The Impact of 3D and AR Product Presentation on Mental Imagery, Product Uncertainty and User Experience

While there has been increased focus on building trust in online retailers from customers, online shopping has an element of uncertainty. When in a physical store, a customer can interact with and judge the product in their own physical environment. Online shopping and standard 2D product displays on e-commerce websites provide little sensory information. This leads to product uncertainty and forces customers to fall back on their mental imagery of the product. This study examined how different types of product presentation (2D, 3D, AR) affects mental imagery and by extension, product uncertainty. The effect of both product presentation and product uncertainty on User Experience (UX) was also examined. This study used a between-groups experimental design with a convenient sample of 30 participants assigned to use one of three e-commerce experiences crafted for this study. This study found no significant effects of product presentation on spatial or haptic imagery. It did find a significant difference in users’ hedonic UX based on type of product presentation, but found no difference in pragmatic UX. There was a significant difference in the amount of product uncertainty experienced based on both the amount of spatial mental imagery and haptic mental imagery. Lastly, there was a significant, strongly negative correlation found between product uncertainty and both hedonic and pragmatic user experience.