Comparison of Augmented Reality Based Shopping Applications and Physical Stores in Terms of Make-up Shopping Experience

Abstract

Purpose - Today, consumers can try virtual images of products on their faces in an electronic environment, get detailed information about the products and make a purchase decision through augmented reality-based mobile make-up product shopping applications. The purpose of this study is to compare the experience through augmented reality-based make-up shopping applications and physical store experience in terms of their effects on purchase intention through quality of mental imagery and perceived informativeness.. Design/methodology/approach - The data were obtained from 407 participants who experienced the augmented reality make-up product shopping application and 393 participants who experienced the physical store experience by face-to-face survey method. In order to test whether the findings of the analyses related to augmented reality experience and physical store experience are statistically different from each other, z test was used. Findings - Augmented reality experience has a statistically significant effect on purchase intention through quality of mental imagery; however, physical store experience does not have a statistically significant effect on purchase intention through quality of mental imagery. In addition, both augmented reality experience and physical store experience were found to be effective on purchase intention through perceived informativeness. Discussion - According to the results of the analyses, unlike augmented reality applications, it is possible to state that the visuals that consumers create in their minds about make-up products in the physical store are insufficient in creating purchase intention. In this direction, it is thought that augmented reality-based product trial platforms to be integrated into physical stores may be effective in creating purchase intention. In addition, it can be stated that there is no significant difference between the augmented reality-based mobile application channel and the physical store channel in terms of informativeness.