Innovative Technologies in B2B Sales: Exploring Mixed Reality (VRX), 3D-Visualization and the Metaverse in Industrial Applications

Abstract

The main topic of this Master Thesis is if and how emerging immersive technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, but especially Mixed Reality, as well as 3D-Visualisation tools or the Metaverse can be used in an international B2B sales environment. While there is already a respectable amount of literature on VR and AR utilization in business, there have been conducted far fewer studies in regard to the newer, currently emerging technologies, and if, then they are mainly B2C related. This existing research gap clearly justifies exploring this topic in more detail in the course of writing this academic project, which aims to close the identified gap by answering these carefully developed research questions through both secondary desk research and empiric studies in the form of qualitative expert interviews: • How and through which fields of application can enhanced technologies like VR/AR, the Metaverse and 3D-Visualization, but especially VRX (Mixed Reality) enhance sales processes across different industries and which values do they deliver to the buyer as well as the seller? • What are the primary challenges or limitations associated with adopting and implementing these technologies in sales? • How do cultural attitudes impact the acceptance and effectiveness of immersive technologies in global sales? • What practical recommendations can be made for managers to implement these technologies effectively? The main finding was that the implementation of such technologies enhances the collaboration and communication between teams both internally with other departments or externally with customers. The identified benefits or strengths range from bridging the gap between abstract concepts and tangible understanding to improved customer involvement and faster decisions over cost efficient internal trainings without real equipment or materials needed to effective differentiation from one´s competition. However, even though these advantages have been acknowledged, there are still major hurdles that prevent a fast and industry wide roll out of immersive technology. Besides the obvious financial challenges, there are also other, mostly overlooked obstacles, like resistance to change from the top management, a lack of technical infrastructure combined with integration issues, limited scalability as well as missing use case readiness, but also unclear responsibilities between departments. However, once those hurdles have been overcome, both the literature and industry experts predict a rise in importance regarding these tools throughout the industry, as hardware becomes more affordable, interfaces more user-friendly and use cases more clearly defined. In terms of limitations, the biggest constraint for this academic project was definitely time, as the define frame only allowed for a limited number of interviews, closely followed by actually managing to conduct them, as most industry experts either could not fit them into their schedule or completely ignored the request in general.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Markus Vorderwinkler (Supervisor)