The increasing demand and investment in virtual reality (VR) games by both companies and consumers underscore the importance of understanding VR experiences in the context of phygital marketing. While the concept of marketing evolves to meet human needs, key aspects like consumer behavior remain relevant, adapting to technological innovations in a dynamic landscape.
Similarly, technological advancements have influenced people's preferences and consumption habits, fostering product diversification and the evolution of new marketing strategies. In this context, digital marketing emerges as one of the fundamental pillars of marketing in the digital age.
The spread of digitalization has facilitated the transformation of daily activities into digital experiences, enhancing efficiency in people's lives. This shift has led to the rise of the virtual environment, increasingly replacing the physical world as a reference for daily habits. The evolution of the digital landscape, beginning in the 1990s, gave rise to digital and post-digital marketing characterized by ongoing innovation. Digital marketing, conducted through digital channels, offers manufacturers increasingly detailed access to consumer preferences. Its key features include innovation and the ability to capture audience attention, while current digital products stand out for their aesthetic appeal, usability, and advanced interactivity.
The concept of "phygital" refers to the complete integration between the physical and digital worlds. It's a marketing approach that leverages both physical and digital environments to reach consumers effectively and accurately. In practice, it involves combining experiences and interactions from both the real and virtual worlds to offer a unified and engaging experience.
Phygital marketing integrates users' digital and physical worlds, with a focus on virtual reality and augmented reality (AR) applications. While VR technologies have been around for some time, the widespread availability of VR headsets for consumers in 2016 has made these experiences accessible to many. This development has led to a growing demand and investment in digital gaming experiences. Beyond entertainment, VR and AR are being utilized in various sectors, from education to healthcare and marketing. These innovative technologies are gradually reshaping our perception of the real world, offering opportunities to enhance educational processes in engaging and efficient ways.
Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies provide immersive experiences for students, allowing them to practice in lifelike environments through virtual guided tours. These technologies are not only used in education, healthcare, and communication but are also gaining popularity in the sports industry. VR games offer a unique and innovative entertainment experience, shaping perceptions of new products in the market. Player satisfaction directly impacts their purchasing decisions, as positive experiences make buying easier, ultimately influencing overall user satisfaction through the experiential values offered by VR games.
Direct experience with a game enhances consistency between satisfaction, attitude, and behavior. The use of VR in games increases interactivity and creates experiential value. Consequently, companies have developed various strategies, considering both the quality of VR games and the range of interactions offered to users.
VR is a technology that facilitates exchanges, and VR marketing is particularly effective in enhancing the consumer experience. As a result, today's companies focus on building relationships with customers through the use of these technologies to positively influence their satisfaction.
While consumer predisposition to purchase, termed as purchase intention, is influenced positively by virtual reality technology, offering users easy product exploration and visualization, VR games, with advanced interaction, enhance consumer perception of product value, driving purchase behavior. VR technologies also create hedonic value, positively impacting purchase intentions based on this pleasure value and context. The smoother and more satisfying the VR experience, the higher the purchase intention aligns with consumer satisfaction. In marketing, leveraging cutting-edge technologies effectively arouses consumer interest and leaves a lasting impression. Augmented, virtual, or mixed reality allows potential buyers to examine virtual prototypes, capturing attention. In VR games, product features are emphasized, providing users with an experience closely resembling real life, with realistic dimensions, polished graphics, color harmony, and an immersive environment. These combined tangible and experiential benefits influence user purchasing decisions based on their cognitive responses.