Presence Arousal and Advertising Effectiveness in VR: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study aims at contributing to the academic and non-academic debate regarding the actual effectiveness of Virtual Reality as advertising media. In particular an exploratory comparative study was conducted to test for significant differences in levels of Presence, Arousal and Advertising Effectiveness between a 2D and a Virtual Reality set-up. Our research question was addressed empirically by collecting data from thirty-nine participants distributed among two comparative samples. The investigation was carried out by combining traditional marketing research tools (i.e. questionnaires) with neuromarketing research methods. In particular, physiological data on arousal levels of participants were extracted through Electrodermal Activity (EDA) recording. The obtained findings did not report any significant difference in the levels of Presence and Advertising Effectiveness between the two mediation technologies. However, differences in Arousal could be found in favour of participants exposed to the experimental stimulus on the 2D display