Factors Influencing Tourists' Behavioral Intentions After VR Experiences Based on the Value-Based Acceptance Model

As competition in the global tourism market continues to intensify, destinations are increasingly leveraging emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) to enhance their promotional effectiveness. VR provides an immersive and interactive medium that enables potential tourists to visualize attractions and cultural environments in vivid, engaging ways. However, with the growing popularity of this technology, maximizing the experiential value for tourists who have already visited a destination has become an equally critical concern. Existing research mainly focuses on the influence of VR on tourists' perceptions and intentions before their actual visits, while studies exploring its impact on tourists' post-experience behavioral intentions remain limited. To address this research gap, the present study adopts a qualitative research approach to extend the original Value-Based Acceptance Model (VAM) by introducing new dimensions of perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices. Specifically, factors such as immersion, authenticity, emotional resonance, and perceived control are incorporated to capture the multidimensional nature of tourists' post-VR experiences. By constructing an extended research model, this study seeks to identify the key determinants shaping tourists' behavioral intentions after engaging with VR content related to destinations they have already experienced. The findings of this study are expected to provide theoretical enrichment by broadening the application scenarios of the VAM within tourism research. Practically, they offer actionable insights for destination marketers and tourism authorities to design more targeted and experience-centered promotional strategies. By integrating VR-based storytelling, emotional engagement, and personalized digital content, tourism destinations can strengthen tourists' attachment, satisfaction, and likelihood of revisiting or recommending the destination, thereby achieving sustainable competitive advantages in the increasingly technology-driven tourism landscape.