Realism and Credibility in Mobile Virtual Environments: User Engagement with VR and 360◦ Video in a Virtual Coffee Shop

Abstract

This study applied a within-subjects experimental design to examine user engagement, perceived realism, and credibility when experiencing a virtual organic coffee shop through two immersive formats: Virtual Reality (VR) and 360° video. The VR system recreated a Hmong hill tribe café in Chiang Rai, Thailand, while the 360° video documented the authentic organic coffee production process from seed to roast. Forty-one participants experienced both systems in a counterbalanced order. The findings revealed a complex pattern of results: while initial Wilcoxon signed-rank tests found no significant differences between formats when comparing individual matched variables (p > 0.05), comprehensive analysis with Benjamini-Hochberg corrections revealed that VR demonstrated significantly superior presence (Z = −4.10, p < 0.001, r = 0.64), engagement (Z = −4.50, p < 0.001, r = 0.70), and spatial realism (Z = −3.85, p = 0.002, r = 0.60) with large effect sizes. A mixed-effects ordinal regression model confirmed VR’s advantage in purchase intent (β = 0.68, p = 0.011). Crucially, system usability emerged as a critical factor, showing very strong correlations with both overall user experience ($\rho = 0.82$, p $< 0.001$) and purchase intent ($\rho = 0.70$, p $< 0.001$) regardless of medium. The relationship between perceived authenticity and satisfaction was particularly strong ($\rho = 0.55$, p $< 0.001$), while presence ($\rho = 0.42$, p = 0.006$) and credibility ($\rho = 0.46$, p = 0.003$) showed moderate positive associations with purchase intent. These findings demonstrate that while the measurement approach significantly influences detected differences between immersive media, the translation of immersion into consumer behaviour depends on multiple psychological factors, including usability, credibility, and authenticity, rather than the choice of medium alone.