Contemporary issues in marketing

This article discusses the contemporary issues in marketing, specifically focusing on virtual reality (VR) marketing. It explores the impact of VR on the international marketing scene and identifies important issues such as pricing, content, security, and health effects. The article also provides examples of companies, such as Apple, Coca-Cola, and Nestle Purina, that have successfully incorporated VR technology into their marketing strategies.

RUNNING HEAD: Contemporary issues in marketing
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Contemporary issues in marketing

Contemporary issues in marketing 1
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Literature review...................................................................................................................................2
Important issues related to virtual reality marketing..............................................................................3
Examples with the critical review..........................................................................................................4
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The virtual reality (VR) has transformed the shopping experience. It is a completely
immersive experience which allows users to interact with the virtual world. It is a complete
immersion experience which shuts out the physical world. The virtual marketing is used by
marketers to adopt and advance changing the technological background. It assists marketers
to become enormously relevant as early adopters. The VR has redefined the retail marketing.
VR helps retailers to find impressive ways to share their brand details with the customers. It
offers retailers to stand out from the competition, attract new customers and enhancing the
sale. It helps in capturing the curiosity over the media and building more immersive retail
experiences. The retailers are benefitted hugely from the trend as they view the prospects to
leverage VR to assist in selling and educating customers. The customers can be entertained
with the virtual experience of the offerings. It complements the attractive colorful images,
comprehensive product description, and reviews which is used by the customers in making an
online buying decision. VR is effective in understanding the journey of customers in a better
way. It analyses the customer shopping patterns and such data can be used by the businesses
in dominating the market place. This report includes a small literature review on VR
marketing. The important issues related to VR marketing are also identified in the report. The
examples are also given with the critical review of the VR.
Literature review
According to Sutcliffe, et al. 2019, VR is an increasing area of technological advancement.
The concept of the VR was introduced in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was initially used for
military purpose. The scope of virtual reality is increasing day by day in business activities.
The customers can be effectively immersed in the responsive virtual world (Sutcliffe, et al.
2019). The VR integrates a set of technologies which enables people to immersively
experience a world beyond reality. The virtual reality marketing gives rise to both
opportunities and challenges in the international marketing scene. The international
marketing scenario holds great opportunity for organizations to sell products. Yet some
organizations constantly struggle to succeed from the innovative platforms and tap into the
conforming immense virtual economy.
The VR is still in the initial phases internationally with the companies like Samsung, HTC
and Oculus. VR is still growing internationally. It is opening up the market for the retailers.

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VR possibly offers the data and analytics which could benefit international retailers. It can
even assist in reducing marketing costs along with the product returns. For instance,
companies like Google, Apple, and Samsung are evolving reasonable standalone applications
which operate on mobile phones (Whyte and Nikolić, 2018). VR applications are effective in
shaping the future of international marketing. It is even proposed to become a content
marketing trend and expected to transform the way business is conducted. The products can
be promoted internationally in a better way through the VR. It also reduces the cost of online
promotion as the internet is capable of interacting with lots of customers. It also saves the
amount to spend on the advertisements (Paes and Irizarry, 2018). The customer service is also
enhanced internationally through the VR. It also compares the prices of different products.
According to Freeman, et al. 2017, VR is relevance for the students as it demonstrates the
practical process. The students can know the advantages of using VR in the business along
with the challenges. It can even provide fresh ideas to them. The students can even learn the
intricacies of marketing in the international environment (Freeman, et al. 2017). The
marketplace has expanded in international nature. It is relevant for the students as the
technology shrinks the world and made easier for the companies to reach global markets. The
students can even gain potential in enabling laws of the comparative advantage. The
communication is made possible through VR (Larsen, et al. 2018).
VR has become a new media phenomenon and increasing interest in contemporary
marketing. The interest in the VR has increased among marketing. VR is related to influencer
marketing as the phenomenon of contemporary marketing. The influencer marketing
concentrates on using leaders to drive a message of the brand to the larger market. The
influencers are anticipated to spread the world through social channels (Barzuza, et al. 2018).
Important issues related to virtual reality marketing
The VR seems an impeccable money-making opportunity. VR issues centers around the
misidentification if the problems along with the misuse of the strategies employed to promote
advertising (Greenwald, et al. 2017). A business expanding operations on the international
level is required to follow some guidelines. The issues related to VR marketing are:
The price is too high: The price is one of the barriers faced by the industry. The development
costs a person anywhere from $8000 (for a simple game) to $100,000. A basic VR e-
commerce shop development is almost around $15-25K, reliant on the requirements. The

