About this Research Topic

Background

As we become increasingly involved in online experiences, we engage ever further with digital and virtual technologies. Accordingly, many large organizations have decided to increase investment in artificial intelligence and virtual reality (VR) applications (Meißner et al., 2020), in comparison with physical environments (Pizzi et al., 2020). Nevertheless, compared to vision and hearing, taste, touch, and smell are currently involved to a far lesser extent in such online environments (Gallace and Spence, 2014). New sensory-enabling technologies (SETs), however, are contributing to a more complete virtual experience and thus opening the way to more digital multisensory interactions (Petit et al., 2019). The continuous evolution of these SETs will most likely enable further engagement with products and services through all of the senses, tailored to different personality traits (Han et al., 2020).

Examples of such technologies include MetaCookie+ (Narumi et al., 2011), mid-air haptics (Thanh Vi et al., 2017), virtual reality lights (Torrico et al., 2020), digital taste simulators (Ranasinghe et al., 2017), and the Straw-like User Interface (Hashimoto et al., 2008). Interestingly, sensory research has proved the ability of SETs to increase sensitivity during online experiences, for example, by highlighting the positive impact of augmented reality on consumers’ willingness to buy (Yim et al.,2017), as well as the role of rotation in online product presentations (Park et al., 2008). SETs may also be useful in promoting healthier (i.e., Rodriguez et al., 2021), and/or more responsible/sustainable habits (Smith et al., 2021), as well as new approaches to the assessment of mental awareness.

The growing role of the Internet and hi-tech innovations is changing the way we conceive both offline and online experiences. For instance, both e-commerce platforms and virtual supermarkets are aiming to create new digital environments, and there is significant scope for novel developments across digital technologies. This calls for state-of-the-art research on behavior, consumer psychology, communication strategies, healthcare, marketing, and neuro-marketing. At present, however, sensory studies focusing on digital environments are essentially limited to their visual, and to a lesser extent, auditory dimensions. Hence, greater attention is needed to the engagement of hearing and the other senses besides vision in order to better understand the impact of different sensory interactions in digital experiences. Research on such phenomena needs to strategically analyze how such technology affects our behavior (i.e., during specific decision-making processes, such as shopping). Accordingly, this Research Topic aims to explore more deeply the “sensorialization” (Petit et al., 2019) of digital environments, the role of SETs in this process, the possible connection between offline and online environments, and potential new interactions between the senses in such contexts. It thus aims to stimulate research on multisensory simulations in VR studies and the implications for behavior in contexts such as retail, education, hospitality and tourism, and manufacturing (Loureiro et al., 2019).

We welcome submissions of leading-edge research on all forms of sensory interaction in virtual and digital environments, especially–but not limited to–those related to consumer behavior. Quantitative analysis, experimental designs and literature reviews/systematic reviews are welcome. Examples of topics include the following:

• sensory interactions in virtual environments
• the role of sensory input environments
• new technologies for online multisensory experiences
• rational and irrational psychological responses of consumers to sensory inputs
• mixed reality and cross-modality
• augmented-reality and cross-modality
• the role of auditory, visual, haptic, gustatory, and olfactory perceptions in digital/virtual environments
• the influence of background music in digital/virtual environments
• online purchases and webmosphere (web atmosphere)
• differences and similarities between offline and digital/virtual multisensory online experiences
• neuro-marketing and sensory interactions
• semantic aspects and cross-modal correspondences
• consumer psychology in digital and virtual environments
• product/service acceptance in digital and virtual environments
• multisensory digital and virtual retail design
• decision-making in digital and virtual environments
• consciousness in digital environments.

Keywords: Digital reality, e-commerce, marketing, psychology, SETs, virtual reality

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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