Global Readiness for Immersive Virtual Space Adoption: The Case of Ohyay

Abstract

As the world is wholly dependent on information technology, especially in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that hybrid format will become the new norm. This experience indicates that novel ways of combining face-to-face with online activities, including teaching, conferencing, concert, art exhibition, and collaborations, should be explored. Consequently, a new immersive virtual space known as Ohyay was launched in the summer of 2020. Ohyay is a powerful design platform that lets anyone create immersive virtual spaces unlike other video conferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft teams) with a well-defined and prescribed workflow. Even though the platform has been utilized for series of events and activities, empirical studies to ascertain its adoption rate are lacking. Therefore, this study employed the UTAUT2 model infused with self-efficacy and readiness construct to investigate the factors that influence users’ intention of Ohyay adoption. One hundred and forty-two participants across countries completed an online questionnaire. It was found that Performance Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, Effort Expectancy, Self-Efficacy, Readiness, and Hedonic Motivation predicts the behavioral intention of Ohyay directly, while Self-Efficacy and Hedonic Motivation indirectly predicts behavioral intention through Effort Expectancy and Readiness. The findings of this study contribute to the research applying the UTAUT2 approach with the self-efficacy and readiness construct for the exploration of behavioral intention to utilize an emerging technology such as Ohyay in educational and non-educational activities. As a result of the findings, managerial implications were highlighted, followed by study limitations and proposals for future studies.