Virtual Reality, Involvement and the Consumer Interface

Emerging technologies promise new types of relationships between businesses and consumers. In particular, interactive multimedia and virtual technologies promise greater degrees of consumer engagement with online products and services, potentially leading to increased product exploration, and more hedonic purchases (Jeandrain, 2001). Even though the technologies involved are now largely affordable, widespread and stable, to date e-tailing has had a mixed acceptance, with significant shopping cart abandonment statistics reported of up to 75% (Gordon, 2000). Other figures cited in Hurst and Gellady (2000) indicate that 42% of shopping carts are abandoned, losing a potential US $3 bn in lost sales. While figures vary, and may include customers who later return to complete a purchase, the phenomenon remains ABSTRACT