INVESTIGATING THE INFLUENCE OF VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY ON ELEVATING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT WITH HEALTHCARE PRODUCT BRANDS AND SHAPING PURCHASE INTENTIONS

Abstract

The paper discusses how Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) can be used to interact with customers and influence purchase intentions of a health product in the healthcare sector. The research integrates both quantitative (n=500) and qualitative survey results and data of interviews, focus groups, and usability tests to examine the relevance of immersive technologies in consumer perception, trust, and consumer decision-making. The findings show that the implementation of VR/AR and the perceived quality of the experience lead to the significant improvement of customer involvement, which, in its turn, is a strong predictor of intentions to make a purchase (2.4 = 0.68, p < 0.001). The mediation analysis confirms that the mediation of the two variables is substantial engagement between immersive experience and behavioral intention. The qualitative results have also shown that real-time visualization, customization, and interactive simulation result in eliminating uncertainty and perceived authenticity, particularly within high-stakes healthcare. However, the adoption barriers remain, and they are the usability concerns with the older generation, the technological ignorance, the insufficiency of funding, and the confidentiality of information. The research article adds to the literature on the subject of engagement and technology acceptance research because it positions immersive technologies as a decision-supporting instrument in the healthcare marketing sphere. To put it in practice, the findings suggest that to make sure that VR/AR will be utilized to its full strategic advantage in healthcare branding, inclusive design, transparent data management, and scalable implementation strategies will be required.