Virtual Scent Representation and Luxury Fragrance Patronage: The Mediating Roles of Mental Imagery Processing and Experiential Value

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Applied Research in Business, Management and Economics

Year: 2026

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Virtual Scent Representation and Luxury Fragrance Patronage: The Mediating Roles of Mental Imagery Processing and Experiential Value

Dr. Han-Chiang Ho, Candy Lim Chiu

ABSTRACT:

The inability to convey olfactory experiences in digital environments poses a critical challenge for luxury fragrance brands in online retail. While augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) enable visual simulation, the mechanisms through which virtual scent representation activates mental imagery and drives patronage intention remain poorly understood. Drawing on dual coding theory, mental imagery theory, and the experiential consumption framework, this study examines how three dimensions of virtual scent representation, aesthetics, vividness, and telepresence, influence two dimensions of mental imagery processing, elaboration and imagery quality, and how this processing mediates the pathway to experiential value and patronage intention. Survey data from 585 Chinese millennial luxury consumers were analyzed using Multi-Group-SEM and mediation analysis across two product categories: luxury perfume (n = 283) and scented candles (n = 302). For luxury perfume, vividness drives elaboration, aesthetics improves imagery quality, and telepresence activates both. For scented candles, aesthetics and telepresence jointly drive both dimensions, while vividness shows no significant effect. Telepresence is the only consistent driver across both categories. In both cases, mental imagery processing mediates the path to experiential value and patronage intention; however, behavioral consequences are asymmetric: stronger purchase effects for scented candles and stronger revisit effects for luxury perfume. This study advances dual coding theory and mental imagery theory by identifying telepresence as the sole consistent cross-category imagery activator and elaboration and imagery quality as functionally distinct mediating pathways. It extends the experiential consumption framework by revealing that olfactory product abstractness moderates experiential value outcomes.

Keywords: Augmented Reality; Virtual Scent Representation; Mental Imagery Processing; Experiential Value; Online Luxury Retail