Influence of Technology Readiness in the Adoption of Augmented Reality Applications in Retailing

Forget crowded aisles and unending product comparisons. Imagine yourself trying on clothes virtually, visualizing furniture in your living room before making a purchase, or even discovering information about products that are hidden behind interactive labels. Augmented reality (AR) promises to revolutionize the shopping experience, but widespread adoption depends on understanding user motivations. This study explores what motivates consumers to interact with this emerging technology to determine the “why” behind AR retail adoption. Although AR has the potential to transform many industries, consumer technology readiness is a critical factor that will determine how widely adopted AR becomes. This research investigates how a person’s ability, willingness, and confidence in their ability to use technology serves as a vital link between the potential for innovation and its practical implementation. The study investigates the effects of performance expectancy, price, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, and technological readiness on adoption behavior using a partial least squares-structural equation modeling analysis of data from 306 online survey respondents. The results show that price and performance expectancy are significant drivers, but hedonic motivation and effort expectancy have no impact on adoption behavior. Notably, one factor that strongly influences the adoption of AR apps is technological readiness. These findings provide retailers with insightful advice, telling them to prioritize app value, affordability, and user-friendly design while also realizing how crucial it is to accommodate different degrees of technological comfort. Retailers can effectively use AR technology to improve customer engagement and accelerate adoption in the retail space by knowing these key drivers.