Exploring the Impact of Multisensory VR on Travel Recommendation: A Presence Perspective
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Abstract
The rapid development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for the promotion of tourism products and experiences. VR provides potential tourists with a compelling imagery and a chance to get a first impression of what it feels like to be at a destination. Previous studies have mostly focused on visual and auditory VR experiences and have rather neglected the possibility of adding additional sensory stimuli, i.e. haptic and olfactory feedback, to a VR experience. This study is novel in that it takes a multisensory approach to VR and examines its impact on the intention to recommend a destination through the lens of presence. A multi-stage laboratory experiment with 64 participants was conducted. The analysis reveals that the stimulation of additional senses does not lead to a significant enhancement of the user’s sense of presence. However, a significant increase in the user’s intention to recommend a destination can be observed. For destination marketers, this study proposes multisensory VR as a novel and effective tool to positively influence travel recommendations.
Keywords
Virtual Reality Presence Travel recommendationReferences
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