The Role of Virtual Experience in Consumer Learning

Hairong Li
Department of Advertising
Michigan State University
Terry Daugherty
Owen Graduate School of Management
Vanderbilt University
Frank Biocca
The MIND Lab
Michigan State University

Written in March 2001

Revised in March 2002

Forthcoming as:

Li, Daugherty and Biocca (in press), The Role of Virtual Experience
in Consumer Learning, Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Hairong Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Research Associate in the Mind Lab,
Terry Daugherty is a Post-Doctoral Fellow for eLab in the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt
University, and Frank Biocca is the Ameritech Professor in the Department of Telecommunication and Director of
the Mind Lab at Michigan State University. The authors thank Michigan State University for a grant to initiate this
research, editor Dawn Iacobucci, and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

The Role of Virtual Experience in Consumer Learning

Abstract
Through a series of studies designed to explore important aspects of virtual experience, a
new type of product affordancesvirtual affordancesis proposed and tested empirically. In
addition, the existing geometric and material product taxonomy is extended to include
mechanical products within the classification structure. Utilizing these new concepts, 3-D
product visualization is compared with traditional 2-D product representations and television
advertising. The results largely support the proposition that 3-D product visualization is capable
of influencing brand attitude and purchase intention for geometric and mechanical products
within e-commerce environments.

The Role of Virtual Experience in Consumer Learning

Consumers learn about products through both direct and indirect experience. While direct
experience is solely derived from actual product contact, indirect experience can be generated
from various sources such as word of mouth, brochures, and advertising. Interactive advertising
in the form of 3-D product visualization simulates a new type of indirect experiencevirtual
experience. Li, Daugherty and Biocca (2001) examined the characteristics of a virtual experience
and construed that consumers undergo psychological and emotional states during this compelling
experience when interacting with 3-D visual products. The conceptualization of a virtual
experience becomes necessary as technological advances in computers enable multi-sensory
interactions with products in electronic commerce environments (Soukup, 2000).
Virtual experiences and indirect experiences are both mediated experiences (Heeter,
2000). What differentiates virtual experience from indirect experience are the virtual affordances
intrinsically provided by interactive virtual products. Product affordances represent the real and
perceived cues that guide consumers when interacting with a product during inspection (Norman,
1998). In fact, there are affordances common to direct experience that originate from the sensory
and motor systems. For instance, the ability to visually inspect a product contains some of the
most common types of affordances. Consumers learn about the shape, texture, and perceived
function of a product by moving their body or the product to visually inspect it from different
angles. This type of information and interaction can be simulated vividly within a virtual
experience where consumers can freely examine, zoom- in or zoom-out, and rotate a product
based on virtual product affordances. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine a new form of
indirect experiencevirtual experienceand explore whether virtual affordances that are

simulated in virtual experience result in better consumer learning in comparison with traditional
forms of indirect experience.
This paper reports the findings of four studies. The first study is a pre-test designed to
delineate three test products corresponding with the salient propertiesgeometric, material and
mechanicalnecessary to examine virtual affordances. The second study examines the
differences in consumer learning between two forms of interactive content in order to test the
relationships between real, perceived and virtual affordances. The third study extends and further
compares the cognitive activities of consumers when evaluating different forms of interactive
products. Finally, the fourth study examines the effects of 3-D product visualization in an online
environment compared to television advertising in order to isolate the effect of user-controlled
interactivity, a core component of virtual affordances, while holding media richness constant.
Consumption Experience and Product Types
Consumption experience is the true value of a product for consumers. Therefore, it is
theoretically advantageous to consider product purchase as directed not necessarily toward a
physical product but rather toward a consumption experience. A product purchase is in many
ways not the purchase of a physical good itself but of an experience that the product affords
(Pine II & Gilmore, 1998), and the consumption experience consists of both cognitive and
emotional activities (Hirschman, 1984; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). As a result, consumers
often need to assess the probability that a product can provide an expected consumer experience
before they are confident in making a purchase decision. Numerous marketing communication
campaigns are designed to offer ways for consumers to make such an assessment, ranging from
the free sampling of crackers in a grocery store to the demonstration of a new laundry detergent
in TV commercials.

Nevertheless, prior assessment of the consumption experience for any product is not easy
because of the many different attributes a product can contain. Nelson (1975, 1976, 1981) made
distinctions between search products and experience products, which he subsequently refined as
search and experience attributes because any product can have both types of attributes. The issue
is which type of attributes are dominant and more important for consumers to consider when
making purchase decisions. Search attributes are those features of a product that consumers can
assess without actual use of the product, such as size, color and price. Experience attributes are
those that consumers can only assess through actual use or direct contact, such as taste, softness
or fit. The classification of these product attributes has played a significant role in research
investigating the impact of direct and indirect experience on consumer learning (Deighton, 1997;
Klein, 1998; Smith, 1993; Smith & Swinyard, 1982; Wright & Lynch, 1995).
McCabe and Nowlis (2001) examined the influence of different product attributes on
consumer information search and purchase in e-commerce and adopted the definition of
geometric and material attributes from Klatzky, Lederman and Matula (1991). Klatzky et al.
(1991) observed that people explore everyday objects through two sensory dimensionsvision
and touch. Objects whose attributes can be fully understood though vision are geometric
products. Objects whose attributes require touching for further information are called material
products. According to McCabe and Nowlis (2001), examples of material products include a
sweater and a towel because consumers need to touch and feel products through direct contact to
gather sufficient information. In turn, a compact disc and a bag of potato chips would be
examples of geometric products because it is possible for consumers to get adequate information
without touching them. They found that the consumer preference for either online or offline
information search largely depends on different product attributes.

