From Use to Value: How Immersive Virtual Reality Experiences Create Consumer Wellbeing

ABSTRACT Advances in immersive virtual reality (VR) technology and declining device prices have made it increasingly feasible for people to experience various VR applications in their daily lives. Activities that were previously performed in the physical world or in two‐dimensional digital environments can now be experienced in immersive VR environments. However, it remains unclear how immersive VR experiences create consumer wellbeing compared to other scenarios that can serve the same purpose. This study focuses on incremental value to fill this gap. Using a qualitative multi‐method approach, we analyze posts from 1372 actual VR device consumers and conduct in‐depth interviews with 18 students. The results find that immersive VR experiences can provide consumers with incremental utilitarian, hedonic, social, and epistemic value. These incremental values are associated with consumers' quality of life in terms of health, comfort, and hedonism, and may therefore contribute to consumer wellbeing. This study extends research on value and consumer wellbeing, and provides insights into improving consumer and social wellbeing, as well as corporate management practices.