The value of visual quality and service quality to augmented reality enabled mobile shopping experience

Abstract This study demonstrates that visual quality is an emergent factor in explaining behavioral intention in online shopping, as online retail technology continues to evolve. The researchers develop, and test a model, in augmented reality (AR) and non-AR contexts, explaining the effect of aesthetic appeal of the interface of a mobile retail app and position relevance of a product in the user environment on visual quality of the app. The model explains the influence of visual and service quality on user satisfaction toward the app and the influence of user satisfaction on recommendation intention. The data were collected from 102 mobile app users who were asked to use the view-in-room features on a mobile augmented reality (MAR) app. Another group of 155 mobile app users were requested to search for a product using a typical mobile app search interface. Both groups provided their responses via an online survey. The researchers used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the collected data. Results indicate that the model has superior explanatory power when applied to an AR context. This research also provides key insights for practitioners related to improving the rate of mobile app recommendations by their customers.