How extended reality influences e-commerce consumers: A literature review

Abstract

Extended reality (XR) has attracted the attention of both scholars and practitioners, and the literature addressing XR in the e-commerce context has expanded. Based on the reviewed literature, the current study applied a systematic literature review method to investigate XR use in e-commerce at the individual-consumer level. It aimed to holistically explain how XR use affects individual consumers in B2C e-commerce. The screening of 71 selected peer-reviewed journal articles that had been published since 2000 enabled the current research to identify which factors affect XR use in B2C e-commerce for individual consumers. Specifically, this study analyzed the effects of stimuli on consumers’ cognitive, emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral responses to XR-based e-commerce and the interacting effects among technological, consumer, and product-related factors. Based on the literature review’s findings, an integrated framework is proposed to explain how XR influences individual e-commerce consumers, and four avenues for future research are recommended. This study provides scholars with a holistic understanding of how XR affects consumers in B2C e-commerce at the individual level. It also provides e-commerce practitioners with useful guidelines concerning consumer experience management in XR-based online shopping.