International Journal of Tourism Research, Int. J. Tourism Res.

, 18: 116–128 (2016)

Published online 12 May 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/jtr.2038

Exploring the Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism

Marketing: An Integrated Research Framework
YU CHIH HUANG1, KENNETH FRANK BACKMAN2*, SHEILA J. BACKMAN2 and LAN LAN CHANG3
1
Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan
2
Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
3
Department of Leisure and Recreation Management, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of the Internet and other technological innovations has transformed the structure of the tourism industry as well as affected
how tourism destinations are perceived and consumed. The 3D virtual world provides opportunities for destination marketing organizations
to communicate with targeted markets by offering a rich environment for potential visitors to explore tourism destinations. However, as of
yet, there is little understanding about how to effectively market tourism destinations to virtual world participants who are technology users
as well as potential consumers. The purpose of the present study is to develop a research framework that integrates the technology accep-
tance model (TAM) and self-determination theory to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. Primary data were obtained for this
study through self-administered Web questionnaires. The data were conducted in a laboratory setting with 186 participants. This study con-
tributes to the empirical TAM literature by applying the model to a 3D virtual tourism site. Additionally, this study provides a research
framework to capture the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world by extending the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of
self-determination theory to understand consumer experience. From the perspective of tourism professionals, this study contributes to an
understanding of how best to construct informative and interactive tourist destinations in 3D virtual worlds to attract potential online and
real-world tourists. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 17 July 2014; Revised 27 January 2015; Accepted 28 February 2015

key words 3D tourism environment; destination marketing; behavioral intentions; technology acceptance model; self-determination
theory

INTRODUCTION
The proliferation of the Internet and other technological in-
novations has transformed the structure of the tourism indus-
try (Wöber, 2003; Buhalis, 2004; Chathoth, 2006; Chalkiti &
Sigala, 2008; Kim, Lee & Law, 2008) as well as affected
how tourism destinations are perceived and consumed
(Bennett, 1993; Doolin, Burgess & Cooper, 2002; Sigala,
2005; Buhalis & Zoge, 2007; Govers, Go & Kumar, 2007).
Past studies have indicated that the ultimate goal of the use
of Internet technology or Web-based destination marketing
is to provide desired travel information through a vicarious
experience of the destination in order to persuade potential
tourists to take action to visit a destination (Cho, Wang &
Fesenmaier, 2003; Sigala, 2003; Racherla, Hu & Hyun,
2008; Kah, Lee & Chung, 2010; Hernández-Méndez,
Muñoz-Leiva & Sánchez-Fernández, 2013). Kaplanidou
and Vogt (2006) point out that information communication
technology can present substantial travel information about
destinations to potential travelers for ‘satisfying the goal of
acquiring functional and esthetic trip information as a prepa-
ratory step to the trip intention phase’ (p. 205). Destination
marketers could use immersive virtual reality technology to
integrate sensory experience into their communication strate-
gies, utilizing experience-based Internet marketing to support
the tourist’s information search and decision-making process
*Correspondence to: Kenneth Frank Backman, Parks, Recreation and Tour-
ism Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States.
E-mail: frank@clemson.edu
(Gretzel & Fesenmaier, 2003; Cheng & Cho, 2011; Abou-Shouk,
Megicks & Lim, 2013).
As information technology is evolving, 3D virtual worlds
have emerged for business and commercial activities such
as information dissemination, advertising and sales transac-
tions (Barnes, 2011; Wasko, Teigland, Leidner & Jarvenpaa,
2011). With multimedia communication channels that are not
constrained by geographic boundaries, virtual world’s open
markets to promote in-world commodities and off-world ser-
vices, providing a medium for innovative use of technology
to engage customers with particular brands and eventually af-
fecting intentions to purchase (Animesh, Pinsonneault, Yang
& Oh, 2011; Guo & Barnes, 2011; Domina, Lee &
MacGillivray, 2012). Currently one of the most active 3D vir-
tual world platforms in business is Second Life. Second Life
is an Internet-based virtual world that allows users to create
a virtual representation, or avatar, to social network with
others and collaboratively create their own virtual spaces
(Boulos, Hetherington & Wheeler, 2007; Halvorson, Ewing
& Windisch, 2011). As Tuten (2009) stated, ‘in world one
can shop, run a business, work, tour an art gallery, take a
class, drive (or fly) a car, meet with friends, exercise, and
date’ (p. 2). This Web-based 3D virtual world, founded in
2003, boasts more than 36 million residents from around the
world, about 1 million of whom visit monthly (Linden Lab,
2013). Revenue generated from user to user transactions
reached $3.2bn within 10 years; each day, residents spend
the equivalent of $1m on virtual goods and services globally
(Linden Lab, 2013). Numerous businesses and brands have
established a presence and corporate identity in this virtual

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

 The Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing
world as an alternative way of collaborating and communicat-
ing, including IBM, Toyota, Best Buy, Adidas, Cisco
systems, Coca-Cola and Sony (Hemp, 2006; Tikkanen,
Hietanen, Henttonen & Rokka, 2009).
Alternative platforms to SL – such as OpenSim, Croquet
Consortium, ActiveWorlds, Project Wonderland and There
– are also emerging in contemporary multiuser virtual envi-
ronments and attracting targeted users to spend their time
within commercial and social virtual worlds (Salmon, 2009;
Warburton, 2009). It is likely that the dominance of Second
Life may decline due to the challenges posed by other virtual
world platforms and the high subscription costs of Second
Life (Gorini, Gaggioli, Vigna & Riva, 2008; Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2009). However, none of these alternative plat-
forms has, to date, come close to Second Life as the predom-
inant provider of a virtual reality experience.
