Spatial Marketing Research: Leveraging 3D Virtual and Interactive Spaces to Study Marketing Phenomena

Hohenberg, Sebastian; Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten; Behrens, Ronny; Wöhnl, Patrick; Pott, Hanna

Abstract

Research on spatial technologies is expanding rapidly but remains fragmented across diverse literature streams such as metaverse studies, virtual retail simulations, and virtual twins. As a result, their full value for marketing science remains unclear, limiting broader adoption. To overcome this limitation, the authors introduce spatial marketing research as a comprehensive approach for studying marketing phenomena within three-dimensional, virtual, and interactive spaces (3VIS). Drawing on an extensive literature review, they identify four distinct value streams through which 3VIS can advance marketing research: as a research object, application, method, and economical means. To help scholars realize this potential, the authors develop a methodological framework grounded in activity theory, which conceptualizes 3VIS through three core elements: 3D environments (e.g., virtual worlds), interacting entities (e.g., avatars), and access devices (e.g., headsets). This framework clarifies key trade-offs, such as open vs. closed virtual worlds, generic vs. customized entities, and 2D vs. 3D access. The authors further extend this framework into a step-by-step process model that helps researchers design 3VIS studies tailored to research projects’ idiosyncratic validity demands, data needs, and resource constraints. Collectively, the paper contributes (1) a value creation typology and (2) a methodological framework to enable more impactful spatial marketing research.