Abstract:

The purchase intention, which is an important stage of the purchasing decision process, has a decisive effect on the action related to the purchase of the product. Bergeron (2004) defined purchasing intention as the level of perceptual opinion to purchase a product or service. Studies have shown that the online representation of the product and the overall quality of the shopping experience are important for both online shopping attitude and purchase intention (Koufaris, 2002). Consumers’ willingness to buy a product or service via internet stores or virtual shopping carts is defined as online purchase intention (Close & Kukar-Kinney, 2010). According to Chiu (2009) and Heijden et al. (2001), online purchase intention has dimensions of perceived service quality, perceived usefulness / utility, and perceived ease of use / purchase. Each dimension influences the online purchase intention. Consumer experience and online purchase intention are shaped by technological advances. Augmented reality, a concept closely related to technology, reshapes advertising and marketing fundamentals and offers consumers a different experience. Augmented reality technology, which adds graphics, sound and other sensory enhancements to the real environment, is used in industrial design to visualize and take action, in the field of defense to detect threats in advance, in many game contents, in the field of marketing, which offers customers the opportunity to preview what is inside a product before unpacking it, spatial interactions, task support such as assembly and maintenance, and innovative products. For example, in pre-purchase situations, the consumer can predict how the living rooms will look with the new decoration with augmented reality applications (Flavián, Ibáñez-Sánchez & Orús, 2019, p.548). In this context, augmented reality technology offers consumers a realistic evaluation opportunity for the products they want or need, regardless of location. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of marketing performed with augmented reality technology on the purchasing experience and online purchase intention of the consumer. In this article, since a study was conducted on how a phenomenon is perceived and experienced, phenomenology approach, one of the qualitative research designs, was used. The research is based on a qualitative study using face-to-face interviews, focus group interviews and observation techniques to collect data obtained through extensive interviews. In this study, since consumer experience and online purchase intention were measured, retired or working consumers who have economic purchasing power and used online shopping were preferred. Within the scope of the research, one-on-one interviews with 6 consumers and 2 officials from a company and a focus group meeting with 4 consumers were held in Ankara. At the same time, in order to evaluate the application in more detail, a forum containing user opinions was examined. The obtained findings were analyzed with the QDA Miner program. In the light of the research, it is concluded that marketing with augmented reality has an effect on the consumer experience and online purchase intention. Although the results obtained from the interviews show that the participants have experienced the application for the first time, the fact that the participants clearly express positive and improvable aspects of the application show that augmented reality technology has an important potential in terms of marketing.

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