In a study exploring interface properties of 3-D products, Li et al. (2001) observed three
types of simulations, each for a set of salient attributes. They defined them as visual, tactile and
behavioral simulations, respectively. For products containing visually salient attributes,
consumers can select them satisfactorily by merely seeing them. These products are the same as
what Klatzky et al. (1991) called geometric products. For products composed of tactilely salient
attributes or what Klatzky et al. (1991) refers to as material products, such as apparel or bedding
material, consumers desire to obtain further information using their hands to touch and feel these
products in addition to visual inspection. Accordingly, products such as perfume or wine would
require further information by smelling or tasting. Li et al. (2001) also identified a third product
category corresponding with the desire to interact with a product when making a purchase
decision. For instance, when consumers select a camera, they usually want to examine the zoom
feature of the lens or even test the shutter to assess its performance. This type of product
inspection can be viewed as an extension from the tactile classification because further
information is needed in addition to merely touching the product. In this study, these products
are called mechanical products. The classification of these three types of productsgeometric,
material and mechanicalis instrumental in the design of 3-D product visualization because the
role of visualization is to simulate a consumption experience for consumers to assess prior to the
purchase or actual use of a product. Furthermore, different types of salient attributes involve
different sensory input in regard to consumption experiences and can be rendered to varying
degrees in 3-D visualization.
Study One
The first study was set to empirically test and identify a new classification of product
type. Products were screened in terms of the types of salient attributesgeometric, material or

mechanicalresulting in the selection of three test products: a wristwatch, bedding material and
laptop computer. The attributes of these products were evaluated in this study.
Participants
Thirty-three students enrolled at a large midwestern university participated in the
research. In addition, participants were solicited from a common general elective communication
course that included a diverse number of academic majors.
Procedure
Within a laboratory setting, participants were asked to evaluate salient attributes for each
of the three test products using a short questionnaire. No visual images or pictures of any product
were shown; rather participants were simply instructed to rate how important the visual
inspection, tactile exa mination, or behavioral interaction was to them in making purchase
decisions when evaluating a wristwatch, bedding material and laptop computer.
Measures
Single- item eleven-point Likert-type scales (not important at all/extremely important)
were used to record the importance of visual, tactile, and behavioral inspection when evaluating
the test products.
Results
The results (Table 1) indicate that visual inspection (M=10.63) is more important when
examining a wristwatch than tactile (M=7.69) or behavioral inspection (M=8.57), F(1,33) =
46.64, p < .01 (see Table 9). In contrast, when examining bedding material, subjects indicated
that tactile examination (M=10.42) was more important than visual (M=9.63) or behavioral
inspection (M=7.21), F(1,33) = 59.44, p < .01. Finally, behavioral inspection (M=10.57) was

indicated as more important when examining a laptop computer than visual (M=8.69) or tactile
examination (M=7.36), F(1,33) = 49.56, p < .01.
____________________
Table 1 about here
____________________
Discussion
The classification of products using this taxonomy does not mean that these salient
attributes are only what consumers consider during product inspection. Rather, it is more
reasonable to perceive a sequential order of information input from visual to tactile to behavioral.
That is, visual analysis is exhausted before any attempt to initiate haptic exploration (Klatzky,
Lederman, & Matula, 1993), followed by behavioral trial. Each subsequent exploration can
generate additiona l information and improve the understanding of certain attributes of an object.
However, three modes of exploration may not always be necessary during product inspection.
For instance, when consumers select an oil canvas, visual inspection normally should offer
enough information for them to make a purchase decision, with little need for tactile feedback.
Types of Product Affordances
The concept of affordances originated in cognitive psychology (Gibson, 1977) and
renovated in the design literature (Norman, 1998). Norman (1998) explains when we assess our
immediate environment, we are aware of some of the affordances each object offers. Real
affordances are what an object actually offers and perceived affordances are what humans think
an object can offer. In consumer psychology, product affordances are a natural and intuitive set
of heuristics that guide consumers interacting with products during prior-purchase inspection.
For instance, when consumers evaluate a computer in a store, they may turn it on to examine the
quality of the monitor screen or start a software application; however, they normally do not
8

request to open the case for internal inspection. When consumers select chairs, they are likely to
sit on them but less likely to stand on them. These expected relationships between consumers and
products are termed product affordances. Although real affordances are what a product can
actually offer and are consistent for all consumers, perceived affordances vary as consumers
have different perceptions of what a product can provide. For instance, perceived affordances of
a same quality camera are quite different for a professional photographer and an amateur.
This study proposes a new classification of affordancesvirtual affordancesrelevant to
what a 3-D product can simulate in a virtual experience. It further posits that the differences
between these three types of affordances can explain why consumers form better product
knowledge, positive brand attitude and elevated purchase intention for certain types of products
in virtual experience. Using a wedding ring as an example, 3-D product visualization makes it
possible for the consumer to simulate engraving a name on the inner band. This is a virtual
affordance that consumers may not have in their perception prior to the inspection of the virtual
product and not available during traditional indirect experience or direct experience until after
the purchase. In this case, virtual affordances exceed perceived affordances, which tend to
provoke enjoyment in consumers (Li et al., 2001). Therefore, it is theoretically beneficial to have
three types of product affordancesreal, perceived and virtual affordances. Further, we assume
that consumers can learn better in a virtual experience when virtual affordances match or
exceed perceived and even real affordances.
Consumer Learning
Helping consumers learn has proven to be an efficient marketing communication goal
and lead to the long-term profit performance of many firms (Wernerfelt, 1996). Traditionally,
effective consumer learning is assumed to be a critical mediator of consumption and ascertained

from cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions (Hutchinson & Alba, 1991; Lutz, 1975).
Likewise, numerous techniques for measuring effectiveness are intended to examine components
from the same domains (Beerli & Santana, 1999; Lavidge & Steiner, 1961; MacInnis & Jaworski,
1989).
Cognitive measures are used to determine the ability of an advertisement, physical
product, or other marketing stimulus to attract attention and ultimately transfer information to
memory. This element is fundamental in generating awareness, establishing product knowledge,
and increasing comprehension of the brand name of any product. In addition, research has
demonstrated that marketing communications are able to influence cognitive experiences
associated with consumer learning (Braun, 1999; Hoch & Ha, 1986; Smith, 1993). Similarly,
forms of interactive marketing that allow control over the flow of information can increase a
consumer's cognitive ability to integrate, retain, and understand the information presented
(Ariely, 2000; Hoffman & Novak, 1997). In fact, greater perceptual product salience via the use
of color and sound (Hutchinson & Alba, 1991) as well as interactive and vivid content on the
Internet have been linked to increased learning (Hoffman & Novak, 1996; Hoffman & Novak,
1997).
Affective measures are used to identify either established or created attitudes from
marketing messages. The premise is that the most pleasing and informative marketing measures
produce a positive transfer affect and are better received among consumers (Mehta, 2000).
Research has shown that styles of consumer learning are influenced by attitudes (Mantel &
Kardes, 1999) with attitude towards the brand serving as a commonly used effectiveness measure
(Batra & Ray, 1986; Fazio, Powell & Williams 1989; Gardner, 1985; Lutz, 1985; Mackenzie &
Lutz, 1989).

10

Conative measures are used to anticipate a response behavior resulting from a marketing
stimulus and product experience. Within consumer learning, conative measures generally involve
some type of behavior intention, such as searching for additional information or purchase
(Brucks, 1985; Hoch & Ha, 1986; Levin & Gaeth, 1988). The most widely used conative
measure in marketing effectiveness research is intention to purchase (Beerli & Santana, 1999;
Andrews, Akhter, Durvasula & Muehling, 1992). While these traditional effectiveness measures
remain relevant within the context of consumer learning, they will ultimately be influenced by
the characteristics of the consumer in an interactive online environment. Since forms of
interactive marketing and advertising can effectively present product information, provide
extensive search capabilities, and establish two-way communication, a key for consumers
should be the ability to make better quality decisions resulting in greater confidence (Pavlou &
Stewart, 2000).
Study Two
Hypotheses
The second study employs three measures of the effectiveness of virtual experience on
consumer learningproduct knowledge, brand attitude, and purchase decision quality. Although
brand attitude and product knowledge have been widely used in measuring the effectiveness of
advertising and marketing (Brucks, 1985; Gardner, 1985; MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989), purchase
decision quality is a relatively new measure of effectiveness (Haubl & Trifts, 2000; Payne,
Bettman & Johnson, 1993). Our research proposition is that consumer learning is heightened
when virtual product affordances are equal to or greater than the expected affordances of the
physical product.

11

H1.

When visual examination is most relevant to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in greater product knowledge, increased brand
attitude, and a more resolute purchase decision than static 2-D products.

H2.

When tactile examination is most releva nt to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in no difference for product knowledge, brand
attitude, and purchase decision than static 2-D products.

H3.

When behavioral examination is most relevant to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in greater product knowledge, increased brand
attitude, and a more resolute purchase decision than static 2-D products.

Research Design
To test the hypotheses, a laboratory experiment was conducted using a 2 x 3 mixed
design. The first between-subjects factor was visualization type, with two levelsinteractive 3D visualization and static 2-D graphics. The second within-subjects factor was product type.
Each participant was exposed to three types of productswristwatch, bedding material, and
laptop computer. The order in which the different types of products were displayed was
randomized for each participant.
Participants
Seventy-three students at the same university where the pretest was conducted
participated in the study, with thirty-six randomly assigned to the 3-D condition and thirty-seven
to the 2-D condition. Student participants were considered appropriate for this experiment
because they are high in Internet literacy and are likely to represent potential early adopters of ecommerce utilizing 3-D visualization.
Stimulus
Two web sites were created incorporating different types of products in both interactive
3-D and static 2-D conditions. Interactive 3-D product visualization allows participants to move,

12

rotate, and zoom in and out, thus enabling detailed inspection. In contrast, the static 2-D graphics
condition was represented identically minus the ability to interact or control the product.
Procedure
The experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting with each participant accessing a
computer containing three icons hyper- linked to the corresponding stimulus. Participants were
instructed to examine the products taking as much time as needed to evaluate how they think
and/or feel about each product and were asked to complete a questionnaire upon conclusion.
Dependent Measures
The dependent variables were measured using items from established scales (Bruner,
1998). Brand attitude was measured with a five- item scale asking participants to best describe
how they feel about each product (good/bad, appealing/not appealing, pleasant/unpleasant,
attractive/unattractive, and interesting/boring) (wristwatch = .82, bedding material = .86, and
laptop computer = .80). Product knowledge was measured by asking participants to assess
their agreement (strongly disagree/strongly agree) to the statement, "I feel very knowledgeable
about the (insert product name) I just examined." For decision quality, a two- item scale was used
asking participants to rate their decision if the y had to decide whether to buy or not to buy each
of the products based on the information presented (little confident/very confident and very
poor/very good) (wristwatch = .72, bedding material = .81, and laptop computer = .80).
Results
The results show as expected a significant interaction between visualization type and
product type for product knowledge, F(71) = 6.00, p < .01. However, no significant interactions
were detected for brand attitude, F(71) = .19, p > .05, or decision quality, F(71) = .22, p > .05.
Significant main effects for visualization type were detected with participants indicating higher
13

