Enhancing Consumer Insights Through VR Metaphor Elicitation

In consumer research, understanding consumer behavior and experiences is vital for making informed decisions about product design, innovation and marketing. Zaltman's Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) leverages metaphors and non-verbal communication to uncover and gain deeper insights into consumers' thoughts and emotions. This paper introduces a novel system that enables consumer researchers (interviewers) to perform a modified version of metaphor elicitation interviews in virtual reality (VR). Consumers (participants) use 3D objects in the virtual environment to express their thoughts and emotions, instead of pictures conventionally used in a ZMET interview. The system features an asymmetric setup where the participant is immersed in VR using a head-mounted display (HMD), while the interviewer views the participant's perspective on a monitor. We discuss the technical and design aspects of the VR system and present the results of a user study (N=17) that we conducted to validate the effectiveness of performing the metaphor elicitation interviews in VR. This work also explores the experiences of both participants and interviewers during the interview sessions, aiming to identify potential improvements. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data demonstrated how immersion, presence and embodied interaction positively affect and aid in sense-making and deeper expression of the participants' thoughts, perspectives and emotions.