biostudies-literatureUnknown5Verhulst AJapan Society for the Promotion of ScienceResearch in Virtual Reality (VR) showed that embodiment can influence participants' perceptions and behavior when embodied in a different yet plausible virtual body. In this paper, we study the changes an obese virtual body has on products perception (e.g., taste, etc.) and purchase behavior (e.g., number purchased) in an immersive virtual retail store. Participants (of a normal BMI on average) were embodied in a normal (N) or an obese (OB) virtual body and were asked to buy and evaluate food products in the immersive virtual store. Based on stereotypes that are classically associated with obese people, we expected that the group embodied in obese avatars would show a more unhealthy diet, (i.e., buy more food products and also buy more products with high energy intake, or saturated fat) anFrontiers in robotics and AI113https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7806053biostudies-literatureInfluence of Being Embodied in an Obese Virtual Body on Shopping Behavior and Products Perception in VR.PMC7806053Normand JMMoreau GVerhulst ALombart CSugimoto MfalseInfluence of Being Embodied in an Obese Virtual Body on Shopping Behavior and Products Perception in VR.Research in Virtual Reality (VR) showed that embodiment can influence participants' perceptions and behavior when embodied in a different yet plausible virtual body. In this paper, we study the changes an obese virtual body has on products perception (e.g., taste, etc.) and purchase behavior (e.g., number purchased) in an immersive virtual retail store. Participants (of a normal BMI on average) were embodied in a normal (N) or an obese (OB) virtual body and were asked to buy and evaluate food products in the immersive virtual store. Based on stereotypes that are classically associated with obese people, we expected that the group embodied in obese avatars would show a more unhealthy diet, (i.e., buy more food products and also buy more products with high energy intake, or saturated fat) an2018-01-01T00:00:00Z20182025-05-29T22:11:38.537Z2021-02-21T03:02:57ZS-EPMC78060533350099210.3389/frobt.2018.00113