Embracing innovation: comprehend young consumers’ willingness to adopt online virtual try-on services in Vietnam

Abstract

Virtual try-on (VTO) technology has revolutionized shopping by enabling consumers to digitally visualize and interact with products before purchasing. Despite its growing popularity, understanding what drives the “Young Generation” - a demographic with strong purchasing power - remains essential. key questions focus on what motivates their engagement with VTO services and how to enhance satisfaction while reducing returns. This study investigates factors influencing young consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward VTO services, using the Stimulus - Organism - Response (S-O-R) framework. “Stimulus” includes elements like Social Interaction, Emotional Value, Convenience, Price Value, Visual Information Acquisition, and inhibitors such as Technical Limitation, Uncertainty and Personalized Service Deficiency. “Organism” reflects emotional and cognitive responses (Attitude), while “Response” represents the Intention to Use. Mixed-methods analysis examines these relationships through factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and regression. Results show that Convenience, Visual Information Acquisition, Emotional Value, and Social Interaction positively influence Attitude, with Convenience being the most impactful. Price Value, Technical Limitation, and Uncertainty are insignificant, indicating young consumers prioritize experience over cost or technical issues. Attitudes strongly predict Intention to Use, emphasizing the importance of emotional and cognitive factors. Social Interaction and Convenience indirectly boost Intention to Use via Attitude, while Visual Information Acquisition aids informed decision-making. Inhibitors like Uncertainty and Personalized Service Deficiency have minimal impact on this demographic. This research extends the S-O-R framework to VTO and offers practical insights for developers and e-commerce businesses, such as improving visualization realism and enabling social sharing. and fostering personalization. Aligning with young consumers’ preferences can enhance satisfaction, reduce returns, and build loyalty. Thereby, the study not only contributes to academic knowledge but also brings practical value helping businesses adapt and develop in the context of fierce competition in the modern market.