levels of product knowledge (M = 4.03), brand attitude (M = 5.35) and decision quality (M =
4.75) after evaluating the interactive 3-D products compared to reported product knowledge (M
= 3.29), F(71) = 6.51, p< .01, brand attitude (M = 4.91), F(71) = 6.65, p< .01, and decision
quality (M = 4.09), F(71) = 7.56, p< .01, for the 2-D graphic versions. For product type, there
was no main effect for product knowledge across the geometric (M = 3.65), material (M = 3.82),
or mechanical (M = 3.52) products, F(71) = .68, p > .05. Likewise, no main effect was detected
for decision quality across the geometric (M = 4.45), material (M = 4.56), or mechanical (M =
4.25) products, F(71) = .96, p > .05. A main effect for product type was detected for brand
attitude with participants reporting higher levels for the mechanical (M = 5.53) product than the
geometric (M = 4.89) or material (M = 4.97) products, F(71) = 15.69, p < .01.
Planned contrast comparisons were conducted to compare the mean differences between
the two visualization conditions (3-D vs. 2-D) for each of the dependent variables. Hypothesis 1
predicted that when visual affordances are the most salient consumption experience, consumer
learning would be more effective in 3-D visualization than in 2-D graphics. This hypothesis was
tested with a comparison of consumer learning measures on the wristwatch between the 3-D and
2-D conditions. The results (Table 2) largely support the hypothesis. Specifically, participants
reported that product knowledge and decision quality were significantly higher after examining
the 3-D wristwatch. However, the difference for brand attitude was not significant compared to
the 2-D condition even though the direction was in line with the hypothesis.
____________________
Table 2 about here
____________________
Hypothesis 2 anticipated that when tactile affordances are the most relevant to the
consumption experience, there would be no significant differences in effectiveness measures
14

between 3-D visualization and 2-D graphics conditions. The results support this hypothesis as no
significant differences were detected for the bedding material involving product knowledge,
brand attitude, or decision quality (see Table 3).
____________________
Table 3 about here
____________________
Finally, hypothesis 3 postulates that when behavioral affordances are the most relevant to
the consumption experience, there would be significant differences in effectiveness measures
when examining a 3-D visualization version compared to a 2-D graphics product. The findings
lend partial support to the hypothesis. Specifically, product knowledge was found to be
significantly different for the 3-D condition along with marginal support for decision quality.
However, brand attitude was not significantly different yet again directionally consistent with the
hypothesis (Table 4).
____________________
Table 4 about here
____________________
Discussion
This study tested the theoretical proposition that consumer learning is heightened from a
virtual experience when virtual affordances match or exceed the expected physical affordances
associated with a product. The key is in identifying the product affordances salient in the
assessment of a consumption experience. When visual affordances are the most relevant, a
virtual 3-D experience strengthens consumer learning over traditional 2-D graphics. For instance,
product knowledge and decision quality were both significantly higher after exposure to an
interactive 3-D product than a static 2-D product. When tactile affordances are the most relevant

15

to the consumption experience, a virtual experience is unable to influence consumer learning

over 2-D graphics. This finding reinforces the notion that touching and feeling certain products,
such as bedding material, likely prompts the consumer to seek direct experience. In turn, when
behavioral affordances are the most relevant to the consumption experience, the results offer
inconclusive support for enhanced consumer learning from virtual experience, as the difference
between the two conditions was not significant for brand attitude and only marginal for decision
quality. Two possible explanations are that participants may have established prior attitudes
toward the product, and that the behavioral affordance manipulation was somewhat weak for the
laptop computer. For instance, the opening and closing of the lid, the removal of the battery, and
the powering on of the computer were used as behavioral simulations. Perhaps a more relevant
simulated behavior should have been using the keyboard to type or launch an application.
Regardless, the fact that product knowledge was consistently heightened in a virtual experience
for both a visual and behavioral driven product is important because it represents one of the
initial steps in consumer learning.
Study Three
Given the findings of Study Two, it remains unclear how a virtual experience affects
consumer product evaluation compared to traditional 2-D representations. Thus, the purpose of
Study Three is to extend our understanding of virtual experience by examining consumer
cognitive activities when engaged in evaluating products utilizing 3-D visualization versus 2-D
graphics.
Product Evaluation
Consumers are cognitive misers endeavoring to reduce mental effort when faced with
complex purchase decisions (Shugan, 1980). However, decision- making derived from product

16

evaluation is difficult and consumers make trade-offs during the process because of limited
processing capacity and incomplete product information (Bettman, Luce & Payne, 1998). The
Internet provides a degree of interactivity that can potentially improve decision- making by
allowing greater control over product information while reducing information search costs (Alba
al., 1997; Ariely, 2000; Lynch & Ariely, 2000). In fact, Haubl and Trifts (2000) suggest
interactive et tools that provide in-depth comparison of product attributes prior to purchase are
valuable consumer decision- making aids. While they were primarily referring to semantic type
aids, such as comparison matrixes and recommendation agents, certainly 3-D products designed
to simulate consumption and encourage the evaluation of product attributes can serve as
interactive decision aids.
Li and colleagues (2001) classified several types of psychological activities consumers
undergo when evaluating products via an interactive virtual experience. They found that
consumers make evaluative decisions because 3-D product visualization stimulates a sense of
presence from a combination of interactivity, vividness, and mental imagery. Indeed, previous
research has demonstrated that the method in which information is displayed influences decision
processing (Kleinmuntz & Schkade, 1993) and more realistic modalities positively impact
consumer choice evaluations (Shiv & Fedorinkhin, 1999). While the literature indicates that
consumers likely engage in more cognitive decision-making activities when examining 3-D
visualization versus 2-D representations, the research proposition remains that consumer
cognitive evaluation activities increase when virtual affordances are equal to or greater than the
perceived affordances of a product. Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H4.

When visual affordances are most relevant to the consumption experience,

consumers will engage in more cognitive evaluations while examining 3-D
products than static 2-D products.

17

H5.

When tactile affordances are most relevant to the consumption experience, there
will be no difference in the number of cognitive evaluations while examining 3-D
products than static 2-D products.

