Rauschnabel and colleagues link thinking that an object is closer to more positive feelings for that object’s brand. They report that “Our results show that because AR [augmented reality] makes digital objects appear directly in front of the consumer, or even virtually applied to the consumer's body, it can increase the perceived physical closeness between a consumer and a brand. Study 2 shows that this effect is more powerful when AR is more realistic and hence produces a greater sense of local presence . . . for the digital objects. Moreover, the effect of local presence on perceived physical closeness is stronger when consumers are familiar with the brand, as they need some sense of familiarity to metaphorically allow themselves to become very close to objects. . . . Perceived physical closeness, in turn, leads to consumer–brand relationship closeness in the form of brand love. . . . AR that feels artificial to users can actually be detrimental to brands.”
Phillipp Rauschnabel, Verena Hutti-Maack, Aaron Ahuvia, and Katrin Schein. “Augmented Reality Marketing and Consumer-Brand Relationships: How Closeness Drives Brand Love.” Psychology and Marketing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21953