VIRTUAL REALITY IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN PURCHASE DECISIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC; LITERATURE REVIEW
Background: The development of virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to provide great opportunities for food research and consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore current research methodologies further and build new ones. VR is different from the environment we experience in everyday life. Therefore, the extent to which VR can be applied in research on food consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be assessed based on the evidence provided by VR research. Key findings: VR has been used to construct complex and realistic contextual environments for conducting food sensory evaluation research. VR is also being used as a surrogate (VR Traditional Markets and supermarkets) in real-life settings to investigate consumer buying behavior and food choices during the Covid 19 pandemic. Virtual food and food-related cues are used to induce psychological and physiological responses in consumers. The results support the validity of VR as a tool to investigate consumer behavior towards food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approach: To better understand VR technology and its potential applications and limitations in food research and consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on VR in food research and consumer behavior. The VR applications discussed in the article are reviewed based on several existing literature sources. The validity of VR for food research and consumer behavior is analyzed.
Virtual reality, Food consumer behavior, Sensory evaluation, Eating behavior, Applications, Limitations.