H6.

When behavioral affordances are most relevant to the consumption experience,

consumers will engage in more cognitive evaluatio ns while examining 3-D
products than static 2-D products.

Research Design
Protocol analysis was employed for this study because it is considered a central technique
in consumer cognition research (Gould, 1999) and most appropriate for message-evoking
thoughts (Wright, 1980). This method involves participants verbalizing thoughts, either
concurrently or retrospectively, when exposed to a stimulus. The benefit of using protocol
analysis when examining consumer behavior is the introspective nature of the method.
Introspection forces participants to search their own mind in order to report their thoughts and
feelings about a message, event or product (Gould, 1999). Furthermore, this technique allows for
the triangulation across qualitative and quantitative methods providing greater insight into the
mental processing free of the biases associated with experimental research (Lutz, 1991;
McQuarrie & Mick, 1992)
Participants
Sixty undergraduate students enrolled in the same midwestern university were solicited
from elective communication courses, consisting of a diverse number of academic majors. The
sample comprised of 55 percent male.
Procedure
This study used the same stimulus material as in Study Two, which consisted of six web
sitesthree interactive 3-D visualization sites and three static 2-D graphic sites. Subjects were
randomly assigned to each of the six sites and viewed all three products one at a time in random

18

order. In addition, participants in both conditions were trained for concurrent verbalization using
a magazine ad for a unisex fragrance while continuously communicating their thoughts and
feelings to make sure they felt comfortable and at ease with this introspective method.
The concurrent verbalizations were recorded in a laboratory setting with each participant
accessing a computer containing three icons hyperlinked to the corresponding 3-D or 2D
products. Participants were instructed to examine the products, taking as much time as needed to
verbalize continuously his or her thoughts and feelings as they examined each product.
Concurrent verbalization was utilized in order to minimize memory loss since three separate
products were evaluated and the entire session could last as long as thirty minutes (Wright, 1980).
If participants were silent for more than ten seconds, they were prompted: Please tell me what
you are thinking or feeling. As a result of the training, however, prompting was rarely needed.
The verbal reports for each individual product averaged five minutes and were ended by the
researcher if the session extended beyond eight minutes per product.
Dependent Measures
The dependent measures of the study were the number of recorded units of thought
corresponding with each of the five cognitive evaluation activities, as revised from research
designed to characterize a virtual experience (Li et al., 2001), shown in Table 5.
____________________
Table 5 about here
____________________
Data Preparation
The verbal protocol tapes were transcribed and coded using a qualitative data analysis
software program (N5, 2000) in accordance with established content analytic procedures (Riffe,
Lacy & Fico, 1998). First, the content of each subjects verbal report was divided into units of
19

thought (Gardial et al., 1994; Rook, 1987). A unit of thought is defined in this study as a
smallest set of words that are meaningful within its context. Hence, a coder is able to interpret
the meaning of the statement, without reading the text before and after the statement. If it were
further divided, a UOT would become meaningless. As a result, a total of 706 units of thought
were identified from the transcribed data.
The second step involved coding each UOT into one or more of five dependent variable
categories. Initial categories were pre-tested using a ten percent randomly selected subsample of
the units and identified as suitable training material. Category definitions were revised if needed
and a second randomly selected subsample appropriate for measuring coder reliability was
selected. Also, eight additional categories were developed and coded beyond the five dependent
variables but were not reported in this study. In all, two coders independently analyzed 26% (182
out of 706) of the units of thought, which resulted in only eighteen inter-coder disagreements.
Thus, an acceptable overall reliability of 90% was achieved, with a Scotts Pi accounting for
chance agreement of .88 (Riffe et al., 1998). Individual category reliabilities ranged between 80
to 100 percent.
Results
Independent-sample t-tests were used to test the hypotheses with mean differences in the
total number of units for the five cognitive evaluation activities compared between the 3-D and
2-D conditions for each of the three products. Hypothesis 4 predicted that when visual
affordances are the most relevant consumption experience, cognitive evaluation activities would
be greater in 3-D visualization than in 2-D graphics. The results largely support the hypothesis
with participants making significantly more product evaluation statements when examining the
3-D wristwatch (M = 8.57, SD = 6.77) than the 2-D version (M = 3.23, SD = 2.86), t(58) = 3.98,

20

p < .01. Further examination indicates that attribute attention and attribute evaluation are driving
the results (see Table 6).
____________________
Table 6 about here
____________________
Hypothesis 5 anticipated that when tactile affordances are the most relevant consumption
experience, there would be no significant differences in the number of cognitive evaluations
between the 3-D and 2-D conditions. Surprisingly, an overall significant difference was detected
with participants indicating more cognitive product evaluation statements when examining the 3D bedding material (M = 6.13, SD = 5.27) than the 2-D representation (M = 3.53, SD = 2.34),
t(58) = 2.47, p < .05, resulting in the rejection of the hypothesis. However, significance appears
to exist for attribute evaluations and attribute questioning, with no significant differences for
attribute attention, information seeking, and purchase intention (see Table 7). Post-hoc analysis
revealed the majority of attribute evaluations and questioning activities for both conditions were
predominantly negative, with the 3-D condition evoking significantly more negative evaluations
than the 2-D condition, confirming a fact that participants prefer touching and feeling the
bedding material in both 3-D visualization and 2-D graphics.
____________________
Table 7 about here
____________________
Finally, hypothesis 6 postulates that when behavioral affordances are the most relevant
consumption experience, cognitive evaluation activities will be greater while examining a
product in 3-D visualization than in 2-D graphics. The findings mainly support this proposition
with participants making significantly more cognitive product evaluation statements when