Williams and Hobson (1995) pointed out that virtual real-
ity, equipped with visualization components offering interac-
tivity and immersion into a virtual experience in tourism,
simulated environments that affect tourists’ trip planning
and influence the tourism industry. Williams (2006) indi-
cated that in response to the growing trend of experiential
marketing, virtual reality technologies incorporating multi-
media assist tourism marketers in creating a memorable ex-
perience that integrates meaning, perception, consumption
and brand loyalty. Guttentag (2010) suggested that virtual re-
ality technologies provide various applications to tourism
professionals and researchers in terms of tourism policy plan-
ning, tourism marketing, tourist attractions, entertainment
and heritage tourism site preservation. Additionally, the
emerging virtual reality technologies have the potential to
be used by professionals in tourism training and education
(Mason & Moutahir, 2006; Linaza, García, Torre & Torres,
2008; Penfold, 2009; Wang & Burton, 2013). Because of
the attractiveness and potential for promoting vacation desti-
nations, tourism organizations have begun to use the virtual
world of Second Life as an effective emerging tool for mar-
keting destinations, e.g. Tourism Ireland Island, Philippines
Department of Tourism, Starwood, Hyatt, STA and Crowne
Plaza’s The Place To Meet (Ives & Piccoli, 2007; Hay,
2008; Lee & Wicks, 2010; Huang, Backman & Backman,
2012). However, as of yet, there is little understanding of
how to effectively market tourism destinations to virtual
world participants who are technology users as well as poten-
tial consumers nor has extensive research been conducted as
to how the 3D tourism environment might affect individual
experience or render the response of an intention to visit a
tourist destination.
In order to more thoroughly understand these connections
between marketing and consumer intention in the context of
3D virtual tourism, we turn to the technology acceptance
model (TAM), which has proven a useful framework in
explaining the use of information technologies and has been
applied as a theoretical framework in studies of consumer be-
havior and computer-mediated environments (Koufaris,
2002; Liu, Liao & Pratt, 2009). TAM has been empirically
validated in different contexts such as mobile technology
(Schierz, Schilke & Wirtz, 2010), virtual communities
(Casaló, Flavián & Guinalíu, 2010), online gaming (Hsu &
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
117
Lu, 2007) and virtual worlds (Holsapple & Wu, 2007) as
well as in the context of information technology and tourism
to understand the travel decision-making process
(Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2006; Kim, Park & Morrison, 2008).
Further extending the constructs of TAM, several studies
have incorporated the theoretical framework of self-
determination theory (SDT) to explain motivated behavior
and behavioral intentions of Web-based technology in vari-
ous areas such as marketing (Dholakia, 2006), consumer be-
havior (Moller, Ryan & Deci, 2006; Morhart, Herzog &
Tomczak, 2009), education (Roca & Gagné, 2008) and exer-
cise (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2008). The established body
of research has suggested that the integration of SDT and
TAM has the potential to better understand consumer
decision-making. In line with previous studies on how con-
sumer self-determination ‘is an influential determinant of a
person’s action’ (Dholakia, 2006), this study extends the re-
search framework of TAM to incorporate SDT in predicting
travelers’ intentions to visit a destination while experiencing
the tourism site within a 3D virtual world. Although a body
of academic literature that seeks to understand tourism and
Internet innovations has emerged, there is a need for more
substantive and theory-based research toward deeper insight
into user experience and consumer behavior in 3D virtual
worlds in tourism contexts. Thus, the purpose of the present
study is to develop a research framework that integrates
TAM and SDT to understand tourist use of the 3D virtual
world and its impacts on behavioral intention.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Technology acceptance model
The TAM has been validated as a theoretical framework to
explain consumption behavior in computer-mediated envi-
ronments (Porter & Donthu, 2006; Bruner & Kumar, 2005)
as well as to explore the use of 3D virtual worlds (Fetscherin
& Lattemann, 2008; Saeed, Yang & Sinnappan, 2009; Goh
& Yoon, 2011). Based on the theory of reasoned action
(Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), TAM was proposed by Davis
(1989) to assess an individual’s acceptance of information
technology, postulating that perceived usefulness and per-
ceived ease of use determine an individual’s attitude toward
using information technology. Perceived usefulness is de-
fined as ‘the degree to which a person believes that using a
particular system would enhance his or her job performance’
(Davis, 1989, p. 320). Perceived ease of use is defined as ‘the
degree to which a person believes that using a particular sys-
tem would be free of effort’ (Davis, 1989, p. 320).
In line with the consumer behavior literature on informa-
tion technology usage, researchers have conducted studies to
examine the relationships among perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use and behavioral intentions (Childers,
Carr, Peck & Carson, 2001; Koufaris, 2002; Pavlou, 2003),
establishing that both constructs are related to the online con-
sumer’s acceptance of information technology as well as cus-
tomer motivations and behavioral intentions. Examining
consumers’ emotional and cognitive responses to visiting a
Web-based store, Koufaris (2002) applied TAM to
Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
118 Y. C. Huang et al.
understand behavioral intentions to return to the site and the
likelihood of making a purchase, indicating that the per-
ceived usefulness of the site affects consumers’ intentions
to return. A study investigating the determinants of consumer
satisfaction and preference in electronic commerce by
Devaraj, Fan and Kohli (2002) suggested that the constructs
of perceived ease of use and usefulness could predict con-
sumer attitudes and satisfaction in Web environments. From
a technology usage perspective, Ha and Stoel (2009) exam-
ined the attributes affecting consumers’ beliefs and purchase
intentions in the context of e-shopping, suggesting that con-
sumer perceptions of usefulness play a significant role in
forming intention.
