IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/anture/v116y2026ics016073832500218x.html

Does ‘the real’ matter? Technological affordances and Generation Z’s experience of authenticity in heritage games

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Xin
  • Yang, Yong
  • Liu, Siming
  • Wang, Jing

Abstract

Digital technologies are transforming heritage experiences, raising questions about how authenticity is dynamically experienced and constructed in virtual environments. Drawing on the emergent authenticity phase model and affordance theory, this study examines the Digital Library Cave game through in-depth interviews with 30 Generation Z players. The findings reveal that authenticity is not static but a fluid process, wherein objective, constructive, and existential dimensions are activated and negotiated through technological affordances across pre-experience, in-situ, and post-experience phases. This study contributes to theory by extending the emergent authenticity model to digital contexts, highlighting technological affordances as key mechanisms shaping authenticity, and revealing how Generation Z negotiates existential authenticity through social validation. These insights inform user-centered design and foster intergenerational engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Xin & Yang, Yong & Liu, Siming & Wang, Jing, 2026. "Does ‘the real’ matter? Technological affordances and Generation Z’s experience of authenticity in heritage games," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s016073832500218x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.104112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016073832500218X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.annals.2025.104112?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s016073832500218x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.