Does Virtual Fitting Room Tech Discourage Sales?

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Does Virtual Fitting Room Tech Discourage Sales?

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by Tom Ryan,  University research finds virtual fitting rooms aren’t “uniformly positive” for customers, particularly those customers with unhealthy body image perceptions.

Researchers from Iowa State, using data from an online women’s apparel website in China, found such augmented-reality technology increased sales among shoppers with a low body mass index (BMI) but decreased sales for those with a high BMI. The technology also negatively affected product evaluations and lowered the self-esteem of participants with a high BMI.

The study concluded that shoppers unhappy with their appearance might shift that negative feeling to the product and that the negative perception is stronger in virtual versus physical settings.

“One possible reason for this: There are fewer distractions with virtual rooms,” Huifang Mao, an Iowa State marketing professor, said in a press release. “It’s just your image with the clothes and a white background. When the only thing you are looking at is your own image, you may view it with a more critical eye.”

In physical dressing rooms, there’s more “noise,” visual and audible, including the reflections from the mirrored walls and the presence of other pieces of clothing as well as music played in the store or conversations overheard from other fitting rooms. ... '