The Strong Potential of Augmented Reality for Experiential Marketing

Abstract or Introduction

As traditional marketing approaches are losing their effectiveness, brands have recently started to apply augmented reality (AR) for staging powerful brand experiences that will differentiate them from competition. However, despite proving an innovative way to captivate consumers’ attention, research within the field of AR brand experiences has been relatively scarce, resulting in reluctant adoption as marketers are unaware of the technology’s direct brand-related outcomes. Since several scholars indicate a possible connection between AR brand experiences and consumer-brand relationships, this thesis aims to extend the scarce literature and subsequently further entice adoption by examining the impact of AR brand experiences on consumer-brand relationships.

This study applied a mixed method research approach, consisting of a survey as the predominant method to assess the hypotheses as well as expert interviews to validate the quantitative results and gain further in-depth insights. The questionnaire sampled millennial consumers in Germany who recently encountered an AR brand experience. Overall, quantitative data analysis included exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis for hypotheses testing, while a thematic analysis was applied on the gathered qualitative data.

The results of this thesis demonstrate that AR brand experiences have a positive impact on consumer-brand relationships. Furthermore, the key relationship drivers of AR were identified as sensory experiences incorporated through visualization and immersion, affective experience staged by storytelling and co-creation, as well as behavioral experiences crafted through location-based AR.

This thesis contributes further knowledge to the augmented reality marketing literature, consumer-brand relationship literature and experiential marketing literature, as well as suggests directions for future research. Moreover, the findings of this research facilitate marketers’ endeavors to successfully develop AR brand experiences that foster consumer-brand relationships.