Beyond the screen: how virtual reality shapes sustainable behaviours in ecotourism through uses and gratifications theory

Hornoiu, R.-I., Popescu, D., Militaru, I.-A., De Pascale, A., Poenaru, L.-F., & Breabăn, M. L. (2024). Beyond the screen: how virtual reality shapes sustainable behaviours in ecotourism through uses and gratifications theory. CACTUS Tourism Journal, 29 (1). doi.org/10.24818/CTS/6/2024/1.03

Based on the official APA guide. Review the full set of examples.

Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between ascribed responsibility, uses and gratifications, behavioural involvement, and visit intentions among Sicilian tourists using virtual reality (VR) to explore Romanian rural ecotourism destinations. Utilizing the Uses and Gratifications theory, it investigates how VR content's informativeness, playfulness, and social interactivity impact user engagement and behavioural intentions. Findings reveal that higher ascribed responsibility enhances gratifications from VR experiences, which increases behavioural involvement, essential for ecotourism. However, ascribed responsibility alone does not directly influence visit intentions, indicating the role of additional factors. A significant contribution of this research is the identification of a serial mediation model where uses and gratifications and behavioural involvement totally mediate the ascribed responsibility-visit intention relationship. This model highlights the complex interplay between cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses, demonstrating that ascribed responsibility enhances uses and gratifications, leading to increased behavioural involvement and, ultimately, visit intentions. The study extends the Uses and Gratifications theory into VR and ecotourism, emphasizing environmental responsibility in media engagement. Practical implications include strategies for tourism marketers to foster environmental responsibility and for VR developers to create engaging, informative, and interactive experiences. Policymaker scan use these insights to promote sustainable tourism through supportive VR content development.

Keywords

Virtual reality, ecotourism, ascribed responsibility, uses and gratifications, behavioural involvement, serial mediation, tourist behaviour

JEL Classification

L83, Z32

References

Alyahya, M., & McLean, G. (2021). Examining tourism consumers’ attitudes and the role of sensory information in virtual reality experiences of a tourist destination. Journal of Travel Research, 61(7), 1666–1681. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211037745

An, S., Choi, Y., & Lee, C. (2021). Virtual travel experience and destination marketing: Effects of sense and information quality on flow and visit intention. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 19, Article 100492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100492

Azinuddin, M., Hanafiah, M., Shariffuddin, N., Kamarudin, M., & Som, A. (2023). An exploration of perceived ecotourism design affordance and destination social responsibility linkages to tourists’ pro-environmental behaviour and destination loyalty. Journal of Ecotourism, 22, 518–541. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2022.2085283

Cheng, Y., Wang, Y., & Zhao, W. (2022). Shared virtual reality experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the gratifications and effects of engagement with immersive videos. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), Article 5056. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095056

Chiang, H. (2013). Continuous usage of social networking sites: The effect of innovation and gratification attributes. Online Information Review, 37(6), 851–871. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2012-0133

Churchill, G. A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150876

Coghlan, A. (2021). Can ecotourism interpretation influence reef protective behaviours? Findings from a quasi-experimental field study involving a virtual reality game. Journal of Ecotourism, 21(2), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2021.1971240

Dieck, M. C. T., Dieck, D., & Jung, T. (2021). Exploring usability and gratifications for virtual reality applications at festivals. Event Management, 25(6), 585–599. https://doi.org/10.3727/152599521X16106577965152

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312

Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications.

Hair, J. F., Howard, M. C., & Nitzl, C. (2020). Assessing measurement model quality in PLS-SEM using confirmatory composite analysis. Journal of Business Research, 109, 101–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.069

Hartmann, P., & Apaolaza, V. (2009). Green advertising revisited: Conditioning virtual nature experiences. International Journal of Advertising, 28(4), 793–801. https://doi.org/10.2501/S0265048709200837

Hofman, K., Walters, G., & Hughes, K. (2021). The effectiveness of virtual vs real-life marine tourism experiences in encouraging conservation behaviour. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(4), 742–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1884690

Hornoiu, R. I., Popescu, D., & Militaru, I. A. (2023). Exploring war tourism through the use of virtual reality in the context of conflict situations. Cactus Tourism Journal, 5(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.24818/CTS/5/2023/1.02

