How VR Technological Features Prompt Tourists’ Visiting Intention: An Integrated Approach

Abstract

To achieve sustainable tourism, the tourism development authorities have used advanced technologies to promote destinations, attract visitors, and protect the environment. Accordingly, while the available research on tourism technologies indicates that virtual reality (VR) matters in the visit intention of potential tourists, the mechanism of their inner senses when experiencing VR technologies is overlooked. To fill in this void, this study develops a comprehensive conceptual model for investigating the influence of VR technological features on tourists’ minds, and consequently, their destination visit intention. This study integrates the technology acceptance model, stimuli-organism-response model, and flow theory into a unified conceptual model for a comprehensive understanding of tourists’ behavior. By focusing on tourists’ decision-making and behavior processes, this study sheds new light on how VR stimuli (i.e., vividness and interactivity) could translate into tourists’ attitudes and visiting intentions. This conceptual model is then tested and validated using structural equation modeling on survey data collected from 311 VR users after experiencing virtual tours designed for destinations in Vietnam. The findings indicate that virtual tours affect tourists’ psychological well-being, which translates into visiting intention. Based on the results, this study emphasizes the role of VR as a powerful marketing tool to promote a destination. Furthermore, approaches to enhance the effectiveness of VR tours, particularly, for tourism developers, are proposed. This study thus contributes to the literature in the area of VR tourism, contributing both theoretical and practical knowledge.