Augmented reality acceptance across psychological, technological, and cultural dimensions: a literature review

This review synthesises research on consumer acceptance of augmented reality (AR) in marketing. From an initial corpus of 200 peer-reviewed journal articles (2011–June 2025), 39 primary empirical studies published between 2020–2025 were included in the final synthesis. Using thematic synthesis with a hybrid inductive–deductive coding procedure, we identify six themes shaping AR adoption: perceived system qualities; affective and behavioural responses; social and cultural influences; technological and environmental drivers; psychological and cognitive constructs; and economic and incentive-related factors. Overall, AR acceptance reflects an interplay of functional usability, emotional engagement, identity alignment, social norms, and perceived value. Across sectors including retail, tourism, education, and cultural heritage, trust, enjoyment, self-identity, and facilitating conditions repeatedly predict intention to use and, where examined, continuance. Building on classic technology acceptance models (e.g. TAM and UTAUT), the review integrates affective and contextual dimensions to propose a more comprehensive account of AR adoption in experience-driven settings. We also highlight emerging directions for future work: long-term usage behaviours, ethical and privacy concerns, cultural variability, and multisensory design. These insights guide researchers and practitioners in designing AR experiences that are robust, user-centric, socially attuned, and behaviourally effective. They emphasise benefits, reduced cognitive load, and transparent data practices.