Customer empowerment and inspiration in branded virtual experiences

This thesis explores how immersive technologies can be leveraged by marketers to inspire and empower consumers who may otherwise find consumption decisions challenging or unfamiliar. Virtual and augmented reality experiences are examined in light of two broad but increasingly relevant challenges facing consumers today: what to choose and how to decide. This is important because an individual’s beliefs about their own capacity influence their behaviour when performing an activity. In competitive, hyperconnected marketplaces, marketing managers must equip their customers with decision-support systems that enhance their capacity to make consumption decisions. Taken collectively, the findings of this thesis contribute to the emergent marketing literature on customer inspiration and empowerment that can arise when spatial presence occurs during immersive consumption-related experiences.