How can augmented reality add value for companies

: benefits and challenges of its application in marketing

Abstract

The present study aims to gain a better understanding of the reasons influencing the use of AR applied in marketing. Besides its promising success in the literature, there is still a risk that Augmented Reality does not add value to the company. Marketers must decide whether and how the technology can be applied in favor of the company. A case study research with three companies using or used Augmented Reality in their business was applied. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews with marketing experts’ from each company. Based on the findings of the interviews, the reasons why companies applied Augmented Reality are: the belief that there is a need for it, a better communication with their customers, the need to appear innovative, and a decrease in the return- and increase in the conversion rate. In fact, this research revealed that after the implementation of Augmented Reality two out of three companies had a better market performance in terms of an increase in the demand, or a better conversion rate, more time spent on the product page with the Augmented Reality tool, and a decrease in their return rate. However, one case also demonstrated that even though an increasing market performance, Augmented Reality can still fail due to reasons such as technical issues

Date of Award	5 Apr 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alvaro Bruno Cyrino (Supervisor)