Fici Alessandro, Bilucaglia Marco, Casiraghi Chiara, Rossi Cristina, Chiarelli Simone, Columbano Martina, Micheletto Valeria, Zito Margherita, Russo Vincenzo
Department of Business, Law, Economics and Consumer Behaviour "Carlo A. Ricciardi", Università IULM, 20143 Milan, Italy.
Behavior and Brain Lab IULM-Neuromarketing Research Center, Università IULM, 20143 Milan, Italy.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Jul 13;14(7):596. doi: 10.3390/bs14070596.
The growing interest in consumer behavior in the digital environment is leading scholars and companies to focus on consumer behavior and choices on digital platforms, such as the metaverse. On this immersive digital shopping platform, consumer neuroscience provides an optimal opportunity to explore consumers' emotions and cognitions. In this study, neuroscience techniques (EEG, SC, BVP) were used to compare emotional and cognitive aspects of shopping between metaverse and traditional e-commerce platforms. Participants were asked to purchase the same product once on a metaverse platform (Second Life, SL) and once via an e-commerce website (EC). After each task, questionnaires were administered to measure perceived enjoyment, informativeness, ease of use, cognitive effort, and flow. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine differences between SL and EC at the neurophysiological and self-report levels, as well as between different stages of the purchase process. The results show that SL elicits greater cognitive engagement than EC, but it is also more mentally demanding, with a higher workload and more memorization, and fails to elicit a strong positive emotional response, leading to a poorer shopping experience. These findings provide insights not only for digital-related consumer research but also for companies to improve their metaverse shopping experience. Before investing in the platform or creating a digital retail space, companies should thoroughly analyze it, focusing on how to enhance users' cognition and emotions, ultimately promoting a better consumer experience. Despite its limitations, this pilot study sheds light on the emotional and cognitive aspects of metaverse shopping and suggests potential for further research with a consumer neuroscience approach in the metaverse field.
对数字环境中消费者行为日益增长的兴趣，正促使学者和企业关注数字平台（如元宇宙）上的消费者行为与选择。在这个沉浸式数字购物平台上，消费者神经科学为探索消费者的情感和认知提供了绝佳契机。在本研究中，运用神经科学技术（脑电图、皮肤电反应、血压变异性）来比较元宇宙平台和传统电子商务平台购物时的情感和认知方面。参与者被要求在元宇宙平台（第二人生，SL）上购买一次相同产品，以及通过电子商务网站（EC）购买一次相同产品。每项任务完成后，发放问卷以测量感知到的愉悦感、信息性、易用性、认知努力和心流体验。进行统计分析以检验在神经生理和自我报告层面上SL和EC之间的差异，以及购买过程不同阶段之间的差异。结果表明，与EC相比，SL引发了更高的认知参与度，但它对脑力的要求也更高，工作量更大且记忆更多，并且未能引发强烈的积极情绪反应，导致购物体验较差。这些发现不仅为与数字相关的消费者研究提供了见解，也为企业改善其元宇宙购物体验提供了参考。在投资该平台或创建数字零售空间之前，企业应全面分析，重点关注如何增强用户的认知和情感，最终提升消费者体验。尽管存在局限性，但这项初步研究揭示了元宇宙购物的情感和认知方面，并表明在元宇宙领域采用消费者神经科学方法进行进一步研究的潜力。
