“Fake it, you can touch it”: a study of virtual touch effects based on VR technology

The emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers a novel approach to enhancing consumers’ shopping experiences. It not only enables more detailed product presentations but also allows consumers to meet their shopping needs in a highly immersive environment. In this process, consumers’ tactile experiences with products play a crucial role. This article focuses on the virtual touch process of consumers in VR shopping contexts. Drawing upon the body model hypothesis, peri-personal space theory, and embodied cognition theory, and leveraging research methods from psychology, including field experiments, laboratory experiments, and online experiments, the article explores through three investigations how consumers’ virtual touch via a virtual hand in VR impacts their sense of body ownership, haptic imagery, and product evaluation. It is suggested that virtual hand touch in VR scenarios positively impacts consumers’ product evaluation. The sense of body ownership and haptic imagery serve as chain-mediating factors in this process. Furthermore, consumers’ autonomy in virtual hand manipulation emerges as a moderating role, where a heightened sense of autonomy enhances their product evaluation. Virtual touch facilitated by VR technology can not only significantly enrich consumers’ haptic experience, but also provide valuable management insights for retailers to develop innovative VR marketing strategies.