Sample of relevant literature on the role of immersive technologies on user well-being
| Study (type) | Research objectives | Key findings |
|---|---|---|
| Zhou et al. (2026) (empirical) | To examine how shared vs solo VR tourism experiences affect older adults’ life satisfaction by integrating socioemotional selectivity theory, social presence theory and self-determination theory | Shared VR tourism experiences significantly enhance older adults’ life satisfaction through increased sense of meaning, with stronger effects observed among those with higher external engagement and prior social isolation |
| Liyanaarachchi et al. (2026) (conceptual) | To examine how consumers navigate ethical and privacy tensions in VR retail environments and how these tensions influence their well-being | Consumers adopt either an ethical or pragmatic perspective when engaging with VR retail, balancing moral concerns and experiential benefits, with well-being shaped by a tension between virtue-based values and privacy-related psychological conflict |
| Alimamy et al. (2025) Alimamy and Jung (2025) (conceptual) | To propose a conceptual model explaining how AR cloud (ARC) enhances value co-creation in metaverse service interactions and contributes to hedonic and eudemonic well-being outcomes | The study suggests that ARC enables more contextualised, personalised and socially engaging service interactions, charting a course for future research on ARC and consumer well-being |
| Singh et al. (2025) (empirical) | Identify the perceived positive and negative values influencing customer engagement and subjective well-being in the retail metaverse | A specific combination of positive values (e.g. convenience, personalisation, relational benefits) and negative values (e.g. privacy and performance risks) supports high subjective well-being and customer engagement. Effectively managing negative affordances (e.g. mitigating privacy and security risks) alongside strong positive affordances may enhance well-being outcomes |
| Rafi et al. (2024) (empirical) | Identify the role of social, spatial and self-presence on user well-being in metaverse communities based on affordance theory and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis | Social, spatial and self-presence significantly influence metaverse user well-being. These relationships are mediated by social support and social connectedness |
| Zhang and Xiao (2024) (empirical) | Investigate the relationship between virtual tourism and psychological well-being based on a grounded theory approach | Virtual tourism, which uses immersive virtual technologies, enhances three dimensions of consumer well-being: natural harmony, self-flourishing and detached state |
| Hajian et al. (2024) (conceptual) | Review the empirical metaverse literature and summarise the effects of and barriers to metaverse adoption | The metaverse has beneficial effects on behavioural and organisational outcomes, including better mental health via digital health care, flipped learning and cultural interactions. This may be supported by the technology acceptance model and cognitive theory |
| Lim et al. (2024) (empirical) | Understand how an improved capacity for impression management in the metaverse work environment is linked to employee well-being and equity | Gamers, marginalised individuals in traditional job settings (e.g. women and people of colour), and those experiencing greater virtual meeting fatigue are more likely to pay for avatar customisation. These users may benefit from innovative strategies for impression management, resulting in improved well-being |
| Dwivedi, Hughes et al. (2023) (conceptual) | Analyse the potential effect of the metaverse on the future of consumer research and marketing practices | The metaverse has the potential to enhance well-being by providing services that address social challenges such as healthcare accessibility and education. This could result in increased life satisfaction across diverse demographics |
| Ambika et al. (2023) (empirical) | Examine consumer self-discovery in the context of AR-based makeup, grooming applications and filters | Digital tools facilitate the exploration of previously unrecognised aspects of consumers’ self-concept, leading to improved decision-making and consumer well-being |
| Choi et al. (2023) (empirical) | Explore the positive effects (i.e. mood management) of a social metaverse on consumers’ life satisfaction and metaverse usage intentions | Improved positive moods and reduced negative moods positively influence life satisfaction and well-being, boosting consumers’ intentions to use the metaverse more frequently. The mediating role of life satisfaction suggests that metaverse experiences promote well-being by fulfilling users’ basic psychological needs |
| van Brakel et al. (2023) (empirical) | Quantitatively examine whether feelings of social presence and self-presence in social VR platforms predict perceived social support | Feelings of social presence and self-presence predict perceived social support, enhancing subjective well-being. Women tend to perceive social support more strongly than men, but perceptions vary according to the platform |
| Zarantonello et al. (2024) (empirical) | Investigate the effect of natural and technological consumption experiences on consumer well-being | Both natural and technological experiences may influence pleasure, meaning and life satisfaction, depending on two personal characteristics: consumer mindfulness and fatigue. When consumer mindfulness is high, experience type does not affect pleasure and meaning because users consistently achieve high levels of these well-being dimensions. However, when mindfulness is low, experience type does affect pleasure |
| Barreda-Ángeles and Hartmann (2022) (empirical) | Explore how feelings of presence in social VR platforms influence user activities and psychological well-being outcomes (i.e. relatedness, enjoyment and self-expansion) during COVID-19 | Spatial presence enhances all three psychological well-being outcomes, while social presence enhances relatedness and enjoyment but not self-expansion. Social virtual activities (e.g. gathering with friends) enhance feelings of relatedness and enjoyment, while playful and creative pursuits facilitate self-expansion. Social distancing regulations increased platform usage, indicating that social VR platforms may address certain unmet psychological needs and contribute to user well-being |
| Javornik et al. (2022) (empirical) | Examine user motivations for using AR filters in social media and the effect on user well-being | Users engage in authentic, ideal or transformed self-presentation via AR face filters. User motivations for using AR face filters include creative content curation and social engagement. The effects of filter use on well-being may be beneficial or detrimental depending on user motivations |
