On m-Commerce Adoption and Augmented Reality: A Study on Apparel Buying Using m-Commerce in Indian Context

The present study examines the impact of anthropomorphism and augmented reality (AR) on consumers' attitudes and intention to adopt m-commerce. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted amongst 541 Executive MBA students who had never previously used AR-mediated m-commerce to purchase merchandise from a retail brand. SPSS and AMOS 21 were used to construct a structural equation model to test our conceptual model. The results indicate that anthropomorphization of AR-mediated m-commerce positively affects consumer confidence, perception of innovativeness, and subjective norms attributed to AR-mediated m-commerce, which in-turn positively affect the attitude toward AR-mediated m-commerce. Simultaneously, anthropomorphization of AR-mediated m-commerce negatively affects cynicism and product usage obstructions, whereas cynicism negatively affects attitudes toward AR-mediated m-commerce. Consequently, the study establishes that anthropomorphizing AR-mediated m-commerce positively affects attitude, and it promotes the adoption of m-commerce. This information is crucial for retail industries in emerging markets, and it fills a notable knowledge gap in the AR and m-commerce literature by demonstrating that anthropomorphism helps to stimulate consumer confidence and dispel consumer doubts about AR-mediated m-commerce. It also validates the replacement of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness with confidence and cynicism when applying the technology acceptance model in emerging markets.