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Industry chatter about AR’s world-changing status sometimes outweighs evidence that it’s captivating consumers today. Though we see some signals, such as engagement figures from mobile AR players, we’re often flying blind when it comes to consumer AR sentiment.
Looking to fill that gap, AR Insider’s research arm ARtillery Intelligence asks consumers directly how they feel. Working with consumer survey specialist Thrive Analytics, it wrote questions to be fielded to 50,000+ U.S. adults, and produced a report – now in Wave 9 – based on the results.
Among the topics: How is mobile AR resonating with everyday consumers? How often are they using it? How satisfied are they? What types of experiences do they like most? How much are they willing to pay for it? And for those who aren’t interested in mobile AR….why not?
After the last installment of this series examined the aspirational use cases that AR users are most interested in, we now move on to another area of the survey: non-user sentiments. For those who aren’t interested in mobile AR at all, what are their biggest reasons?
Visual & Visceral
Starting at the top, what share of the population has tried mobile AR. As we examined earlier in this series, 39 percent of survey respondents (consisting of U.S. adults) report having engaged with the technology. That leaves 61 percent who haven’t – the segment we’ll focus on today.
Unfortunately, the news is not great for these non-users. When asked why they don’t use AR, the answer they chose most (73 percent) was the rather discouraging “just not interested.” This rather definitive and discouraging sentiment continues to grow over several waves of this survey.
Adding to that, 25 percent report confusion with mobile AR. That includes “I wouldn’t know where to look” (18 percent) and “I’m not sure if my phone is compatible” (7 percent). 10 percent reported interest but not enough to go through the trouble of looking for, and downloading, AR apps.
These sentiments all have one thing in common, which is lack of understanding. That should be a strong demand signal for more education about AR, as well as easier onboarding (more on that in a bit). These goals could be accomplished over time through AR’s cultural assimilation.
As for the “just not interested” crowd, they represent the most damning of non-user responses. It highlights a key “chicken & egg” dilemma: Because AR is so visual and visceral, you have to experience it to really get it. Without that perspective, there’s little motivation to get a first taste.
Marketing Challenge
Stepping back, these results hold deeper meaning when viewed in light of results elsewhere in this survey. Specifically, they stand in stark contrast to current AR user sentiments. As we’ve covered, those users are both satisfied with mobile AR experiences, and engage often.
So the variance in satisfaction for users and non-users underscores AR’s marketing challenge. People love it after they get a taste… but they have to taste it before reaching that affinity. And with AR, it’s difficult to market the experience through traditional two-dimensional mediums.
This will alleviate as mobile AR gradually assimilates into the consumer population through viral and other means. Meanwhile, adoption can be accelerated in a few ways that were uncovered in this survey. For one, gamification and social features can achieve stickiness and network effect.
But a more impactful factor will be reducing friction. Though it’s had ample in-market tenure, AR is too early and unproven to get users to jump through hoops to activate it. So experiences delivered without “activation energy” (e.g., web AR and AR as a Feature), can hit the right marks.
Header image credit: Daniel Herron on Unsplash