Anticipating the Manipulative Risks of Advertising in Virtual Reality

Abstract

As Virtual Reality (VR) technologies become increasingly popular, so too will VR advertising - advertising that takes place in a VR medium. The defining features of VR devices, such as the immersiveness of VR and the ability of VR devices to recreate and replace reality, could be exploited to create manipulative VR advertisements that trick and deceive VR users. Even though VR advertisements are not yet mainstream, to understand and mitigate these risks it is imperative to study them now, rather than wait until VR advertising (and harms within them) are established and mainstream, and so difficult to address. In this thesis, I studied the risks that VR advertising poses. I focus on one specific risk, that of manipulation, and answer two research questions: (1) What are the manipulative risks that VR advertisements pose? and (2) What are VR users’ attitudes and concerns regarding VR advertisements? This thesis presents three studies that address these questions. In the first study, I used scenario construction to understand what are the key features of VR advertising and uncover key ways through which VR advertising can be manipulative. I highlight that VR advertisements will have increased immersiveness and increased realism; they will allow VR users to interact and preview products before buying them; and they will likely be hyperpersonalized and customized towards individual VR users. I subsequently discuss how these techniques can be used to manipulate VR users through the usage of misleading experience marketing, appeals to emotion, and targeting consumer vulnerabilities through hyperpersonalization. In the second study, I examined existing VR advertisements through walkthroughs to understand manipulative risks present in existing VR advertisements. I confirm the use of gamification and product previews in VR, and uncover three additional manipulative risks: the use of distressing events to advertise product (shockvertising); how VR advertising can allow users to embody of characters with certain traits; and a lack of appropriate exit options for VR. I also discover new risks, such as the risk for physical and emotional harms, and inconsistencies regarding how VR advertisements disclose their data practices. In the final study, I interviewed VR users (n=22) to understand VR user concerns regarding VR advertising. I find that the largest concern is with forced, unskippable VR advertisements and how in-app VR advertisements can interrupt the user experience and ruin the immersiveness of VR experiences. With regard to manipulation, participants were worried about how VR advertising might manipulate vulnerable populations (such as children or compulsive shoppers). However, many of our participants did not consider manipulation a concern or a serious risk. This was mediated by resignation towards manipulative advertising and an illusion of invulnerability. Through this work, I contribute a list of manipulative risks that VR advertisements present and contextualize these risks with how VR users perceive them. This in turn provides key insights to improve the VR advertising space and create VR ads that are non-manipulative and best align with VR users’ needs and wants.