Virtual Reality for the Case of Charity - Effects of using Virtual Reality as a marketing tool for charitable causes

Abstract: Praised for its ability to elicit a sense of being in another world for a brief moment, Virtual Reality technology (VR) has attracted innovative minds across a great variety of industries. Seeing the world through someone else's eyes has suddenly become possible, leading to new possibilities for marketers. Specifically, charitable organizations have paid increasing attention to this medium. VR has been argued to be effective in increasing engagement, donations and enhancing general branding activities. However, VR as a marketing tool, and specifically for charitable organizations, have been sparsely researched scientifically. Hence, there is a knowledge gap that needs to be filled. This thesis sets out to explore how charitable organizations use VR today and what the effects of VR are on consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviour. To address these questions, three separate studies were conducted. Firstly, a qualitative study was conducted to investigate the usage of VR among charitable organizations. Secondly, a controlled experiment was conducted to test the effects of VR in a controlled setting. Lastly, a field experiment was conducted to add depth to the findings and provide room for further analysis. The findings suggest that VR, as compared to traditional 2D film, has a significant and positive effect on perceived ad attitude, presence, empathy, advertising creativity, advertising effort and expense. Also, the medium seems to enhance face-to-face fundraising by increasing traction. However, contrary to the objectives that charitable organizations express themselves, no support was found for an effect on brand attitude, donation intention or donation behaviour. For charitable organizations, these results should confirm that investing in VR marketing efforts can be justified but not expected to lead to a change in behaviour or brand attitude short-term. This study paves the way for future research to explore the topic and the many potential opportunities that lies ahead.