Evaluation of consumer neurophysiological and behavioral responses in digital environments

Assessing consumer responses to digital communications in immersive Extended Reality (XR) environments is becoming a challenge for
academics and marketing managers that, in turn, is driven by the metaverse approach. For example, immersive technologies such as
Virtual Reality (VR) are expected to change the way consumers search for information in their purchasing processes; Its potential is clear
since market-leading companies (e.g., Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft) are investing heavily in these technologies.
This project aims to contribute to the challenge "Digital world, industry, space and defense" and to do so it focuses on understanding of the
creation process and use of digital communications in the service sector through social networks and extended reality. The general
purpose of this project is to contribute to the consumer behavior research based on improving the understanding of consumer
neurophysiological and behavioral responses in high (Extended Reality) and low immersion (social networking sites) digital purchasing
environments, paying special attention to gender. The objectives are three-folded: (i) The neuro_evaluation of consumer responses to
digital communications (message and format) in emotions, brand choice and recommendation; (ii) the evaluation of immersive shopping
experiences (virtual reality and augmented reality) with the presence/absence of male/female avatars in brand choice and (iii) to analyze
the relationship between consumer sentiment on social networks about services and emotions, assessment of the service and style of the
review. In this proposal, two sectors of high economic-business interest have been chosen (services
tourism and retailing) for the Spanish economy, with a wide presence in the digital environment and on social networks. The results will
allow an advance in scientific knowledge and in turn will offer organizations of destination marketing (multiple throughout Spain), tour
operators, retail companies and other social agents opportunities to increase the value of their customers' experience, thus improving their
competitiveness worldwide.