgow, UK. She has been long fascinated by consumers’ response to technology-enhanced environments. She was awarded several grants for impact-focused collaborations that build on her VR research. She works with tourism organizations in Scotland to develop their VR marketing; engages with VR marketing content creators, and specialized industry groups. Her work appears in academic outlets such as Business Horizons, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research. Prior to academia, she spent nearly 10 years working in the private sector.

Reviews

“This book offers a timely understanding of the multiple facets of Virtual Reality and the many challenges and opportunities it brings to businesses. Rife with recent industry examples and applications, this title provides inspiration and guidance for managers, combined with relevant theories and conceptual advances. It is a must-read for any practitioners, students or academics wishing to gain a complete overview of the impact of VR on business practice.”

Laurence Dessart, HEC Liège – Management School of the University of Liège, Belgium

“I know too many educators who treat virtual reality as an overhyped novelty. This volume is a great tool to overcome those biases by showing what VR can do today, backed by good research and thoughtful expert interviews from those working in the VR trenches. Everybody could use this practical update to their beliefs about VR.”

Scott Cowley, Associate Professor of Marketing, Director of Digital Marketing & eCommerce Program at Western Michigan University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Selecting VR Type Based on Your Resources
Chapter 1 VR Technology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
Chapter 2 The Spectrum of Immersion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Chapter 3 VR Content Features: Graphics, Sounds, and Narrative Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
Chapter 4 Sensory Inputs in VR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
Part II: Selecting VR Type Based on Your Customers
Chapter 5 Your Customers’ VR Readiness and Ways to Improve It Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
Chapter 6 Customer Involvement-Based Strategy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Part III: Purpose-Driven Design of Your VR
Chapter 7 Boosting Consumer Engagement via VR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
Chapter 8 Changing Attitudes and Building Your Brand via VR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
Chapter 9 Storytelling in VR: Reality Versus Fantasy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
Chapter 10 Selling Your Products in VR: V-Commerce Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Chapter 11 Co-Creation in VR Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
Chapter 12 VR-Based Events Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Part IV: Incorporating VR Into Your Customer Journey
Chapter 13 Pre-VR: Reaching Customers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Chapter 14 Post-VR: Managing the Relationship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
List of Figures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
List of Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Marketing managers and students of Business and Marketing.
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 160
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 4
- Coloured Illustrations: 6
- Tables: 5
Keywords: VR marketing; VR and AR reality marketing; how to implement VR in your marketing strategy; VR market trends; VR marketing examples; VR marketing research; global AR and VR market; VR marketing campaigns; VR marketing strategy; VR marketing solutions

eBook

Published: April 27, 2023
ISBN: 9783110980561

Paperback

Published: April 27, 2023
ISBN: 9783110992700