Employing Mixed Reality Applications : Customer Experience Perspective

The study analyses twelve empirical cases employing different Mixed Reality (MR) applications: 1) 360-videos, 2) augmented reality (AR) mobile applications, 3) augmented virtuality (AV), and 4) AV+AR. The empirical data in all cases consist of observations of users’ and potential customers’ experiences with different MR applications followed by qualitative interviews. The study assesses how various MR applications can create experience-centric services. The research focus is in service and sensory design as well as in customer experience management. The study results suggest that MR can provide new opportunities for prolonged customer experiences in terms of new encounters and cues, different sensory effects and improved social interactions among business representatives and fellow customers. Furthermore, MR experiences can generate positive word-of-mouth especially in cases with dramatic structures. Finally, the results suggest that the customers' willingness-to-interact with service personnel increase after a MR experience.The study analyses twelve empirical cases employing different Mixed Reality (MR) applications: 1) 360-videos, 2) augmented reality (AR) mobile applications, 3) augmented virtuality (AV), and 4) AV+AR. The empirical data in all cases consist of observations of users’ and potential customers’ experiences with different MR applications followed by qualitative interviews. The study assesses how various MR applications can create experience-centric services. The research focus is in service and sensory design as well as in customer experience management. The study results suggest that MR can provide new opportunities for prolonged customer experiences in terms of new encounters and cues, different sensory effects and improved social interactions among business representatives and fellow customers. Furthermore, MR experiences can generate positive word-of-mouth especially in cases with dramatic structures. Finally, the results suggest that the customers' willingness-to-interact with service personnel increase after a MR experience.Peer reviewe

Exploring the future use of forests : perceptions from non-industrial private forest owners in Finland

The transformation of the forest sector toward a bioeconomy calls for finding new sources of competitive advantage for the whole sector to retain its future viability. Non-industrial private forest owners are an important group of actors in the Finnish forest-based sector, as they supply 80% of industrial roundwood and control numerous other tangible and intangible forest-based ecosystem services. Our study analyzes forest owner views on the future use of forests in Finland, their perceptions on the evolving sectorial interlinkages and the position of the forest sector now and in the future bioeconomy. The data were collected in two phases: through telephone interviews of forest owners (n=278) and four focus group (FG) discussions (n=17), and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The interviews showed that forest owners consider the highest potential for strengthening the sector toward bioeconomy to come from collaboration with energy and construction businesses. During the FG phase, we identified new possibilities founded on forest-based recreational services, cooperation with nature-based tourism and in increasing value-added wood products. In total, forest owners as a high-involvement group emphasized future value creation to be based upon forest ecosystem services and in diversifying the utilization of forests beyond the dominant raw material-driven mindset.Peer reviewe