Likewise, the theoretical framework of TAM can be used
to understand the traveler’s use of information technology in
trip decision-making processes and intentions to travel to
destinations (Noor, Hashim, Haron & Aiffin, 2005). Recent
research suggests that the use of information technology in
promoting tourism products and destinations provides tour-
ists a virtual experience that influences consumers’ travel in-
tentions (Chen & Schwartz, 2008; Morosan & Jeong, 2008;
Kim, Kim & Shin, 2009; Huang, Backman, Backman &
Moore, 2013). A study by Casaló, Flavián and Guinalíu
(2010) investigated consumer behavior in firm-hosted online
travel communities, indicating that perceived ease of use and
usefulness positively influence consumers’ attitudes and in-
tentions to participate in the virtual travel community as well
as to recommend tourism products and services. On the basis
of the TAM, Kim, Kim and Shin (2009) empirically exam-
ined the consumer use of airline websites, finding that the
constructs of perceived ease of use and usefulness are posi-
tively associated with consumer attitudes and behavioral in-
tentions. A study carried out by Ayeh, Au and Law (2013)
investigated the use of consumer-generated media for travel
planning, suggesting that perceived ease of use and useful-
ness positively influence behavioral intentions.
Informed by the above findings related online tourism ex-
periences and behavioral intentions, the conceptual frame-
work of this study assumes that exposure to the tourism site
within a 3D virtual world affects people’s travel intentions.
This basic premise can be justified by the following three
lines of thinking. First, virtual reality literature has noted that
virtual experience in an immersive 3D virtual world can af-
fect consumer purchase intention (Barnes & Mattsson,
2011; Gabisch & Gwebu, 2011). A study investigating how
contextual factors influence intention to buy, by Animesh,
Pinsonneault, Yang and Oh (2011), suggested that techno-
logical and spatial environmental features in the 3D virtual
world influence an individual’s virtual experience and pur-
chase intentions. Guo and Barnes (2011) examined consumer
purchase behavior in 3D virtual worlds, suggesting that ex-
trinsic motivators, such as perceived value and performance
expectancy, and intrinsic motivators, such as perceived en-
joyment and general achievement, can influence purchase in-
tentions and actual purchase behavior. A study investigating
shopping intentions in 3D virtual worlds by Domina, Lee and
MacGillivray (2012) suggested that consumer perception of
ease of use while navigating the virtual site would influence
shopping intentions. Kowatsch and Maass (2010), studying
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
how mobile applications affect product purchases and store
preferences, indicated that after using mobile applications
for product information acquisition, the consumer perception
of usefulness of mobile technology positively related to the
intention to purchase a product.
Second, it has been discussed in the marketing field that
Internet-based experiential marketing can be an effective
tool to influence real-world brand awareness and purchase
intent. Examining the impacts of virtual store exposure in
virtual social worlds on real-life brand attitude and purchase
intent, Haenlein and Kaplan (2009) pointed out that ‘expe-
riences made online are subsequently transferred offline’
(p. 69). Nah, Eschenbrenner and DeWester (2011) sug-
gested that 3D virtual worlds have the potential to enhance
one’s perceptions of a brand so as to patronize the real-life
business, indicating that engaging and pleasurable experi-
ences in the virtual immersive environments ‘may have
been influenced enough to extend their positive perceptions
to visiting a real-life location’ (p. 737). Hemp’s (2006)
paper on ‘avatar based marketing’ in Harvard Business
Review indicated that a real-world store in a virtual world
such as Walt Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom site ‘is
designed to encourage visits to the company’s real-world
theme-park attractions’ (p. 57).
Finally, research in the area of tourism and virtual reality
has provided support for the fact that experience with the in-
formative and entertaining settings within a virtual world
informs tourists’ information searching and trip decision-
making processes. A study investigating destination travel
intentions in a Web context by Kaplanidou and Vogt
(2006) pointed out that the feature of perceived usefulness
in Web-based tourism was a significant predictor of inten-
tion to travel to the destination. Mäntymäki and Salo
(2011), applying TAM and motivational models, investi-
gated hotel user purchasing behavior in a social virtual
world, suggesting that perceived ease of use and usefulness
indirectly affects consumer purchase intention. Moreover,
Huang et al. (2013), examining the applicability of the
TAM in the context of 3D virtual worlds, indicated that
perceived usefulness and ease of use are antecedent of
consumers’ travel intentions to develop consideration and
awareness in destination choice making. Therefore, based
on the literature reviewed, we expect that perceived ease
of use and usefulness of a 3D tourism site will be positively
associated with people’s travel intentions. The following
hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 1: Perceived ease of use will positively influ-
ence people’s travel intentions while experiencing a 3D
tourism environment.
Hypothesis 2: Perceived usefulness will positively influ-
ence people’s travel intentions while experiencing a 3D
tourism environment.