21

examining the 3-D version of the laptop computer (M = 9.13, SD = 6.35) than the static 2-D
representation (M = 3.50, SD = 2.76), t(58) = 4.46, p < .01. Nevertheless, the significant finding
is consistently driven by the attribute attention and attribute evaluation activities, with no
differences found for information seeking and purchase intention even though directionally
consistent with the hypothesis (see Table 8).
____________________
Table 8 about here
____________________
Discussion
Consistent with Study Two, the findings emphasize the importance of virtual affordances
in affecting the cognitive activities associated with product evaluations. Overall, the results
indicate that there were significantly more recorded cognitive activities in the 3-D visualization
condition than in the 2-D graphics condition for the visual and behavioral products. Considering
how few questioning, information seeking, and purchase intention statements were recorded,
interpretation of the results should primarily focus on the attention and evaluation activities.
Unexpectedly, a virtual product experience resulted in significantly more evaluative activities
than traditional forms of static product representations when tactile affordances were the most
relevant to the consumption experience. The finding of more negative evaluation statements in
association with the bedding material appears to reinforce the belief that perceived affordances
for certain types of products limits the effectiveness of a virtual product experience over
traditional forms of indirect experience.
Study Four
While Studies Two and Three compared the cognitive activities of the participants
inspecting 3-D and 2-D product representations, a question arises as to whether 3-D product
22

visualization is able to outperform a traditional but more visually appealing medium such as
television. What differentiates television commercials from 2-D graphics and resembles it to 3-D
visualization is media richness. Television commercials consist of visual cues that are displayed
in 30 frames per second. As a result, they are visually richer than static graphic ads although they
remain similar to 3-D visualization. A key difference between television commercials and 3-D
visualization is user-controlled interactivity, a core component of virtual affordances that is
absent from television commercials. Thus, it is likely that 3-D visualization will remain more
effective for consumer learning than TV commercials although the magnitude of difference may
be smaller than those between 3-D visualization and 2-D graphics. The purpose of Study Four is
to compare television commercials with 3-D visualization to delineate the effect of virtual
affordances while holding media richness constant.
Theory of Media Richness
The theory of media richness is formed from research in multiple disciplines.
Organizational communication researchers have long recognized that media vary in terms of
information richness. Daft and Lengel (1984, 1986) define media richness as the potential
information-carrying capacity of a communication medium. A medium is considered rich if its
information provides substantial new understanding. They focused on five common media in
organizational communications: face-to- face, telephone, personal letters, written documents, and
numeric documents. They further identify four aspects of a medium that affect its richness:
feedback, channel, source, and language. For instance, they consider face-to- face discussion as
the richest because of its immediate feedback, visual and audio channel capacity, personal source,
and natural body language.

23

Media richness is a broader concept for researchers of mass communication. Steuer (1992)
perceives this media characteristic as represented richness of a mediated environment as defined
by its formal features; that is, the way in which an environment presents information to
senses.(p. 81) Media richness, or media vividness using Steuers term, consists of two factors:
sensory breadth, which refers to the number of sensory dimensions simultaneously presented,
and sensory depth, which refers to the resolution with each of these perceptual channels. Breadth
is a function of the ability of a medium to present information across the senses. Depth refers to
the quality of information: An image with greater depth is generally perceived as being of higher
quality than one with less depth; the same is true for auditory or visual representation.
The premise of media richness lies in the assumption that messages appealing to multiple
perceptual systems are better perceived than those that call on single or fewer perceptual systems,
and that high quality messages are more effective than low quality messages. In a study
specifically designed to test the effects of verbal product representations versus vivid computer
realistic images, Vriens, Loosschilder, Rosbergen and Wittink (1998) found that pictorial
representations improved understanding of design attributes and emphasized that a higher degree
of realism is possible with 3-D rendered products which would probably result in stronger impact.
Dahan and Srinivasan (2000) examined this proposition in searching for a low-cost alternative
for new product testing. Using a portable bicycle pump as the product category, actual physical
products were measured against static and animated Web representations to predict overall
market share. Surprisingly, the static and animated Web representations produced nearly
accurate market share rankings compared to the direct product experiences. While predicted
levels of market share were lower than the physical interaction, virtual prototypes cost
significantly less to build and allow more concepts to be tested (Dahan & Srinivasan, 2000).

24

Because of the similarity in media richness and the difference in interactivity between 3D visualization and TV commercials, we are able to attribute the differences in consumer
response between 3-D visualization and TV commercials to user-controlled interactivity. First,
we argue that consumers may gain a similar amount of product knowledge from both forms if a
product is presented in TV commercials in a similar way in terms of zooming and rotating. Thus,
we hypothesize the following:
H7.

There will be no difference in product knowledge between TV commercials and

3-D visualization for all three types of products.

Consistent with our central research proposition, we assume that significant differences
will be present between 3-D visualization and TV commercials for geometric and mechanical
products and be absent for tactile products. It is because the virtual affordances of 3-D
visualization can approximate or match the consumers perceived affordances for geometric and
mechanical products. However, they cannot meet the consumers perceived affordances for
tactile products. Further, research (Li et al., 2001) indicated that richer virtual affordances tend to
generate enjoyment, affect attitude and induce purchase intentions. Thus, we propose the
following hypotheses:
H8.

When visual examination is most relevant to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in increased brand attitude and a more resolute
purchase decision than TV commercials.

H9.

When tactile examination is most relevant to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in no difference for brand attitude and
purchase decision than static 2-D products.

H10.

When behavioral examination is most relevant to the consumption experience,

interactive 3-D products will result in increased brand attitude and a more resolute
purchase decision than static 2-D products.

