Local Presence in AR Scale

What it measures

The Local Presence in AR Scale captures the abstract perceptual consequence of high augmentation quality: the degree to which a consumer senses that a virtually displayed object is genuinely real and physically present in their own environment. The term 'local' — from the Latin locus, meaning place — is used to distinguish this construct from spatial presence (associated with VR, where users are transported to another environment) and from telepresence (connoting distance). In AR, content is brought to the consumer's local space rather than transporting them elsewhere; local presence reflects the extent to which virtual objects feel as though they have genuinely arrived in that space. The scale was developed alongside the Augmentation Quality Scale (ID 1896) as its theorised consequence: higher augmentation quality drives stronger local presence, which in turn mediates effects on hedonic experience, informational value, purchase intention, and actual behavioural choices. The scale is unidimensional and may be used independently of the full augmentation quality battery.

Response format

7-point Likert (1 = I do not agree, 7 = I fully agree); items randomised in administration

Scale items

• I perceive the virtual object as a real object
• I have the feeling that the virtual object actually exists in the real world
• It seems as if the virtual object has shifted from the device into the room
• Everything I see in the display appears to be real

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

This scale deliberately avoids prior VR-derived spatial presence measures (e.g., Vorderer et al. 2004; Hilken et al. 2017) on conceptual grounds: AR does not remove users from their environment, making VR-based presence items construct-inappropriate. The e-commerce local presence construct of Vonkeman et al. (2017) is related but operationally distinct. Item wording uses generic 'virtual object' framing; for product-specific studies adapt accordingly (e.g., Study 5 Appendix C substitutes 'sunglasses' throughout). Discriminant validity from augmentation quality was confirmed across all studies. Scale can be used as a standalone mediator in AR research designs. Companion scale: Augmentation Quality Scale (ID 1896, same paper).

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Schein, K. E., Rauschnabel, P. A., Praxmarer-Carus, S., & Babin, B. J. (2025). Unpacking augmentation quality and local presence: Factors that drive effective augmented reality marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 54, 49–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-025-01108-2

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