Further, a number of studies have incorporated TAM with
the construct of perceived enjoyment to understand user ex-
perience in computer-mediated environments (Chen & Chen,
2011; Goh & Yoon, 2011; Yu, Ha, Choi & Rho, 2005). The
construct of perceived enjoyment is affiliated with what
Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
 The Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing
Venkatesh (2000) defined as ‘the extent to which the activity
of using a specific system is perceived to be enjoyment in its
own right aside from any performance consequence resulting
from system use’ (p. 351). The relationship between enjoy-
ment and perceived ease of use as well as perceived useful-
ness has been well documented in the mainstream literature
of consumer behavior in Web-based commerce (Yi &
Hwang, 2003; van der Heijden, 2004; Hsu & Lu, 2007).
Moreover, the effect of perceived enjoyment has been ob-
served recently in the context of information technology
and tourism (Lee, Xiong & Hu, 2012; Kim, Ahn & Chung,
2013; Chen, Shang & Li, 2014). Taking the construct of en-
joyment into account, along with the characteristics of per-
ceived ease of use and usefulness in the context of virtual
reality technology, we suggest the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 3: Perceived ease of use will positively influ-
ence enjoyment while experiencing a 3D tourism site.
Hypothesis 4: Perceived usefulness will positively influ-
ence enjoyment while experiencing a 3D tourism site.
Self-determination theory
Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan &
Deci, 2000), which is the most commonly applied theory
for examining human motivational behavior, has been effec-
tive in explaining motivational dynamics and human motiva-
tional behavior. SDT postulates that the satisfaction of
psychological needs determines the underlying motivational
mechanism that energizes individuals to pursue an activity
and thus directs people’s behavior (Ryan & Deci, 2000;
Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, Witte, Soenens & Lens,
2010). These psychological needs are competence, auton-
omy and relatedness. With recent research efforts in
computer-mediated environments, scholars have applied the
framework of SDT to explore the use of virtual environ-
ments, establishing that the satisfaction of psychological
needs leads to sustained engagement with virtual contexts,
including how their fulfillment can facilitate motivational be-
havior in the activities (Przybylski, Ryan & Rigby, 2009;
Tamborini1, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard & Organ, 2010).
In accordance with Ajzen’s (1991) theoretical framework,
studies in various fields have suggested that the psychological
needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness determine
the underlying motivational mechanisms that direct individ-
ual behavioral intentions; such research has been explored
in marketing (Dahl & Moreau, 2007; Lin, Tsai & Chiu,
2009; Schepers, Falk, de Ruyter, de Jong & Hammerschmidt,
2012), health (Conner & Norman, 2005; Gillison, Standage &
Skevington, 2006), education (Chatzisarantis & Biddle,
1998; Ntoumanis, 2001) and exercise (Wilson, Rodgers,
Blanchard & Gessell, 2003; Hagger & Chatzisarantis,
2008). Scholars have also found that SDT can be applied to
understand consumers’ behavioral intentions (Jiang & Dong,
2008; Hoffman & Novak, 2012). Roca and Gagné (2008), ap-
plying SDT to predict behavioral intentions, suggested that an
individual’s behavioral intentions can be predicted in the sat-
isfaction of the three psychological needs of autonomy, com-
petence and relatedness. Moreover, a study investigating
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
119
motivation and behavioral intention in the context of mas-
sively multiplayer virtual environments by Ryan, Rigby and
Przybylski (2006) pointed out that immersive virtual environ-
ments provide opportunities for individuals to experience the
senses of autonomy, competence and relatedness that subse-
quently predict behavioral intentions.
Therefore, informed by SDT, this study will examine
whether psychological benefits can be derived from a 3D
tourism environment that provides opportunities to develop
consideration and awareness in a consumer’s potential desti-
nation choice. Based on the literature reviewed, the follow-
ing hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 5: While navigating a 3D tourism environ-
ment, a greater perception of autonomy leads to greater
behavioral intentions to visit the destination.
Hypothesis 6: While navigating a 3D tourism environ-
ment, a greater perception of competence leads to greater
behavioral intentions to visit the destination.
Hypothesis 7: While navigating a 3D tourism environ-
ment, a greater perception of relatedness leads to greater
behavioral intentions to visit the destination.
The construct of enjoyment has been examined in relation
to SDT as one of the important attributes in understanding
user experience in computer-mediated environments. Apply-
ing SDT, a study by Neys, Jansz and Tan (2010), exploring
motivated behavior and persistence in the context of virtual
environments, proclaimed that the satisfaction of autonomy,
competence and relatedness contributed to individuals’ expe-
riences of enjoyment, resulting in continued future behavior.
Studying entertainment media, Tamborini1 et al. (2010) val-
idated the framework of SDT with respect to the association
between the satisfaction of psychological needs and partici-
pants’ enjoyment and engagement in a multiuser virtual envi-
ronment context. Current literature suggests that the
satisfaction of needs for competence, autonomy and related-
ness contributes to sustained engagement and enjoyment in
virtual worlds, which in turn leads to facilitating motivated
behavior. Informed by previous studies, the following hy-
potheses are proposed:
Hypothesis 8: The perception of autonomy has a positive
association with enjoyment while experiencing a 3D tour-
ism environment.
Hypothesis 9: The perception of competence has a posi-
tive association with enjoyment while experiencing a 3D
tourism environment.
Hypothesis 10: The perception of relatedness has a posi-
tive association with enjoyment while experiencing a 3D
tourism environment.
