Benefits and privacy in virtual reality commerce: a comprehensive review and data-driven assessment

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) commerce has immense potential for immersive and personalized shopping but also invites crucial privacy issues through exhaustive user data collection. The paper analyzes the technical aspects of VR data collection, such as multimodal sensory inputs and behavior tracking, to develop a data-driven privacy-benefit analysis (PBA) framework. Our approach links VR data attributes to psychologically derived constructs, outlining their business and user value along with privacy risks implicated. By integrating knowledge from information systems, behavioral sciences, and marketing, we present a framework highlighting the double-edged role of VR data in enhancing user experience along with subjecting consumers to privacy vulnerabilities. Our findings emphasize the importance of privacy-preserving design strategies and regulatory measures for fostering ethical and responsible innovation for VR commerce. The study contributes to the discourse on VR-based consumer interactions and digital privacy by offering practical insights for industry, policymakers, and academia, demanding interdisciplinary collaboration to balance technological advancements with user protection.