Augmented Reality Adoption: Exploring Security Concerns and Consumer Resourcefulness in the Era of Society 5.0

Abstract

ABSTRACTSociety 5.0, building its foundation on industry 4.0, defines the concept of super smart cities as places where humans can adapt novel technologies such as augmented reality (AR) in their daily lives. AR brought its consumers an immersive and hybrid experience, blurring the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds. This study explores the user adoption of AR, an interactive technology, in the e‐commerce domain in the present era of Society 5.0. This study seeks to address the question of what factors drive the consumer's adoption of AR while shopping online and how security concern and technostress (TS) impact their intention towards its use and its actual usage behaviour. This research offers a novel perspective and fills a gap in the existing literature by integrating consumers' security concerns and TS, previously unexplored factors, in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The ability of the UTAUT model, over the earlier technology adoption models, to incorporate context‐specific factors makes it significantly relevant for studying AR adoption, a technology blending the virtual and real world. A modified UTAUT‐based questionnaire assessed relevant factors influencing this behaviour. This study employed a quantitative, cross‐sectional survey design to apprehend a broad range of users and to investigate consumer perceptions and adoption of AR in online shopping. Purposive sampling ensured that respondents were aligned with the research context and were knowledgeable about the use of AR in the e‐commerce domain and its relevant applications, thereby strengthening the validity of the study findings. A two‐staged partial least square structural equation modelling–artificial neural network (PLS‐SEM–ANN) data analysis approach was used to determine the study's findings. The meaningful responses collected from 457 respondents were analysed using this targeted approach for in‐depth insights. The synthesis of the study's analysis suggests that personal innovativeness towards information technology and security concerns are critical drivers of intention and actual usage. Interestingly, TS and social influence emerged as non‐significant, indicating a nuanced view of the UTAUT model in this context. A possible explanation for their insignificance lies in the present generation's ability to rapidly adapt to new technologies and make autonomous decisions, reducing reliance on peer influence. By understanding these factors, the research seeks to pave the way for the efficacious integration of AR within the e‐commerce domain. It further emphasizes the significance of consumer resourcefulness, a gap in current research, for bridging the intention‐usage gap. This focus on consumers’ personal innovativeness towards IT, security concerns and consumer resourcefulness provides valuable insights for e‐commerce platforms seeking to drive successful AR adoption. The study explores how well AR will be accepted and used, informing scholarly researchers and businesses on making AR‐integrated online shopping successful.