Azmi, A; Ibrahim, R; Abdul Ghafar, M and Rashidi, A (2022) Smarter real estate marketing using virtual reality to influence potential homebuyers' emotions and purchase intention. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 11(4), pp. 870-890. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the potentials of virtual reality (VR) for residential real estate marketing to influence house purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the relevant literature in consumer behaviour, this study hypothesised the relationships between atmosphere with pleasure and arousal emotions and the subsequent influence of emotions towards house purchase intention in a virtual environment. A within-subjects experimental design was conducted with 60 real potential homebuyers to test the hypotheses. Data were analysed using paired samples t-test and partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Results revealed that there is a significant difference in the atmosphere and house purchase intention between real and virtual environments. On the other hand, pleasure and arousal emotions evoked in real and virtual environments showed no significant difference. The results show that the atmosphere significantly affects pleasure and arousal, where pleasure, in turn, has a significant effect on purchase intention, and arousal showed an insignificant effect on purchase intention in the virtual environment. Research limitations/implications: Due to budget limitation, this study was constrained to the use of HTC Vive as the VR equipment and evaluation of only one type of housing design. Practical implications: This study contributes to facilitating the revitalisation of real estate marketing with the integration of VR by providing notable empirical results and recommendations based on the research findings. Originality/value: This study extends the current knowledge from the stimulus-organism-response framework for a smart real estate marketing strategy using VR.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | build environment informatics; consumer behaviour; purchase intention; stimulus-organism-response framework; virtual reality |
| Index terms: | virtual reality, real estate, consumer behaviour, marketing, experimental design, integration, housing design, methodology, partial least square, virtual environment, structural equation modelling, strategy, informatic |
| Subjects: | business, research design and methodology, virtual reality, consumer economics, real estate economics, research methods, management, design process, organizational analysis, information science, statistical analysis |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Business Strategy, Stakeholder Management, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here