METHOD
Data collection
For purposes of the study, a Basecamp in Second Life was
created by a collaborative effort including research teams
Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
120 Y. C. Huang et al.
from various disciplines such as Sociology, Parks, Recrea-
tion and Tourism Management and Rhetoric, Communica-
tion, and Information Design, as well as two cultural
consultants from a local tribal community in Kenya. A pri-
vate island was purchased from Linden Lab and the
Basecamp, modeled after a typical village in the Maasai
Mara region of Kenya, was constructed by completing the
tasks of landscaping, building and scripting. Based upon
the design principles of engagement, entertainment and edu-
cation, the constructions of the virtual site included a visual
resemblance to and overall feeling of a real-world safari
basecamp while using multimedia capabilities in Second Life
to engage virtual tourists. Figure 1 presents the examples of
tourist experience in the 3D virtual tourism site. A pilot test
was conducted to gather information to improve the quality
and efficiency of the research procedures. Suggestions about
the questionnaire from pretest participants were subsequently
incorporated into the survey.
Primary data were obtained for this study through self-
administered Web questionnaires to collect information from
participants. Aligning with past studies on user experience in
virtual environments (Barr, Noble & Biddle, 2007; Hoffman
& Nadelson, 2010; Reinhard, 2010), this study employed a
convenience sampling method to collect data from college
students (n = 105) and experienced Second Life users
(n = 98) in a laboratory setting. The participants took part in
a treasure hunt activity to explore different areas on Second
Life Basecamp, interacting with others on the site and also
with multimedia information within the virtual tourism at-
traction so that they could learn about the cultural aspects
of the tourism destination. After eliminating the incomplete
questionnaires, 186 questionnaires were used for further
analysis.
Figure 1. Examples of tourist experience in the 3D virtual tourism site. This figure is available in color online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/jour-
nal/jtr.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
With respect to recruiting Second Life users, recruitment
emails requesting voluntary participation were sent in order
to invite experienced Second Life users to take part in this re-
search study, via Second Life-related mailing lists as well as
by contacting colleagues via different virtual communities
such as Africa Live, Thothica SL and the Institute of Electri-
cal and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In addition to experi-
enced Second Life users, student participants were recruited
from a University in the Southeast region of the USA.
Measurements
Based on past studies of TAM (Davis, 1989; Fetscherin &
Lattemann, 2008), the constructs of perceived ease of use
and usefulness were modified in this study. Perceived useful-
ness measures the extent to which a consumer believes that
virtual worlds provide access to useful information in trip
planning (e.g. ‘I believe that using Second Life enhances
the effectiveness of trip planning’), while the construct of
perceived ease of use assesses the extent to which a con-
sumer believes using a virtual world is free of effort (e.g. ‘I
did not find it difficult to get Second Life to do what I wanted
it to do’); both scales consist of four items. In addition, the
scale of Player Experience Need Satisfaction has demon-
strated good reliability and validity in past literature (Neys
et al., 2010; Tamborini1 et al., 2010), and it was modified
in this study to measure the psychological needs of compe-
tence, autonomy and relatedness. Competence measures par-
ticipants’ perceptions that the virtual tourism site in Second
Life provides a challenge but is not an overwhelmingly diffi-
cult experience. Autonomy assesses whether participants feel
free and to do an activity that interests them. Relatedness
measures the relations between participants and others during
their visit to the 3D tourism destination. For assessing
Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
 The Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing 121

enjoyment, this study modified the intrinsic motivation in- associated with each loading on corresponding factors, the
ventory (Ryan, Mims & Koestner, 1983; Plant & Ryan, output of CFA revealed that each t-value was significant at
1985; Martens, Gulikers & Bastiaens, 2004), a multidimen- p < 0.001, which exceeds the critical value of 3.29
sional measurement for assessing participants’ subjective ex- (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007), as shown in Table 1. Conver-
periences, using a four-item scale. Moreover, the assessment gent validity is thus established. Per Fornell and Larcker
of behavioral intentions in this study was primarily based on (1981), the measurement scales of discriminant validity ex-
the Ajzen and Driver (1992) and Kim, Park and Morrison amine the correlation of factors between a pair of constructs
(2008) measurement scales. Four items were used to elicit with the square root of the average variance extracted for
the intentions to visit the Maasai Mara region of Kenya, each of two constructs. As observed in Table 2, all of the es-
ranging from requesting more information about Maasai timated values of average variance extracted are greater than
Mara to visiting the place in the future. The measurements intercorrelations among the factors but autonomy. However,
in this study are assessed on a seven-point Likert scale as suggested by Kline (2005), if estimated correlations be-
(1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). tween the factors are not greater than 0.85, discriminant va-
lidity is thus established. In lieu of composite reliabilities,
maximal weighted alpha coefficients ranged from 0.89 to
RESULTS 0.96 and composite reliability ranged from 0.86 to 0.96