The hypotheses were tested using data from a single television condition compared with
the previously collected 3-D product visualization data.
25

Participants
Twenty-eight students from the same midwestern university as the previous studies
participated in the data collection. Furthermore, it was ensured that participants had no prior
knowledge or experience with any of the aforementioned studies.
Stimulus
Sixty-second video segments for each of the three test products (wristwatch, bedding
material and laptop computer) in the previous studies were created representing the television
commercials. The segments were produced from the same product stimulus as in the 3-D
condition to ensure that the visual images and appearance of the video were consistent with
previous materials. The video segments started by presenting each product as identical as
possible compared to the 3-D visualization condition. During the sixty-second segment, the
products were shown rotating 360 degrees as well as enlarged and reduced to illustrate zoomingin and out for a more detailed inspection. While the video segments were created representing
television commercials, voice-overs were omitted because they were not represented in the
original 3-D visualization condition. Rather, the same textual messages communicating the
product name and attributes in the 3-D visualization condition were used appearing in the
identical location for each condition.
Procedure
The data collection was conducted in a laboratory setting with one participant per session
viewing the video segments for each of the products. Again, the viewing order for each product
was counterbalanced through randomization. Before viewing the video segments, participants
were told to watch three TV commercials and then answer some questions about the advertised

26

products. After viewing the video segments, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire
resulting in the same dependent measures as previously collected.
Results
The results indicate that there were no significant differences between the reported levels
of product knowledge for either of the products, which supports Hypothesis 7 (see Tables 9, 10
and 11). In addition, hypotheses 8 and 10 were also supported as significant differences in brand
attitude and purchase intention were detected for the wristwatch and laptop computer with 3-D
visualization outperforming the video segments. However, Hypothesis 9 was not supported in
that participants reported more positive brand attitude and higher purchase intention for the
bedding material in the interactive 3-D condition versus the video segments. Although the
findings do not support the hypothesis, the results are interesting given that brand attitude was
more positive in the 3-D interactive condition than the television advertising condition even
though consumers were not able to touch and feel the bedding material online. Similar to Study
Three, the tactile-salient product unexpectedly resulted in significant differences even though
virtual affordances are unlikely to match the perceived affordances. It is likely that the difference
was caused by the user-controlled interactive nature of 3-D visualization which offers
participants a compelling virtual experience not available in a more passive medium such as
television.
____________________
Tables 9, 10 and 11 about here
____________________
Discussion
The findings of Study Four lend support to the advantage of 3-D visualization over TV
commercials in terms of brand attitude and purchase intention. As hypothesized, there were no
27

differences between 3-D visualization and TV commercials in terms of reported product

knowledge as both forms of advertising are quite similar in media richness. However, consumers
in the 3-D condition were able to experience a limited haptic sensation offering more product
control by zooming, rotating, customizing and utilizing animation features of the product. This
enhanced interactive experience is more than likely to cause cons umers to form positive brand
attitudes and stronger purchase intentions. Even for the material product, participants in the 3-D
condition continue to report more favorable brand attitudes and purchase intentions than those
exposed to the video segments.
Conclusion
Our studies have explored several important aspects of virtual experience in e-commerce.
First, a new typology of products is proposed for the purpose of research explaining consumer
interaction in experiential e-commerce. The new typology consists of geometric, material, and
mechanical products, each represented by an empirically verified product: a wristwatch, bedding
material, and a laptop computer. This new typology has potential for further research
investigating interface properties of 3-D visualization in e-commerce. Second, a third type of
product affordancevirtual affordanceis suggested in addition to real and perceived
affordances, as addressed by Norman (1999). We define virtual affordance as what a 3-D visual
product can offer for cons umer inspection within online environments and characterize it in
Study Three. The concept of virtual affordances calls for the imagination of designers to create
features and attributes of a 3-D product that exceed what a consumer would expect during an
assessment of the consumption experience prior to a product purchase. Virtual affordances can
be better simulated in 3-D visualization as advances in computer technology persist and the
Internet continues towards a more multi-sensory medium. Finally, we delineate virtual

28

affordances in terms of media richness and user-controlled interactivity while comparing 3-D
visualization with television. Significant differences in brand attitude and purchase intentions
between 3-D visualization and television commercials indicate that user-controlled interactivity
does affect the consumers assessment of a product consumption experience.
In general, results of these studies indicate that virtual product affordances play
significant roles in predicting the effect of 3-D visualization in e-commerce. Furthermore, the
findings offer moderate support for the proposition that consumers can learn better when
utilizing interactive 3-D visualization than simply 2-D graphics or video for certain types of
products. Specifically, 3-D visualization outperforms 2-D graphics and TV commercials in
generating positive brand attitude and purchase intentions for geometric and mechanical products.
The most interesting finding of these studies is that consumers report better attitude and
purchase intentions for material products in 3-D visualization. It is contradictory to what we
propose based on the assumption that the need for touching is a salient property of perceived
affordances. This finding is repeated in Studies Two, Three and Four, which forces us to seek
alternative explanations. Although consumers cannot touch the bedding material in 3-D
visualization, they can interact with it through zooming, rotating and customizing (change colors
of the bed linens and comforters to match each other). We speculate that better attitude and
purchase intentions result from these virtual affordances although their need for touching is not
met. This phenomenon warrants more theoretical and empirical investigation.
Interactive 3-D visualization offers a method for consumers to simulate the functionality
of a product by incorporating visual, tactile, and behavioral affordances. The result is that
consumers are capable of vicarious consumption of the product, which can strongly impact
cognitive and affective evaluations. By creating compelling online virtual experiences with

