Zwischen Preisjägern, Datenschützern und Tech-Enthusiasten: Segmentierung des Virtual-Reality-Marktes am Beispiel Oculus

Due to significant technological advances, virtual reality (VR) has increasingly established itself on the consumer market in recent years. In particular, the standalone headset Quest 2, manufactured by Facebook subsidiary Oculus, achieved high sales figures and became the top-selling VR glasses to date. At the same time, the privacy policy of Oculus, which links the use of the Quest 2 to a Facebook account, triggered a controversial debate among privacy experts. The introduction of this privacy policy faced consumers with a dilemma: They have to decide whether to share sensitive data with Facebook when using low-cost Oculus devices or pay higher prices for alternative VR headsets. The Federal Cartel Office then initiated data misuse proceedings against Facebook, resulting in a halt of sales of the Quest 2 in Germany. In this paper, we examine how German consumers perceive this dilemma. Based on a conjoint analysis, we compare the relative importance of privacy policies, hardware features and prices in the purchase decision for VR headsets. We identify three distinct market segments with different purchasing decision heuristics. The findings result in seven recommendations for action to help VR manufacturers, developers, and consumer advocates adopt VR technology responsibly and broadly in the consumer market.