(Table 1). Following Bagozzi and Yi (1988) and Fornell
Description of sample
The demographic profile of the sample respondents (n = 186)
is reported as follows. More than half of respondents (62.4%) Table 1. Confirmatory factor analysis
were women, and the ethnicity was predominately Caucasian
Factor Standardized factor Composite Maximal
in composition. The majority of participants (73%) of re- Construct meana loading (t-valuesb) reliability weighted
spondents had a high school or college degree. The age of
respondents was between 18–24 years old and 35–54 years Perceived 5.35 0.90 0.90
ease of use
old. In terms of marital status, the majority of the respondents PEU1 0.85 (n/a)
were single. Overall, 69.5% of respondents had previous ex- PEU2 0.82 (12.2)
perience with video games. PEU3 0.82 (13.0)
PEU4 0.80 (13.3)
Confirmatory factor analysis Usefulness 4.68 0.95 0.91
PU1 0.93 (n/a)
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted by using
PU2 0.96 (23.1)
EQS software (Multivariate Software, Inc, Encino, CA USA) PU3 0.91 (19.7)
to examine the composite reliability of the factors for each PU4 0.86 (18.3)
construct and to assess the convergent and discriminant Competence 5.11 0.86 0.91
validity. Prior to data analysis, the outlier was examined at CM1 0.89 (n/a)
CM2 0.89 (17.8)
both univariate (e.g. Stud. Deleted Residual) and multivariate CM3 0.62 (9.6)
(e.g. Mahalanobis distance) levels to reduce systematic error CM4 0.68 (7.6)
(Kline 2005; Tabachnick & Fidell 2007). Per Byrne (2006) Autonomy 5.17 0.88 0.89
and Schafer and Graham (2002), after examining the missing AU1 0.83 (n/a)
data’s loss pattern and its relationships to other variables, the AU2 0.80 (11.9)
AU3 0.88 (11.9)
missing observations were imputed through an expectation– AU4 0.71 (8.4)
maximization procedure that predicts a score for a particular Relatedness 4.33 0.94 0.94
case based on valid values of other variables in a series of re- RE1 0.84 (n/a)
gressions (Brown, 1994; Kline, 2011). The maximum likeli- RE2 0.93 (18.9)
hood estimation is used in CFA to estimate the difference RE3 0.87 (17.1)
RE4 0.93 (17.5)
between the model covariance matrix and the sample covari-
Enjoyment 5.28 0.96 0.96
ance matrix (Crowley & Fan, 1997). Examining the overall EN1 0.95 (n/a)
fitness of the model, the CFA model yielded a comparative EN2 0.96 (31.6)
fit with the ratio of the chi-square to the degrees of freedom EN3 0.92 (22.7)
(χ 2/df = 1.78) of non-normed fit index = 0.93, comparative EN4 0.90 (19.7)
Behavioral 4.66 0.89 0.92
fit index = 0.94 and root mean square error of approxima- intentions
tion = 0.065, indicating a good incremental model fit and a BI1 0.89 (n/a)
close absolute model fit, which are in line with prior studies BI2 0.88 (23.1)
by Byrne (2006) and Hu and Bentler (1999). BI3 0.76 (16.5)
As Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle and Mena (2012) stated, if the BI4 0.78 (13.7)
measures do not provide evidence of reliability and validity, Note: CM: competence; AU: autonomy; RE: relatedness; PEU: perceived
‘the model estimates may be substantially biased, leading re- ease of use; PU: perceived usefulness; EN: enjoyment; BI: behavioral
searchers to overlook relationships that could be significant’ intentions.
a
Items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale for each item (1 = strongly dis-
(p. 424). Based on the recommendation of Hair et al. (2012) agree, 7 = strongly agree).
and Bollen (1989), in examining the predictive power b
All tests were significant at p < 0.001.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
122 Y. C. Huang et al.

Table 2. Constructs intercorrelation and average variance extracted significance. First, structural paths were assessed to examine
Constructs CM AU RE EN PEU PU BI the hypotheses involving how perceived ease of use and use-
fulness would predict enjoyment and behavioral intentions.
CM 0.79a The results showed that perceived usefulness has significant
AU 0.70b 0.80
RE 0.40 0.52 0.89 effects on the experience of enjoyment (β = 0.176, p < 0.05)
EN 0.64 0.83 0.58 0.93 and behavioral intention (β = 0.385, p < 0.05), indicating
PEU 0.55 0.49 0.31 0.44 0.82 support for Hypotheses 1 and 3. However, insignificant ef-
PU 0.51 0.60 0.45 0.65 0.33 0.92 fects were found for the construct of perceived ease of use;
BI 0.54 0.74 0.63 0.73 0.34 0.73 0.83 the results did not support Hypotheses 2 and 4. Additionally,
Note: CM: competence; AU: autonomy; RE: relatedness; PEU: perceived the experience of enjoyment and behavioral intentions to
ease of use; PU: perceived usefulness; EN: enjoyment; BI: behavioral visit the tourism site are predicted by the perception of auton-
intentions. omy and relatedness. The constructs of autonomy and relat-
a
The diagonal elements (in bold) are the square root of the average variance
extracted (the shared variance between the factors and their measures). edness are significantly associated with behavioral
b
The off-diagonal elements are the correlations between factors. intentions (β = 0.604, p < 0.05; β = 0.156, p < 0.05),
supporting Hypotheses 5 and 7. However, the coefficient
and Larcker (1981), the results indicated a good internal con- paths for competence were not significant (Hypothesis 6
sistency of multiple indicators for each construct. was not supported). Finally, the psychological needs of au-
tonomy and relatedness influenced the experience of enjoy-
ment (β = 0.416, p < 0.05; β = 0.266, p < 0.05), indicating
Structural model
support for Hypotheses 8 and 10. Hypothesis 9, focusing
After determining the best fitting measurement model with
on the impact of competence on enjoyment, was not sup-
acceptable fit (Kline, 2011), a structural model was con-
ported. Examining the squared multiple correlation, the over-
ducted to simultaneously examine each of the hypotheses.
all model explained 75% of the variance in enjoyment
As suggested by Bentler and Wu (1995) and Byrne (2006),
(R2SMC = 0.75) and 72% of the variance in behavioral inten-
the robust estimates were used to assess the fit indices of
tions to visit the destination (R2SMC = 0.72).
