{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]],"date-time":"2026-05-16T00:43:18Z","timestamp":1778892198470,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]],"date-time":"2022-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671148800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003407","name":"Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["D94I18000260001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D94I18000260001"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003407","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Future Internet"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The choice of furniture in a retail store is usually based on a product catalog and simplistic product renderings with different configurations. We present a preliminary field study that tests a Multi-Sensory In-Store Virtual Reality Customer Journey (MSISVRCJ) through a virtual catalog and a product configurator to support furnishings sales. The system allows customers to stay immersed in the virtual environment (VE) while the sales expert changes the colors, textures, and finishes of the furniture, also exploring different VEs. In addition, customers can experience realistic tactile feedback with in-store samples of furniture they can test. The journey is implemented for a furniture manufacturer and tested in a flagship store. Fifty real customers show positive feedback in terms of general satisfaction, perceived realism, and acceptance. This method can increase purchase confidence, reduce entrepreneurial costs, and leverage in-store versus online shopping.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/fi14120381","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T07:27:30Z","timestamp":1671434850000},"page":"381","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["A Multi-Sensory In-Store Virtual Reality Customer Journey for Retailing: A Field Study in a Furniture Flagship Store"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2197-6574","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Fiorentino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanics, Mathematics, and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9355-8430","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marina","family":"Ricci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanics, Mathematics, and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2045-1768","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Evangelista","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanics, Mathematics, and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5293-9955","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vito Modesto","family":"Manghisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanics, Mathematics, and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio Emmanuele","family":"Uva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanics, Mathematics, and Management, Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijinfomgt.2014.03.002","article-title":"Innovation Drivers in Retail Industry","volume":"34","author":"Pantano","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Inf. Manag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1177\/0887302X08314789","article-title":"How Can Virtual Reality Reshape Furniture Retailing?","volume":"26","author":"Oh","year":"2008","journal-title":"Cloth. Text. Res. J."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"1","article-title":"What Virtual Reality Can Offer to the Furniture Industry","volume":"4","author":"Oh","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Text. Appar. Technol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-4359(01)00063-X","article-title":"Themed Flagship Brand Stores in the New Millennium: Theory, Practice, Prospects","volume":"78","author":"Kozinets","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Retail."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"654","article-title":"Sharma Influence of Sensory Branding on Consumer Buying Behavior: An Empirical Evidence with Reference to Coffee Outlets of India","volume":"12","author":"Vasavada","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Manag."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1016\/S0969-6989(98)00028-9","article-title":"Entertaining Shopping Experiences: An Exploratory Investigation","volume":"6","author":"Jones","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Retail. Consum. Serv."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jretconser.2010.02.007","article-title":"Does a Companion Always Enhance the Shopping Experience?","volume":"17","author":"Borges","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Retail. Consum. Serv."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1509\/jm.15.0420","article-title":"Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey","volume":"80","author":"Lemon","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Mark."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbusres.2020.12.028","article-title":"Going on a Journey: A Review of the Customer Journey Literature","volume":"125","author":"Tueanrat","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Bus. Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jretconser.2017.05.011","article-title":"Enhancing the Online Decision-Making Process by Using Augmented Reality: A Two Country Comparison of Youth Markets","volume":"38","author":"Pantano","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Retail. Consum. Serv."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"228","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2016.10.066","article-title":"The Path-to-Purchase Is Paved with Digital Opportunities: An Inventory of Shopper-Oriented Retail Technologies","volume":"124","author":"Willems","year":"2017","journal-title":"Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bushor.2018.08.006","article-title":"Flatlined: Combatting the Death of Retail Stores","volume":"62","author":"Berman","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bus. Horiz."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102056","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jretconser.2020.102056","article-title":"Virtual Reality through the Customer Journey: Framework and Propositions","volume":"55","author":"Hollebeek","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Retail. Consum. Serv."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1007\/s10055-017-0306-3","article-title":"When Brands Come to Life: Experimental Research on the Vividness Effect of Virtual Reality in Transformational Marketing Communications","volume":"21","author":"Brengman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Virtual Real."