29

products, marketers can potentially increase the value of product information presented, engage
consumers in an active shopping experience, increase the number of unique and repeat traffic
visitors for a site, and ultimately establish an online competitive advantage. Furthermore, a
virtual product experience can potentially enhance how consumers learn by saving time and
eliminating unnecessary information. The ability to establish a virtual product experience is not
beyond the capabilities of marketers today and now is the time to explore and test the advantages
and disadvantages associated with this unique experience.
Inherent within any study are potential limitations that affect the ove rall validity and
reliability of the results. With regard to these studies, a few limitations should be considered
when interpreting the research findings. One limitation is the use of a student sample in
combination with conducting a laboratory experiment. This type of experiment restricts the
external validity and should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. While strong
consideration and planning took part in the selection of appropriate test products, another
limitation is the exclusion of numerous test products for each of the dominant physical
affordances. As a result, these findings may not be generalizable to all products and situations.
Nevertheless, this work represents an initial attempt to conceptualize this new and unexplored
area of 3-D visualization in e-commerce.
Finally, replications and extensions in this area are needed to verify and validate the
results and to fully understand the impact of virtual product experiences. Additional work
investigating the impact of 3-D visualization on product choice and satisfaction could lead to
important findings. Individual consumer characteristics also need to be explored to determine
whether information-processing styles potentially impact behavior when examining virtual
products. Moreover, work exploring the effects of mental imagery as well as the sensation of

30

presence could lend to important findings for strengthening our understanding of the
psychological impact of creating highly compelling virtual product experiences.

31

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35

TABLE 1
Salient Attributes of Geometric, Material and Mechanic Products

Wristwatch

Visual
(Geometric)

Tactile
(Material)

Behavioral
(Mechanic al)

Mean (St. dev)

Mean (St. dev)

Mean

(St. dev)

10.63

(.92)

7.69

(2.49)

8.57

(2.55)

21.17

.01

Bedding

9.63

(1.49)

10.42

(.93)

7.21

(2.97)

22.22

.01

Laptop

8.69

(1.97)

7.36

(2.86)

10.57

(.79)

36.97

.01

d.f.

TABLE 2
Effectiveness for High Visual Affordances: The Wristwatch
3-D Visualization

2-D Graphics

Mean (St. dev)

Mean (St. dev)

Product
Knowledge

4.17

(1.76)

3.14

(1.55)

2.66

71

.01

Brand
Attitude

5.14

(.97)

4.63

(1.20)

1.96

71

.053

Decision
Quality

4.93

(1.16)

3.97

(1.53)

3.01

71

.01

TABLE 3
Effectiveness for High Tactile Affordances: The Bedding Material
3-D Visualization

2-D Graphics

Mean (St. dev)

Mean (St. dev)

Product
Knowledge

3.83

(1.52)

3.81

Brand
Attitude

5.18

(1.40)

Decision
Quality

4.69

(1.39)

d.f.

(1.78)

.058

71

.95

4.76

(1.28)

1.35

71

.18

4.43

(1.55)

.76

71

.45

36

TABLE 4
Effectiveness for High Behavioral Affordances: The Laptop Computer
3-D Visualization

2-D Graphics

Mean (St. dev)

Mean (St. dev)

Product
Knowledge

4.08

(1.99)

2.96

(1.58)

Brand
Attitude

5.71

(1.04)

5.35

Decision
Quality

4.63

(1.57)

3.87

d.f.

2.71

71

.01

(.97)

1.53

71

.13

(1.76)

1.95

71

.055

TABLE 5
Cognitive Evaluation Activities During Exposure
Category

Definition

1. Attribute Attention

Attention to specific product attributes such as brand name,

color, size, etc.

2. Attribute Evaluation

Comment, either positive or negative, on the product or

product attributes.

3. Attribute Questioning

Uncertainty about a produce attribute (but no desire or intent

to figure it out).

4. Information Seeking

Desire or intent to seek more information about product

attributes.

5. Purchase Intention

Expressed intent to either purchase or not purchase a

product.

37

TABLE 6
Wristwatch in 3-D and 2-D Conditions
Cognitive Activities

3-D

2-D

d.f.

Attribute attention

3.50

1.63

3.10

58

.003

Attribute evaluation

3.90

1.17

4.10

58

.000

Attribute questioning

.57

.37

.87

58

.390

Information seeking

.23

.03

1.84

58

.072

Purchase intention

.37

.03

2.85

58

.006

Cognitive Activities

3-D

2-D

d.f.

Attribute attention

2.30

2.07

.50

58

.620

Attribute evaluation

3.00

1.30

3.51

58

.001

Attribute questioning

.60

.10

2.34

58

.023

Information seeking

.10

.00

1.36

58

.179

Purchase intention

.13

.07

.85

58

.398

TABLE 7
Bedding in 3-D and 2-D Conditions

TABLE 8
Laptop Computer in 3-D and 2-D Conditions
Cognitive Activities

3-D

2-D

d.f.

Attribute attention

4.27

2.10

3.12

58

.003

Attribute evaluation

3.77

1.03

4.83

58

.000

Attribute questioning

.67

.13

2.78

58

.007

Information seeking

.23

.10

1.24

58

.220

Purchase intention

.20

.13

.61

58

.542

38

TABLE 9
Ad Effectiveness of 3-D Visualization and Television for the Wristwatch
Dependent Measure

3-D

TV

d.f.

Product Knowledge

4.17

4.00

.403

62

.69

Brand Attitude

5.14

3.11

8.04

62

.01

Decision Quality

4.93

4.02

2.77

62

.01

TABLE 10
Ad Effectiveness of 3-D Visualization and Television for the Bedding Material
Dependent Measure

3-D

TV

d.f.

Product Knowledge

3.83

4.21

.986

62

.33

Brand Attitude

5.18

3.01

6.82

62

.01

Decision Quality

4.69

3.91

1.99

62

.05

TABLE 11
Ad Effectiveness of 3-D Visualization and Television for the Laptop Computer
Dependent Measure

3-D

TV

d.f.

Product Knowledge

4.08

3.61

.982

62

.33

Brand Attitude

5.71

2.91

9.82

62

.01

Decision Quality

4.63

2.96

4.02

62

.01

39