How and when AR technology affects product attitude

Purpose – Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a novel communication tool, which adds virtual computer-generated information to a viewer’s real life. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of AR technology on consumers’ experience. 
Design/methodology/approach – Four experiments were performed to test the effect of AR-based product display on the consumer’s attitude and the underlying mechanism of the effect. 
Findings – The results have demonstrated that self-referencing reality simulation mediates the effect of AR technology on consumers’ product attitude, and the effect is attenuated when the consumers hold quality beliefs rather than taste beliefs or when the product is a luxury brand. 
Practical implications – The current research suggests that managers should develop and adopt AR technology when presenting their products in front of consumers, which can improve consumers’ product attitude. Additionally, emphasizing the taste of target products rather than quality will strengthen the positive effect of AR technology on product attitude. Furthermore, managers of luxury brands should present their products in a traditional way, which induce an exclusive perception rather than using AR technology. 
Originality/value – This paper investigates the underlying mechanism of how AR technology improves consumers’ product attitude and shopping experience, to fill the gap in consumers’ unique experience with AR technology. Furthermore, the moderated effect of consumer beliefs and product difference has also been examined in this study, which attributes to the research of product differentiation.