the model as it affords more security in terms of sample size
and data non-normality. The results of the structural model,
as seen in Figure 2, Satorra–Bentler χ 2 = 585, p < 0.01,
non-normed fit index = 0.93, comparative fit index = 0.94 DISCUSSION
and root mean square error of approximation = 0.065,
demonstrated acceptable fit (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1996; Based on TAM, one aspect of the study investigated how the
Hu & Bentler, 1999; Byrne, 2006). The analysis revealed technology acceptance factors of perceived ease of use and
that 6 of 10 hypothesized relationships exhibit statistical usefulness affect the potential tourists’ experience of

Figure 2. Structural model of testing proposed hypotheses. **t-tests were significant at p < 0.05, and (----) dash line indicates insignificant
path. Note: Satorra–Bentler χ 2 = 585, p < 0.01, non-normed fit index = 0.93, comparative fit index = 0.94 and root mean square error of approx-
imation = 0.065. PEU: perceived ease of use; PU: perceived usefulness; AU: autonomy; CM: competence; RE: relatedness; EN: enjoyment;
BI: behavioral intentions.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
 The Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing
enjoyment and their behavioral intentions to visit the tourism
destination. The results revealed that perceived usefulness is
positively related to the experience of enjoyment, indicating
that useful information in 3D tourism sites – such as the vi-
sual resemblance and overall feel of the physical tourism des-
tination, naturalistic elements and images of cultural
authenticity – can enhance the consumer experience of en-
joyment. This aligns with research by Venkatesh (2000)
and van der Heijden (2004). Moreover, 3D tourism site use-
fulness in planning a trip was a predictor of behavioral inten-
tions, indicating that content elements such as pictures,
graphics, local music, storytelling videos and integrating
websites in the 3D virtual tourism destination convey the
sense of place, contributing to planning for a future trip to
the actual site. This is consistent with prior studies by Yi
and Hwang (2003), Saeed et al. (2009) and Kim et al.
(2008). However, the nonsignificant effect of perceived ease
of use on experience of enjoyment and behavioral intentions
to travel can be interpreted in accordance with previous find-
ings (Davis, 1989; Koufaris, 2002; Liu et al., 2009) in that it
may be a necessary condition in navigating a 3D tourism site
but not a sufficient criterion to lift consumers’ intentions.
This study expands our understanding of TAM-related
studies in the context of tourism by incorporating the con-
structs of SDT and working with the premise that the satis-
faction of psychological needs motivates individuals to
engage in a 3D virtual tourism site and that, moreover,
experiencing an enjoyable virtual tour and developing aware-
ness of a tourism site assists in future trip decision-making.
The results obtained show that during the 3D virtual tourism
site visit, the perceptions of autonomy and relatedness had
positive impacts on the experience of enjoyment, which is
consistent with the works of Peng, Lin, Pfeiffer and Winn
(2012) and Przybylski et al. (2009). These perceptions of au-
tonomy and relatedness also positively correlated with be-
havioral intentions to take a trip, supporting research by
Dholakia (2006), Hoffman and Novak (2012) and Neys
et al. (2010). However, nonsignificant findings for the effects
of competence on enjoyment and behavioral intentions were
identified. Future research efforts should investigate why the
construct of competence is not a significant predictor in
influencing enjoyment and behavioral intentions.
Our findings suggest that virtual tourism developers
should provide an effective and reliable platform for commu-
nicating tourism travel information that will lead to a more en-
joyable experience and travel intentions (Kaplauidou & Vogt,
2006). Our research also reveals the importance of psycho-
logical needs satisfaction in enhancing tourists’ virtual expe-
rience of enjoyment. Tourism marketers need to consider
strategies to satisfying tourist’s psychological needs of auton-
omy and relatedness. As Partala (2011) pointed out, the ab-
sence of physical or geographical limitations can enhance a
sense of autonomy that can extend to a consumer’s experi-
ence of enjoyment in the virtual tourism site navigation. For
instance, ‘in world’, tourists can fly to experience the charac-
teristics of the destination, and virtual tourism site designers
can develop different activities that co-create with visitors to
enhance their sense of autonomy (Füller, Mühlbacher &
Matzler, 2009; Füller, Hutter & Faullant, 2011). Another
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
123
important finding for destination marketing is that relatedness
affects both the experience of enjoyment and travel inten-
tions. The destination marketers need to build the virtual tour-
ism environment facilitating visitors to form a meaningful
relationship that can possibly span into the real world (Ryan
et al., 2006; Boyle, Connolly, Hainey & Boyle, 2012).
CONCLUSION
Three-dimensional virtual worlds provide opportunities for
destination marketing organizations to communicate with
targeted markets and potential visitors, creating destination
awareness in a rich environment (Guttentag, 2010; Xiang &
Gretzel, 2010). Before such communication can be effective,
it is critical for tourism marketers to understand the influen-
tial factors that affect virtual tourist experiences and behav-
ioral intentions within a 3D virtual tourism destination
(Schlosser, 2003; Nambisan & Nambisan, 2008). However,
very little is known about the factors that may influence tour-
ists’ use of virtual worlds. Two theories, TAM and SDT,
were used to guide this study, both of which were found to
be useful frameworks. This study contributes to the empirical
literature by expanding the research framework of the TAM
to incorporate the constructs of SDT in identifying the factors
affecting user experience and behavioral intentions in the
context of virtual worlds, particularly in tourism.
