VIRTUAL REALITY-ALTERING CONSUMER’S BEHAVIOR IN MARKETING

In marketing, a consumer’s choice of products is the result of his perception. For companies, it’s necessary to fulfill consumers’ choices and preferences as they change from time to time. Hence, marketers are required to update their business models accordingly for stability and profitable sales. Virtual Reality (VR) is the best in this regard as it has been altering the perception and decision-making process of consumers.

It provides a virtual experience and extensive details of the desired product more quickly and handily. For real estate companies working from a virtual place such as a virtual office, especially, such virtual imaging and tours are extremely beneficial. Consumer behavior determines how a consumer uses his income to buy things based on his or her needs and wants. High-immersive virtual reality systems are used in understanding consumer behavior in marketing as how they react to a certain virtual experience of a product, or in case of a virtual office owned by a real estate firm, a property for sale or rent.

This experience can be made in favor of the sales of a product by providing a more appealing and fascinating view of the product in virtual reality. Despite the uplift of pandemic restrictions by the governments, consumers are still using virtual reality to buy products. Following are ways through which virtual reality is altering consumer behavior while making the purchase decision.

Future Trends in Customer Purchase Decisions

A customer’s purchase behavior encompasses the study of how a consumer sees a particular service, experiences it, decides about making a purchase and uses a particular service. Businesses in general and real estate companies in particular can now employ virtual reality to comprehend and influence consumer purchase behavior in a positive manner. Virtual reality works by altering a customer’s virtual environment to change his experience, use and buying attitude. Therefore, if aptly employed, virtual reality can greatly boost a company’s sales.

Telepresence—Altering Customer Perception and Boosting Sales

Telepresence has a wide scale impact on customer perception. Telepresence is a virtual reality technology that helps consumers participate in and observe distant locations or real estate sites. It allows buyers to be at the site of their purchase without traveling. A customer is able to be somewhere else than his physical location, hence allowing him a better chance to evaluate the property he is interested in. This means customers have a better idea of their purchase and form informed purchase decisions. Their doubts are removed and their trust in a company strengthened. For companies, it means greater credibility among customers and higher sales. Hence, it is a win-win situation for both the customers and the businesses.

Accelerating Customer Learning Ability

If a customer gets to know closely about a product or service, his learning capacity improves. Virtual reality allows customers to get acquainted with the utility of the purchase they are going to make, and have an experience of the product before the purchase is finalized. Hence, customers get in a better position to make informed purchase decisions. This also adds positively to the concerned company’s sales record.

Interacting with the Product in Real Time

Various research has shown that contemporary customer behavior is more influenced by experience with the product or service they intend to buy. Virtual reality technologies provide this opportunity to customers by allowing real time interactions with the product and captivating engagement while advertising a certain product or service. This way, virtual reality can help companies market their services more effectively than any other traditional tool. For example, allowing customers to experience how it feels to have a new house in a lush green neighborhood can be a very potent advertising tool to influence customer perceptions and purchase decisions compared to a non-interactive advertisement.

Providing More Appealing And Eye-Catching Experiences To Consumers

A consumer’s perception consists of exposure to external stimulus, analyzing and interpreting it to make sense out of it. It is shaped by the five senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch. And virtual reality appeals to all of these senses. It makes the consumer engage with the product in real time and hence influences his decision to make  a purchase. This not only provides a more pleasant and reliable buying experience to the customers, but also helps companies boost their market image and improve their sales.

Conclusively, virtual reality is a revolution in the sphere of marketing as it impacts customers perception by providing them a real-time immersive and interactive experience with the products. It touches upon the customer’s visualization capability, hence putting him in a more comfortable position to make a purchase decision. Virtual reality provides companies a better opportunity to interact with the consumers and positively change their perceptions. Research on how virtual reality influences customer perception has begun, and it must be taken forward to bring a revolution in the sphere of marketing and advertising.