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other issue is also headsets. Although, Google has started selling cheap cardboard VR heads
for $15 some customers contemplate the gear quite costly in the comparison of Oculus Rift
(costs around $599) or HTC vibe (costs around $799). For instance, If a custom VR e-
commerce mobile app is developed and the people using app truly buy anything there? If the
answer is yes then it is great.
Content: There is still a need to improve the quality in terms of the VR content. It is really a
big challenge to engage in the innovative content for the VR industry. There already exists a
killer feature-VR, interaction with anything imagined. The killer app can do impartiality.
There is no much convincing content which uses VR to the full potential at a moment
(Parsons, Maclaran and Chatzidakis, 2017). It still figures outs the way it can be done. On the
other side, the gaming industry is considered the most profitable market for VR but there are
untapped opportunities in other fields like science, education, art, commerce and military
(Bastug, et al. 2017). The VR has the most unique vision in retail. There are already several
AR applications for e-commerce like Sephora and IKEA. In such a situation, it seems like
VR is going to be a natural evolution.
Lack of feasible monetization models: The money-related issues are also faced in VR. It is
one of the key factors in strong growth and competition in the industry. If revenue cannot be
made out of such venture than it is impossible to go anywhere. It is the scenario of the current
state of the VR industry (Alon, Jaffe, Prange and Vianelli, 2016).
Security: cyber security is considered a complex issue in the industry. It is mainly precarious
for the VR to come up with the appropriate solution. The cyber-attacks can disrupt the
industry and throw it back to many years in terms of audience acceptance along with the trust
of the investors. There is also a wide dominion of unknown regarding the security issues in
VR. There are also several unknown unknowns (Diemer, et al. 2015).
Health effects: The health effects are also another big issue faced by businesses. This issue is
also an industry-crushing issue. The long term effects are barely discovered. The facts
concerning temporary side effects regarding misuse of VR gear like nausea, headache, vision,
and queasiness (Sherman and Craig, 2018).

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Examples with the critical review
The VR reality has come to a long way from halting, animated games and headgear. There is
also a new app of the technology that has become charming in the industry. For instance,
Fanta (product of Coca-Cola) has teamed up with the online game league of legends to unveil
production of limited edition packs. It can be even folded and repurposed into VR headsets.
The audience will also be able to test the VR experience with the animated Fanta-themed
roller coaster ride. Thereafter, goggles can be used constantly in order to enjoy whatever VR
content downloaded into smartphones. The rollout way resulted effectively so that plans are
already happening to launch production of free DIY goggles on a broader scale (Glegg and
Levac, 2018).
Apple has been using VR technologies for more than ten years centered on the patent filings.
The VR has become popular with the launch of the ARKit. The dabbling of Apple is rising
more solemn and can lead to the actual dedicated VR product in the near future. Apple has a
secret research unit working on the VR. It explores the emerging technologies to be used in
future products. Several VR companies are also acquired by Apple which keeps on
suggesting to the company. The VR support is used in Metal 2 in macOS High Sierra and iOS
11. The company even launched ARkit API which lets developers create AR based
applications and games. Apple is also working on the VR headset which is quite different
from available in the market (Lindsey Carstens and Carroll, 2017). It will comprise features
like 8K display for each eye which would be untethered from computer or smartphone. The
headset will also be connected to the dedicated box by using high-speed short range wireless
technology known as 60GHz WiGig.
The VR has helped Nestle Purina to drive retail innovation and move beyond the physical
boundaries. Nestle Purina deliveries dog food, litter, cat food, and pet care solutions. It has an
enhanced concept to the in-store execution time (Slater and Sanchez-Vives, 2016). The
company identified that physical build-out of planograms; shelf ideas and category concepts
were time taking and necessitated a lot of space along with the difficulty in execution and
were quite expensive. The retail environment also comprised a rapid pace. The company
researched new and innovative technologies which are leveled up to speed with the varying
marketplace. It would result in allowingthe company to drive better collaboration with the
retail partners (North, North and Coble, 2015). After searching for various new technologies,
the company decided to invest in the VR, mainly SR virtual store technology. The technology
enables to create multiple scenarios and repetitions ina fast and efficient manner. The

