City Research Online

Abstract

Many businesses use virtual experience (VE) to enhance the overall customer experience, though extant research offers little guidance for how to improve consumers’ VE. This study, anchored in activity theory, examines key drivers of VE and its influences on value perceptions and customer loyalty. A hierarchical model indicates that VE comprises second-order variables (i.e., social presence, social capital, flow experience, and situational involvement) and third-order variables (i.e., communal and individual experience). The results obtained from a substantive model further reveal that VE positively influences perceptions of both economic and social value and thus influences loyalty in both the real world and virtual environments.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Electronic Commerce on 17 Dec 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10864415.2015.979484
Publisher Keywords:	Virtual experience; Perceived value; Customer loyalty; Hierarchical model
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Management

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