| Dodds et al. (2022) (conceptual) | Explore the effect of blended human–technology healthcare services on user well-being | A blend of human and technological healthcare services can promote user autonomy and collaborative decision-making, improving overall well-being |
| Pala et al. (2022) (empirical) | Explore the effect of immersive technologies on consumer experience and decision-making; examine the physiological and perceptual boundaries of consumer pleasure in immersive experiences; and suggest methods to enhance engagement | Users view short and managed VR experiences as more pleasurable and beneficial, boosting their sense of well-being |
| Fernández et al. (2017) (empirical) | Investigate the social benefits of digital visualisation technologies on senior citizens, particularly in terms of personal and social well-being | Once senior citizens learn to use immersive technologies and mobile phones, they are inspired to engage with them, boosting their well-being. These tools offer improved access to sociocultural information and content, communication and sharing with others, and entertainment |
| Study (type) | Research objectives | Key findings |
|---|---|---|
| To examine how shared vs solo | Shared | |
| To examine how consumers navigate ethical and privacy tensions in | Consumers adopt either an ethical or pragmatic perspective when engaging with | |
| Alimamy | To propose a conceptual model explaining how | The study suggests that |
| Identify the perceived positive and negative values influencing customer engagement and subjective well-being in the retail metaverse | A specific combination of positive values (e.g. convenience, personalisation, relational benefits) and negative values (e.g. privacy and performance risks) supports high subjective well-being and customer engagement. Effectively managing negative affordances (e.g. mitigating privacy and security risks) alongside strong positive affordances may enhance well-being outcomes | |
| Identify the role of social, spatial and self-presence on user well-being in metaverse communities based on affordance theory and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis | Social, spatial and self-presence significantly influence metaverse user well-being. These relationships are mediated by social support and social connectedness | |
| Investigate the relationship between virtual tourism and psychological well-being based on a grounded theory approach | Virtual tourism, which uses immersive virtual technologies, enhances three dimensions of consumer well-being: natural harmony, self-flourishing and detached state | |
| Review the empirical metaverse literature and summarise the effects of and barriers to metaverse adoption | The metaverse has beneficial effects on behavioural and organisational outcomes, including better mental health via digital health care, flipped learning and cultural interactions. This may be supported by the technology acceptance model and cognitive theory | |
| Understand how an improved capacity for impression management in the metaverse work environment is linked to employee well-being and equity | Gamers, marginalised individuals in traditional job settings (e.g. women and people of colour), and those experiencing greater virtual meeting fatigue are more likely to pay for avatar customisation. These users may benefit from innovative strategies for impression management, resulting in improved well-being | |
| Analyse the potential effect of the metaverse on the future of consumer research and marketing practices | The metaverse has the potential to enhance well-being by providing services that address social challenges such as healthcare accessibility and education. This could result in increased life satisfaction across diverse demographics | |
| Examine consumer self-discovery in the context of AR-based makeup, grooming applications and filters | Digital tools facilitate the exploration of previously unrecognised aspects of consumers’ self-concept, leading to improved decision-making and consumer well-being | |
| Explore the positive effects (i.e. mood management) of a social metaverse on consumers’ life satisfaction and metaverse usage intentions | Improved positive moods and reduced negative moods positively influence life satisfaction and well-being, boosting consumers’ intentions to use the metaverse more frequently. The mediating role of life satisfaction suggests that metaverse experiences promote well-being by fulfilling users’ basic psychological needs | |
| Quantitatively examine whether feelings of social presence and self-presence in social | Feelings of social presence and self-presence predict perceived social support, enhancing subjective well-being. Women tend to perceive social support more strongly than men, but perceptions vary according to the platform | |
| Investigate the effect of natural and technological consumption experiences on consumer well-being | Both natural and technological experiences may influence pleasure, meaning and life satisfaction, depending on two personal characteristics: consumer mindfulness and fatigue. When consumer mindfulness is high, experience type does not affect pleasure and meaning because users consistently achieve high levels of these well-being dimensions. However, when mindfulness is low, experience type does affect pleasure | |
| Explore how feelings of presence in social | Spatial presence enhances all three psychological well-being outcomes, while social presence enhances relatedness and enjoyment but not self-expansion. Social virtual activities (e.g. gathering with friends) enhance feelings of relatedness and enjoyment, while playful and creative pursuits facilitate self-expansion. Social distancing regulations increased platform usage, indicating that social | |
| Examine user motivations for using | Users engage in authentic, ideal or transformed self-presentation via | |
| Explore the effect of blended human–technology healthcare services on user well-being | A blend of human and technological healthcare services can promote user autonomy and collaborative decision-making, improving overall well-being | |
| Explore the effect of immersive technologies on consumer experience and decision-making; examine the physiological and perceptual boundaries of consumer pleasure in immersive experiences; and suggest methods to enhance engagement | Users view short and managed | |
| Investigate the social benefits of digital visualisation technologies on senior citizens, particularly in terms of personal and social well-being | Once senior citizens learn to use immersive technologies and mobile phones, they are inspired to engage with them, boosting their well-being. These tools offer improved access to sociocultural information and content, communication and sharing with others, and entertainment |
AR: augmented reality; VR: virtual reality
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