Virtual Reality Experience Marketing (Nissan Sakura Case Study in Vrchat Application)

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the possibility of using virtual reality (VR) technology as an experience marketing tool, enabling the building of ties between the brand and the consumer, based on deep emotions, trans­lating into an increased liking for the company and attachment to its com­mercial offer. The analysis was based on a literature study on social com­munication, marketing communication and VR, as well as a case study of the Nissan Sakura electric car brand in the VRChat application, which was launched in May 2022, simultaneously on the Japanese market and in the Metaverse. The analysis of VR technology, carried out on the example of the VR experience „NISSAN SAKURA Driving Island” in the VRChat application shows that VR meets in practice the assumptions of experience marketing and can potentially be an effective tool for shaping attitudes and behaviors influencing the purchasing decisions of consumers on the automotive mar­ket. Nevertheless, due to the innovative nature of the tool, it does not cur­rently provide the possibility of reaching a mass audience with the market­ing message. The application nature of the work is related to the indication of the conditions, benefits and limitations of the use of VR technology in ac­tivities aimed at shaping attitudes and behaviors, influencing the purchas­ing decisions of consumers in the automotive market. Contrary to the liter­ature in the field of social and marketing communication and the automo­tive market, which is very wide, issues related to VR technology are the area of interest of only a small group of researchers. Given the growing popular­ity of VR technology, knowledge of the possibility of using it to shape atti­tudes and behaviors that influence consumer purchasing decisions in the automotive market may turn out to be valuable both for theoreticians and marketing practitioners.