Gathering pre-purchase information for a cruise vacation with virtual reality: the effects of media technology and gender
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ISSN: 0959-6119
Article publication date: 17 November 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to apply theory on consumer learning in virtual experiences to compare how media technologies (i.e. virtual reality [VR] and standard websites) and users’ gender influence the ways in which tourists gather pre-purchase information.
Design/methodology/approach
A laboratory experiment with fully immersive VR was conducted to examine consumers’ behavior in gathering pre-purchase information. The sample comprised 128 consumers who had taken a cruise vacation or who were considering purchasing a cruise package in the near future.
Findings
The results generally reveal the central role of the feeling of presence, which, in turn, positively impacts users’ enjoyment and aspects of consumer learning (i.e. brand attitude, product knowledge and purchase intent). In particular, the results suggest that compared with standard websites, VR facilitated the tourists’ learning as consumers, especially among women, who tend to dominate the information-gathering stage of planning family vacations.
Practical implications
The results imply that travel agencies and tourism centers working with cruise vacation companies should incorporate VR to make their offers more attractive, especially to women.
Originality/value
The study was the first to apply theory on consumer learning in the cruise tourism industry, specifically to compare fully immersive VR devices versus standard websites and gauge the effect of gender.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the AICO/2017/120 project financed by GVA-Conselleria d'Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport – Direcció general d'Universitat, investigació i Ciència. The funder financed the costs associated with the implementation of the experiment, that is, to develop the content displayed to the participants (VR and Website content), rent the VR devices and the economic incentives for the participation of the subjects in the study.
This research was also supported by the Eminent Scholar Program at Kyung Hee University, South Korea in 2020.
Citation
Martínez-Molés, V., Jung, T.H., Pérez-Cabañero, C. and Cervera-Taulet, A. (2022), "Gathering pre-purchase information for a cruise vacation with virtual reality: the effects of media technology and gender", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 407-429. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2021-0500
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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