"See no evil, hear no evil": inattentional blindness for retail brands between physical and virtual channels

This research aims at investigating if consumers display similar levels of store brand recognition between physical and virtual store environments, by exploring the set of causal relationships through which the virtual store experience affects consumers’ perceptions and intentions toward the retailer’s brand. Results from an experimental study manipulating the store environment (virtual vs. physical) reveal that individuals exposed to a VR-based retail environment perceive higher levels of presence than those exposed to a more traditional, physical store environment, and that such a positive effect is not mediated by individuals’ technological self-efficacy perceptions. Higher levels of presence positively affect involvement that translates in perceptions of enthusiastic personality by the retailer. Store enthusiasm, in turn, affects attitude toward the store that generates higher levels of patronage intentions. Despite the huge presence of inattentional blindness found with regards to the virtual environment, results show that such an image transfer from the store environment to patronage intention still holds even when individuals are not able to correctly recall the store brand.