Augmented reality as a supplementary service in the phygital marketplace: Evidence of hedonic primacy and social influence variability

Purpose Augmented reality (AR) has diffused as a supplementary service in phygital retail, yet evidence on what it changes in consumer evaluation remains thin. The goals of this research are twofold: first, this research aims to examine whether AR differently shapes hedonic and utilitarian attitudes and second, this research aims to test whether normative social influence and informational social influence shift the relationship between bidimensional attitude toward AR and desire to use AR. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments compare an AR app condition with a non-AR mobile site condition. Study 1 assigns 224 participants to Sephora Virtual Mirror or a non-AR Sephora mobile site (cosmetics as a hedonic, public-facing, non-durable category). Study 2 assigns 194 participants to Ikea Place or a non-AR Ikea mobile site (furniture as a utilitarian, private-facing, durable category). Findings AR experience strengthens hedonic attitude in both product categories, whereas utilitarian attitude shows no comparable increase. Normative social influence weakens the link between hedonic attitude toward AR and desire to use AR in the cosmetics context while informational social influence strengthens the same link in the furniture context. Hedonic attitude and utilitarian attitude each predict desire to use AR. Originality/value Self-regulation theory frames desire as the motivational mechanism that connects evaluations of AR to use. Evidence of hedonic primacy challenges the common assumption that AR earns adoption mainly through utilitarian improvement in decision-making. The opposing moderation effects reject a single social strategy for AR across categories. Normative social influence can dampen hedonic motivation in cosmetics, whereas informational social influence can amplify hedonic motivation in furniture, which implies that phygital brands should design AR social cues to match the product category rather than rely on uniform social endorsement features.