Huang, Y.-C., Backman, S. J., Backman, K. J., & Moore, D. W. (2013). Exploring user acceptance of 3D virtual worlds in travel and tourism marketing. Tourism Management, 36, 490–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2012.09.009

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509–523. https://doi.org/10.1086/268109

Kim, M. J., Lee, C., & Preis, M. (2020). The impact of innovation and gratification on authentic experience, subjective well-being, and behavioral intention in tourism virtual reality: The moderating role of technology readiness. Telematics Informatics, 49, Article 101349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101349

Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Lee, C., Olya, H., Ahmad, M., Kim, K., & Oh, M. (2021). Sustainable intelligence, destination social responsibility, and pro-environmental behaviour of visitors: Evidence from an eco-tourism site. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 47, 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JHTM.2021.04.010

Lim, T., Wan, M., Chan, T., Leong, C., & Chin, C. (2023). To visit and preserve an ecotourism destination? The moderating effect of the sense of responsibility. Journal of Responsible Tourism Management, 3(1), 24–43. https://doi.org/10.47263/jrtm.03-01-03

Nelson, K., Anggraini, E., & Schlüter, A. (2020). Virtual reality as a tool for environmental conservation and fundraising. PLoS ONE, 15(4), Article e0223631. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223631

Nguyen, T. B. T., Le, T. B. N., & Chau, N. T. (2023). How VR technological features prompt tourists’ visiting intention: An integrated approach. Sustainability, 15(6), Article 4765. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064765

Ouerghemmi, C., Ertz, M., Bouslama, N., & Tandon, U. (2023). The impact of virtual reality (VR) tour experience on tourists’ intention to visit. Information, 14(10), Article 546. https://doi.org/10.3390/info14100546

Rather, R., Hollebeek, L., Loureiro, S., Khan, I., & Hasan, R. (2023). Exploring tourists’ virtual reality-based brand engagement: A uses-and-gratifications perspective. Journal of Travel Research, 63(3), 606–624. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231166598

Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Becker, J.-M. (2015). SmartPLS 3 [Computer software]. SmartPLS. https://www.smartpls.com

Sánchez, M. R., Palos-Sánchez, P., & Velicia-Martín, F. (2021). Eco-friendly performance as a determining factor of the adoption of virtual reality applications in national parks. The Science of the Total Environment, 798, Article 148990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148990

Sarstedt, M., & Cheah, J. (2019). Partial least squares structural equation modeling using SmartPLS: A software review. Journal of Marketing Analytics, 7, 196–202. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-019-00058-3

Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Hair, J. F. (2017). Treating unobserved heterogeneity in PLS-SEM: A multigroup analysis (MGA) approach. Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64069-3_9

Schiopu, A. F., Hornoiu, R. I., Padurean, M. A., & Nica, A. (2022). Constrained and virtually traveling? Exploring the effect of travel constraints on intention to use virtual reality in tourism. Technology in Society, 71, Article 102091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102091

Sobarna, A. (2023). Virtual reality tourism: Linkage tourist intention, satisfaction, and quality. Journal of Marketing Innovation, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.35313/jmi.v3i1.58

Wang, F., Huang, S., Morrison, A., & Wu, B. (2022). The effects of virtual reality tourism involvement on place attachment and behavioral intentions: Virtual reality tourism of the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 27(3), 274–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2022.2061363

Wondola, D. W., Aulele, S. N., & Lembang, F. K. (2020). Partial least square (PLS) method of addressing multicollinearity problems in multiple linear regressions. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1463, Article 012006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1463/1/012006

Wu, J., Font, X., & Liu, J. (2021). Tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors: Moral obligation or disengagement? Journal of Travel Research, 60(4), 735–748. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520910787

Yersüren, S., & Özel, C. (2023). The effect of virtual reality experience quality on destination visit intention and virtual reality travel intention. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 15(1), 70–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-02-2023-0046

Ying, T., Tang, J., Ye, S., Tan, X., & Wei, W. (2021). Virtual reality in destination marketing: Telepresence, social presence, and tourists’ visit intentions. Journal of Travel Research, 61(8), 1738–1756. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211047273

Yuan, A., & Hong, J. (2023). Impacts of virtual reality on tourism experience and behavioral intentions: Moderating role of novelty seeking. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480231171301