Rethinking methodologies to study immersive experiences in the food context

Abstract

This research note examines the phenomenological dimensions and methodological challenges encountered when empirically studying immersive consumer experiences. The study focuses on the use of Extended Reality (XR) technologies in a wine tasting context, with the objective of reflecting on the suitability of traditional experimental paradigms for capturing immersive experiences. We report findings from a mixed-methods study comprising a between-subjects experiment comparing two immersive formats (VR CAVE vs. VR headsets) with 111 participants, followed by interviews with a purposive sub-sample of nine participants. While XR environments offer promising opportunities for consumer engagement, the quantitative results did not support the hypothesized mediation effects, prompting a qualitative follow-up to explore underlying experiential and procedural factors. The qualitative analysis reveals that Immersion Inhibition Bias, social presence dynamics, and the temporal structuring of experimental procedures can significantly constrain participants’ ability to enter immersive experiential states. Rather than positioning the experiment as a definitive empirical test, this research note uses the study as a contextual background to expose methodological tensions inherent in immersive experience research. Based on these insights, we propose methodological directions for future studies, including hybrid experimental designs embedded in real-world settings, longitudinal immersion approaches, and multimodal data collection incorporating physiological measures. By advancing methodological reflection on immersive experience research, this research note contributes to ongoing debates on immersive experience design and measurement, with implications for both academic research and industry practice.