IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infott/v25y2023i3d10.1007_s40558-023-00256-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A user experience perspective on heritage tourism in the metaverse: Empirical evidence and design dilemmas for VR

Author

Listed:
  • Jeff Baker

    (American University of Sharjah)

  • Kichan Nam

    (American University of Sharjah)

  • Christopher S. Dutt

    (Al Rayyan International University College)

Abstract

The tourism industry will be shaped by the growth and development of the metaverse in the coming decades. Virtual reality (VR) will enable the creation of virtual worlds, avatars, digital twins, and new social networks. These technologies can be utilized in tourism to enable travelers to preview real-world experiences, to enhance experiences while on-site, to relive experiences after travel, or in some cases to even substitute for travel. Given the metaverse’s transformative potential, empirical investigation of VR is clearly warranted. Studies of VR tourism typically choose a single specific VR application and investigate its impact on adoption or user satisfaction. This application-level focus is a significant limitation. We therefore evaluate multiple heritage tourism applications as well as VR hardware in a comprehensive and structured analysis from the user experience (UX) perspective. Our content analysis of user interviews reveals 13 factors that shape users’ overall perceptions about VR. These factors are grouped into categories related to presentation of the VR content, the content itself, and the functionality of the hardware and software. Our analysis also reveals three design dilemmas for creators of VR heritage tourism content for the metaverse. Implications and an agenda for future research are included.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Baker & Kichan Nam & Christopher S. Dutt, 2023. "A user experience perspective on heritage tourism in the metaverse: Empirical evidence and design dilemmas for VR," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 265-306, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v:25:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s40558-023-00256-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40558-023-00256-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40558-023-00256-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40558-023-00256-x?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pantano, Eleonora & Servidio, Rocco, 2012. "Modeling innovative points of sales through virtual and immersive technologies," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 279-286.
    2. Won-jun Lee & Yong Hee Kim, 2021. "Does VR Tourism Enhance Users’ Experience?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Guttentag, Daniel A., 2010. "Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 637-651.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schiopu, Andreea Fortuna & Hornoiu, Remus Ion & Padurean, Ana Mihaela & Nica, Ana-Maria, 2022. "Constrained and virtually traveling? Exploring the effect of travel constraints on intention to use virtual reality in tourism," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Kang, Hyo Jeong & Shin, Jung-hye & Ponto, Kevin, 2020. "How 3D Virtual Reality Stores Can Shape Consumer Purchase Decisions: The Roles of Informativeness and Playfulness," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 70-85.
    3. Talwar, Shalini & Kaur, Puneet & Escobar, Octavio & Lan, Sai, 2022. "Virtual reality tourism to satisfy wanderlust without wandering: An unconventional innovation to promote sustainability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 128-143.
    4. Rickly, Jillian M., 2022. "A review of authenticity research in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on authenticity," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Hafizah Rosli & Norfadilah Kamaruddin, 2020. "Visitor Experience’s on Digital Media Technology for the Museum Exhibition in Malaysia: A Preliminary Findings," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 7(2), pages 245-248, February.
    6. Bo Wendy Gao & Chris Zhu & Hongmei Song & Ianthe M. Belisle Dempsey, 2022. "Interpreting the perceptions of authenticity in virtual reality tourism through postmodernist approach," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 31-55, March.
    7. Paolo Mura & Rokhshad Tavakoli & Saeed Pahlevan Sharif, 2017. "‘Authentic but not too much’: exploring perceptions of authenticity of virtual tourism," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 145-159, June.
    8. Park, Minjung & Yoo, Jungmin, 2020. "Effects of perceived interactivity of augmented reality on consumer responses: A mental imagery perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Holdack, Eric & Lurie-Stoyanov, Katja & Fromme, Harro Fabian, 2022. "The role of perceived enjoyment and perceived informativeness in assessing the acceptance of AR wearables," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Huang, Yu-Chih & Backman, Sheila J. & Backman, Kenneth F. & Moore, DeWayne, 2013. "Exploring user acceptance of 3D virtual worlds in travel and tourism marketing," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 490-501.
    11. Xi, Nannan & Hamari, Juho, 2021. "Shopping in virtual reality: A literature review and future agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 37-58.
    12. Weaver, David B. & Lawton, Laura J., 2017. "A new visitation paradigm for protected areas," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 140-146.
    13. Xu, Feifei & Buhalis, Dimitrios & Weber, Jessika, 2017. "Serious games and the gamification of tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 244-256.
    14. Roland Schegg & Brigitte Stangl, 2018. "Special section on recommendations and analytics in tourism," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-4, April.
    15. Kostyk, Alena & Sheng, Jie, 2023. "VR in customer-centered marketing: Purpose-driven design," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 225-236.
    16. Vieira, Valter Afonso & Rafael, Diego Nogueira & Agnihotri, Raj, 2022. "Augmented reality generalizations: A meta-analytical review on consumer-related outcomes and the mediating role of hedonic and utilitarian values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 170-184.
    17. Poncin, Ingrid & Garnier, Marion & Ben Mimoun, Mohammed Slim & Leclercq, Thomas, 2017. "Smart technologies and shopping experience: Are gamification interfaces effective? The case of the Smartstore," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 320-331.
    18. Pillai, Rajasshrie & Sivathanu, Brijesh & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2020. "Shopping intention at AI-powered automated retail stores (AIPARS)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    19. Daria Plotkina & Landisoa Rabeson, 2022. "The role of transactionality of mobile branded apps in brand experience and its impact on loyalty," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(5), pages 470-483, September.
    20. Agapito, Dora & Valle, Patrícia & Mendes, Júlio, 2014. "The sensory dimension of tourist experiences: Capturing meaningful sensory-informed themes in Southwest Portugal," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 224-237.

    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:spr:infott:v:25:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s40558-023-00256-x. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.