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technology engages customers in the innovative way. The VR provides customized solutions
and enables to make changes on the regular basis. It provided benefit to the company as
seven out of ten customer engagements comprise virtual demonstrations.
Conclusion
The VR is rapidly becoming a way to sidestep the physical limitations. It drives retail
innovation and moves beyond the physical boundaries. VRtakes people inside the showcased
concept. The devices like VR took so long to find a place in the market. It is perfect money
making opportunity for the companies. VR has transformed the shopping experience and
allows users to interact with the virtual world. It has been observed that the retailers are
benefitted immensely as they view the prospects to leverage VR to assist in selling and
educating customers. It analyses the customer shopping patterns to be used as the data to plan
the next product. The VR assimilates a set of technologies which allows people to
immersively experience a world beyond reality. The virtual reality marketing gives upsurge
to both opportunities and challenges in the international marketing scene. Along with the
access in the international market, the issues are also identified which are faced by the VR
related to prices, content, security and health effects. The VR technology is used by
companies like Apple, Coca-Cola and Nestle Purina has attained popularity in engaging
customers.

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References
Alon, I., Jaffe, E., Prange, C. and Vianelli, D., 2016. Global marketing: contemporary theory,
practice, and cases. Routledge.
Barzuza, T., Wiener, Y. and Modai, O., Avaya Inc, 2018. Presentation of enhanced
communication between remote participants using augmented and virtual reality. U.S. Patent
9,959,676.
Bastug, E., Bennis, M., Médard, M. and Debbah, M., 2017. Toward interconnected virtual
reality: Opportunities, challenges, and enablers. IEEE Communications Magazine, 55(6),
pp.110-117.
Diemer, J., Alpers, G.W., Peperkorn, H.M., Shiban, Y. and Mühlberger, A., 2015. The impact
of perception and presence on emotional reactions: a review of research in virtual
reality. Frontiers in psychology, 6, p.26.
Freeman, D., Reeve, S., Robinson, A., Ehlers, A., Clark, D., Spanlang, B. and Slater, M.,
2017. Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health
disorders. Psychological medicine, 47(14), pp.2393-2400.
Glegg, S.M.N. and Levac, D.E., 2018. Barriers, facilitators and interventions to support
virtual reality implementation in rehabilitation: a scoping review. PM&R, 10(11), pp.1237-
1251.
Greenwald, S., Kulik, A., Kunert, A., Beck, S., Frohlich, B., Cobb, S., Parsons, S., Newbutt,
N., Gouveia, C., Cook, C. and Snyder, A., 2017. Technology and applications for
collaborative learning in virtual reality.
Larsen, E., Umminger, F., Ye, X., Rimon, N., Stafford, J.R. and Lou, X., Sony Interactive
Entertainment Inc, 2018. Methods and systems for user interaction within virtual reality
scene using head mounted display. U.S. Patent Application 10/073,516.
Lindsey, S., Carstens, D. and Carroll, M., 2017. Presence Level of Low Cost Controllers for
Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets. Journal of Management & Engineering
Integration, 10(1), pp.59-63.

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North, M.M., North, S.M. and Coble, J.R., 2015. Virtual reality therapy: an effective
treatment for the fear of public speaking. International Journal of Virtual Reality
(IJVR), 3(3), pp.1-6.
Paes, D. and Irizarry, J., 2018. A Usability Study of an Immersive Virtual Reality Platform
for Building Design Review: Considerations on Human Factors and User Interface.
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consumer behaviour. Routledge.
Sherman, W.R. and Craig, A.B., 2018. Understanding virtual reality: Interface, application,
and design. Morgan Kaufmann.
Slater, M. and Sanchez-Vives, M.V., 2016. Enhancing our lives with immersive virtual
reality. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3, p.74.
Sutcliffe, A.G., Poullis, C., Gregoriades, A., Katsouri, I., Tzanavari, A. and Herakleous, K.,
2019. Reflecting on the design process for virtual reality applications. International Journal
of Human–Computer Interaction, 35(2), pp.168-179.
Whyte, J. and Nikolić, D., 2018. Virtual reality and the built environment. Routledge.