The impact of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional content on consumers´ experience satisfaction and word-of-mouth intention in event marketing

Abstract

There are several studies on various immersive technologies, which are widely used in many industries, in various marketing fields, in the era of rapid comprehensive digitalization. However, there is not enough research, especially on the impact of 2D and 3D content on consumer satisfaction and word-of-mouth intentions in the event marketing context. This study aimed to find out whether 3D visual stimulation compared to similar 2D one results in greater consumer satisfaction with the video content viewed, a stronger word-of-mouth intention regarding the content. UK respondents were invited to participate in an experiment by answering an online questionnaire. For this purpose, two identical videos were produced and posted on YouTube. The main difference among them was the type of visual object: the first video was in 2D, the second had 3D effects. Testing involved determining consumers' satisfaction with the content, their intention to talk about what they saw, and whether surprise mediated satisfaction and word-of-mouth intention. Several independent samples t tests and Spas analysis were conducted to understand how consumer satisfaction and wordof- mouth intentions differ between 2D and 3D conditions. Through experimental analysis, the two of four hypotheses were rejected. The surprise of seeing 3D images didn’t cause more positive intention to talk about them as well as word-of-mouth intentions happened to be not stronger than from seeing its 2D analog. This may be due to limitations of the experiment and the chosen scale, posing challenges for further research. Regarding consumer satisfaction, the thesis proved that when looking at 3D objects, it will be higher than when looking at 2D objects. Thereby, the experiment fully demonstrated the surprise in the direct impact. This result demonstrates the importance of understanding the concept of surprise in event marketing activities. Marketers can count on more positive consumer satisfaction in their work through the use of 3D visual stimuli. This research provides useful information for those implementing immersive content in their work.