Exploring the implications of wearable virtual reality technology for museum visitors' experience: A cluster analysis

Abstract

Despite the spreading of virtual reality (VR) in tourism, little is known about the characteristics of different segments of tourists experiencing cultural tourism attractions through VR applications. This paper proposes to profile museum visitors based on their perceptions and attitudes towards VR applications and investigates whether they are significantly different in terms of socio‐demographic characteristics and emotional responses towards the VR‐mediated experience. With the use of exploratory factor‐cluster analysis of 287 visitors of a cultural attraction, three clusters were identified with significant differences in terms of attitudes and perceptions towards the VR‐mediated experience and emotional feelings. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The impact of museum interpretation tour on visitors' engagement and post‐visit conservation intentions and behaviours

“…In the context of tourist attractions, the increasing marketing orientation of non‐formal venues (e.g., museums and aquariums) underlies the search for different ways of enhancing customer experience during and after the visit to increase their revisiting intentions (Leask, 2016). Interactive interpretation is a key strategy in engaging audience interest and participation via the interpreter or interpretive device (Errichiello, Micera, Atzeni, & Del Chiappa, 2019). A successful interpretation has the potential to promote pro‐environmental attitudes, enhance tourist experiences and satisfaction and encourage return visits to non‐formal venues (Jacobs & Harms, 2014).…”

Augmented Reality Applications: The Impact of Usability and Emotional Perceptions on Tourists’ App Experiences

“…Emerging technologies are changing consumers' perception of services. Specifically, augmented reality has introduced a new dimension to how services are accessed and consumed in several service sectors [1,2,3,4], including tourism services such as heritage tourism [5], tour guide [6] and hospitality [7]. A market report by [8] holds that currently, there are 1,684 companies in the augmented reality application business with a combined market value of 3.5 Billion US Dollars.…”

Motivation-based segmentation of Chinese senior travelers: The role of preferences, sociodemographic, and travel-related features

“…Thus, the factor-cluster approach has been popularly adopted in tourism scholarship despite the critiques (Albayrak and Caber, 2018b; Caber et al, 2019; Errichiello et al, 2019; Murdy et al, 2018; Ramires et al, 2018; Soldatenko and Backer, 2019; Wen et al, 2020). Wen et al (2020) adopted a six-dimension motivation scale to develop cannabis tourist clusters for Chinese tourists.…”

“…Similarly, Caber et al (2019) employed the factor-cluster approach in market segmentation to examine the conflict management strategies of tour guides. Meanwhile, Errichiello et al (2019) investigated the consequences of wearable virtual reality technology on museum experience. Soldatenko and Backer (2019) validated the use of factor-cluster approach in identifying motivation factor groupings.…”