Analysis in how user experience influences consumer attitude towards VR as a communication medium

Abstract

The digitalisation of communication is a progressing phenomenon being reflected by the planning and execution of corporate marketing (Hajduk, 2017: 184). Technology is providing a level of immersion and experience that is in the rising interest of the creative communication field (Kauhanen, Turunen & Keskinen, 2017: 1) within the large organisations around the world. The purpose of this research was to analyse how user experience influences South African consumer attitude towards VR as a communication medium in the gaming industry. The researcher aimed to contribute to the collection of qualitative research with the use of in-depth interviews for the purpose of collecting subjective data to accurately express the untapped potential of virtual environments in the South African context. In-depth interviews were conducted online due to COVID-19 as to protect all parties that participated within the research study. Therefore, the study portrays society's thoughts of innovative technologies' potential to empower socio-behavioural changes whilst advising professionals about consumer attitude being influenced by virtual reality user experience. The data collection method was deemed appropriate for the research study as the collected data was analysed using thematic analysis, thus enabling the researcher to gain a comprehensive analysis in how user experience influences consumer attitude towards VR as a communication medium. It was found that customer attitude is influenced by user experience when playing virtual reality games. It is important to note that technology engagement triggers emotional response in South African Generation Z consumers due to hyper-personal content, based on the in-game situation as consumers want a user-friendly experience to form favourable interactions with a product.