Impact of metaverse technology on hospitality and tourism industry: an interplay of social media marketing on hotel booking in India
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact of metaverse technology on the hospitality and tourism industry. The introduction of metaverse technology has revolutionised the way the hospitality and tourism industry works. In the present study, the authors have investigated the role of social media marketing in the adoption of metaverse technology in hotel booking in India.
Design/methodology/approach
An extended technology acceptance model was proposed for an empirical investigation in the Indian context. Sample of 344 respondents was collected across India using a purposive sampling technique for the purpose of data analysis. The structural model analysis is used to analyse the data collected from the respondents using the SmartPLS software to check the structural and the measurement fit of the model.
Findings
The adoption intentions were largely influenced by the utility, attitude (ATT) and ease of use of the technology, and social media marketing plays a major role in influencing the perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use (PEU). The study finds positive ATTs of the customers for using metaverse technology for booking their hotels. PU and PEU significantly influence the ATT of the consumer indicating the traveller’s perception of the usefulness and ease of metaverse technology influence their ATTs towards adoption.
Originality/value
Influence of metaverse technology is at a nascent stage in India specifically for hotel booking and tourism. The authors have used discriminant validity by using the criteria for both the square root of the average variance extracted and heterotrait–monotrait ratio tests, and the results suggest that the constructs in the research are distinct from other.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Statements and declarations: The authors declare that no funds, grants or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Authors have not engaged in or participated in any form of malicious harm to any human being or animal during the study. All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were also performed by all the authors.
Citation
Ahmad, K., Sharma, B., Khatwani, R., Mishra, M. and Mitra, P.K. (2024), "Impact of metaverse technology on hospitality and tourism industry: an interplay of social media marketing on hotel booking in India", International Journal of Tourism Cities, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-11-2023-0232
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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