More than a view: How the sensory depth of virtual tourism stimulates on-site travel intention

Abstract

We conducted two contextual experiments to contrast the effects of a traditional medium and the immersive medium of virtual tourism on participants' sense of presence and on-site travel intention. Incorporating emotional experiences and visual perception as key variables, we employed cognitive–affective–conative theory to examine presence and on-site travel intention among samples of 278 (Study 1) and 428 (Study 2) respondents. The results showed that virtual tourism outperformed the traditional audiovisual medium in eliciting presence, which was associated with enhanced emotional experiences and, in turn, stronger on-site travel intention. Emotional experiences mediated this relationship, and visual perception positively moderated the link between presence and emotional experiences. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding tourist behavior in the virtual tourism context.