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"50","article-title":"Virtual Reality Now a Research Reality","volume":"5","author":"Gold","year":"1993","journal-title":"Mark. Res."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"603","DOI":"10.1162\/pres.1997.6.6.603","article-title":"A Framework for Immersive Virtual Environments (FIVE): Speculations on the Role of Presence in Virtual Environments","volume":"6","author":"Slater","year":"1997","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jretai.2004.01.006","article-title":"Virtual Store Layout: An Experimental Comparison in the Context of Grocery Retail","volume":"80","author":"Vrechopoulos","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Retail."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1027\/1864-1105.21.3.95","article-title":"Virtual Reality","volume":"21","author":"Fox","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Media Psychol. Theor. Methods Appl."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jretconser.2019.02.016","article-title":"The Examination of Virtual Reality at the Intersection of Consumer Experience, Shopping Journey and Physical Retailing","volume":"48","author":"Farah","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Retail. Consum. Serv."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Biocca, F., and Delaney, B. (1995). Immersive Virtual Reality Technology. Communication in the Age of Virtual Reality, Routledge. [1st ed.]. Available online: https:\/\/www.taylorfrancis.com\/books\/mono\/10.4324\/9781410603128\/communication-age-virtual-reality-frank-biocca-mark-levy\/."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gutierrez, M., Vexo, F., and Thalmann, D. (2008). Stepping into Virtual Reality, Springer Science & Business Media.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-84800-117-6"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2017.07.019","article-title":"Escaping the Crowd: An Experimental Study on the Impact of a Virtual Reality Experience in a Shopping Mall","volume":"77","author":"Brengman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Comput. Human Behav."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zenner, A., Kosmalla, F., Ehrlich, J., Hell, P., Kahl, G., Murlowski, C., Speicher, M., Daiber, F., Heinrich, D., and Kr\u00fcger, A. (2020, January 25\u201330). A Virtual Reality Couch Configurator Leveraging Passive Haptic Feedback. Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Honolulu, HI, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/3334480.3382953"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1561\/1100000049","article-title":"A Survey of Augmented Reality","volume":"8","author":"Billinghurst","year":"2014","journal-title":"Found. Trends Hum.-Comput. Interact."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mai, C., and Khamis, M. (2018, January 6\u20138). Public HMDs: Modeling and Understanding User Behavior around Public Head-Mounted Displays. Proceedings of the 7th ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays, Munich, Germany.","DOI":"10.1145\/3205873.3205879"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"387","DOI":"10.1162\/pres.18.5.387","article-title":"Haptic Augmented Reality: Taxonomy and an Example of Stiffness Modulation","volume":"18","author":"Jeon","year":"2009","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"449","DOI":"10.1002\/mar.20890","article-title":"Employee Mere Presence and Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction","volume":"33","year":"2016","journal-title":"Psychol. Mark."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1007\/s10055-020-00440-y","article-title":"Virtual Experience, Real Consequences: The Potential Negative Emotional Consequences of Virtual Reality Gameplay","volume":"25","author":"Lavoie","year":"2020","journal-title":"Virtual Real."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"(2021, May 27). Furniture\u2014United States|Statista Market Forecast. Available online: https:\/\/www.statista.com\/outlook\/cmo\/furniture\/united-states."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"D\u00fcnser, A., Grasset, R., and Billinghurst, M. (2008). A Survey of Evaluation Techniques Used in Augmented Studies, Human Interface Technology Laboratory.","DOI":"10.1145\/1508044.1508049"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1177\/1468794105056923","article-title":"Studying Actions in Context: A Qualitative Shadowing Method for Organizational Research","volume":"5","author":"McDonald","year":"2005","journal-title":"Qual. Res."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1109\/MCG.2017.4031064","article-title":"Experiencing the Sights, Smells, Sounds, and Climate of Southern Italy in VR","volume":"37","author":"Manghisi","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Comput. Graph. Appl."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1111\/ijmr.12140","article-title":"The Multilevel Nature of Customer Experience Research: An Integrative Review and Research Agenda","volume":"20","author":"Kleijnen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Manag. Rev."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Bartlem, E. (2005). Reshaping Spectatorship: Immersive and Distributed Aesthetics. Fibreculture J. Distrib. Aesthet., Available online: http:\/\/www.immersence.com\/publications\/2005\/2005-EBartlem.html\/."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1162\/105474601300343595","article-title":"Visual Touch in Virtual Environments: An Exploratory Study of Presence, Multimodal Interfaces, and Cross-Modal Sensory Illusions","volume":"10","author":"Biocca","year":"2001","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"2","article-title":"Engaging Consumers with Advergames: An Experimental Evaluation of Interactivity, Fit and Expectancy","volume":"15","author":"Goh","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Assoc. Inf. Syst."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1007\/s11747-015-0460-7","article-title":"Customer Experience Management: Toward Implementing an Evolving Marketing Concept","volume":"45","author":"Homburg","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Acad. Mark. Sci."}],"container-title":["Future Internet"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/14\/12\/381\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:42:52Z","timestamp":1760146972000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/14\/12\/381"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12]]}},"alternative-id":["fi14120381"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/fi14120381","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-5903"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-5903","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]}}}