Work

Customer loyalty through augmented reality apps: quality attributes, market differences, and trust as a mediator

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Since limited trust is a major barrier to consumer adoption of products and services, this research examines how augmented reality (AR) apps can be designed for different market segments to effectively increase consumer trust and thereby loyalty. Its originality lies in examining the behavioral impact of a previously unexplored set of AR app quality attributes, and in comparing this impact across previously unexplored dimensions of consumer markets. Using the statistical software packages SPSS and AMOS, this research analyzes data collected from 1661 consumers in China and Japan using random sampling. The results suggest that the AR app quality dimensions of interactivity, system quality, product informativeness, and reality congruence positively influence consumer trust in a firm's digital marketing content, which in turn drives consumer loyalty. The effect of product informativeness is stronger for consumers with more e-commerce experience. A comparison of consumer markets with higher (China) and lower (Japan) digital competitiveness suggests that market digital competitiveness amplifies the effect of system quality and attenuates the effect of reality congruence. These findings guide practitioners in the design of trust-building AR apps and expand marketing scholars' understanding of trust formation.

Source: Total Quality Management & Business Excellence

DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2025.2477169

Authors: Wenxuan Shi, Farlane S. Rumokoy, Björn Frank

Institution: Waseda University

Language: English

Topic: Technology Adoption and User Behaviour

Subfield: Information Systems and Management

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Award: Consumer Motives for Adopting Artificial Intelligence Products: Differences by Consumer Segment, Country Culture, and Product Type