From theoretical point of view, this study contributes to
the empirical TAM literature (Noor et al., 2005; Kaplanidou
& Vogt, 2006; Kim et al., 2008; Casaló et al., 2010) by ap-
plying the model to 3D virtual tourism, thus expanding pre-
vious research in the field that had primarily focused on
information technology or Web environments. Additionally,
this study provides a research framework to capture the en-
tertainment nature of a 3D virtual world, reflecting the con-
cept that users of such technology are also potential
tourists, by extending the TAM to incorporate psychological
elements of SDT to understand consumer experience and be-
havioral intentions in the context of travel and tourism. Al-
though the importance of SDT has been addressed in
various fields such as psychology (Ryan et al., 2006; Neys
et al., 2010), leisure (Patrick & Canevello, 2011) and con-
sumer behavior (Dholakia, 2006; Lin et al., 2009), the study
reported here extends previous research by showing that
while navigating a 3D virtual tourism environment, the psy-
chological needs of autonomy and relatedness are relevant to
the consumer experience and behavioral intentions. More-
over, the results of this study can be applied to future studies
to increase the understanding of how psychological needs are
satisfied in a virtual tourism activity and how they are related
to on-site virtual tourist experiences.
From the perspective of tourism professionals, this study
contributes to an understanding of how best to construct in-
formative and interactive tourist destinations in 3D virtual
worlds in order to attract potential online and real-world tour-
ists. Developers of virtual tourism destinations should en-
deavor to develop sites that are useful for trip planning,
which in turn can influence a tourist’s behavioral intentions
(Yeung & Law, 2006; Kim & Fesenmaier, 2008; Dion &
Int. J. Tourism Res., 18: 116–128 (2016)
DOI: 10.1002/jtr
124 Y. C. Huang et al.
Woodside, 2010; Kim, Lee & Chung, 2013). Tourism mar-
keters should design the 3D tourism site based on the
targeted market’s needs, identifying what potential tourists
perceive as effective in trip planning (Gretzel & Fesenmaier,
2009; Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2013). For instance, the travel
information displayed on the 3D destination in this study in-
cludes testimonials and travel experiences from past visitors
to stimulate potential tourists to visit the tourism attraction.
To design effective tourism environments that contribute to
positive virtual experiences in Second Life, tourism practi-
tioners also need to take into consideration consumers’ psy-
chological needs of autonomy and relatedness (Wang, Yu
& Fesenmaier, 2002). For example, the use of interactive
communication media in the virtual destination to display
images from the local community and artwork produced by
local women enhances awareness of Kenyan Maasai tribal
culture and authenticity and provides an opportunity to en-
gage tourists by encouraging the feeling of being connected
with Basecamp Maasai Mara.
Past research has demonstrated that the importance of the
concept of self-congruence in explaining consumer behavior
in various contexts such as brand attitude (Kressmann, Sirgy,
Herrmann, Huber, Huber & Lee, 2006, Sirgy, Lee, Johar &
Tidwell, 2008), customer satisfaction (Chon & Olsen,
1991; Jamal & Goode, 2001; Ibrahim & Najjar, 2008), prod-
uct knowledge (Sirgy & Danes, 1982; Quester, Karunaratna
& Goh, 2000) and purchase intention (Sirgy, 1985; Ericksen,
1997). Moreover, the theory of self-congruity can be inte-
grated with TAM to understand consumer attitudes and be-
havior in computer-mediated environments (Nysveen &
Pedersen, 2003; Kang, Hong & Lee, 2009) by examining
the relationship between actual self-concept and ideal self-
concept toward a product or service (Sirgy, 1986). Based
upon the theoretical framework of a self-congruity perspec-
tive, Suh, Kim and Suh (2011) investigated how individuals
form brand attitudes and purchase intentions in realistic task-
focused virtual world settings, indicating that the research
framework of self-congruity is useful to explain the virtual
experience and evaluation of some business areas related to
users’ lives in the real world. A study examining the impacts
of virtual world brand experience on real-world purchasing
intentions by Gabisch (2011) pointed out that self-
congruence theory is helpful to explain how virtual identity
reflects a consumer’s self-concept and its relation to brand at-
titude and purchase intentions. Future studies can apply the
self-congruity theory to examine how the digital identity in
the virtual tourism setting affects consumer attitudes toward
the brand image of tourism destinations and travel intentions.
This study has several limitations, many of which pro-
vide a foundation for future studies in the context of virtual
tourism. The first limitation is the generalizability issue. This
study investigated only the application of the virtual world
of Second Life and the Maasai Mara tourism destination
specifically. Thus, the results may not be able to be general-
ized to other tourism destinations and virtual world plat-
forms. Moreover, this study collected data primarily from
college students and Second Life users who may not be rep-
resentative of 3D virtual world users; future studies should
endeavor to collect a sample from various types of virtual
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
worlds in obtaining a more generalizable result. Addition-
ally, due to the exploratory nature of this study, the samples
used here were relatively small, and future studies could be
based on a more diversified sample composed of more di-
verse cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, this study adopted
its research framework from technology use, psychology
and consumer behavior literature to examine 3D virtual tour-
ism site usefulness and ease of use and their effects on travel
intentions. Perceived ease of use and usefulness are consid-
ered as explanatory variables for travel intentions that may
be confused with intentions to use the virtual tourism site
to search for travel information. Future studies can incorpo-
rate the variables of intentions to use virtual technology and
intentions to visit the destination to examine whether the re-
sults are different. Finally, this study focuses only on a sub-
set of the possible determinants of user experience and
behavioral intentions in a 3D tourism environment. Future
studies could investigate other predictors that potentially in-
fluence tourist experience and behavioral intentions in the
context of virtual tourism.
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