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This study aims to investigate the influence of different virtual fashion styles on attitude and satisfaction within virtual reality (VR) tourism experiences. The investigation considers the mediating effect of perceived attractiveness, popularity, novelty and weirdness, as well as the moderating role of self-congruence with avatar clothing and the desire for unique products.

This research uses a quantitative experimental approach. Initially, a three-step pilot study (N = 201) was conducted to select avatar fashion styles for the main investigation. In the primary study, participants (N = 326) engaged with one out of four fashion style conditions to select attire for their avatars and then completed a self-administered survey. Data analysis involved paired-sample t-tests, multivariate analysis of variance and Hayes’ PROCESS Models.

The results show that presenting fantasy avatar fashion styles leads to a decrease in perceived attractiveness and popularity, while concurrently increasing perceptions of novelty and weirdness which in turn exert a negative influence on attitude and satisfaction with the virtual fitting room (VFR). However, these relationships change when considering the moderating role of self-congruence with avatar clothing and the desire for unique products.

VR tourism experience providers and designers can use research findings to bolster positive attitude and enhance satisfaction with VFR; an important first step that strongly affects the rest of the VR tourist journey.

This study contributes to tourism research by exploring the intersection of immersive technologies and virtual fashion. It emphasizes the enhancement of critical touchpoints like the VFR, moving beyond a sole focus on VR adoption, to improve the overall virtual tourist experience.

Previous studies on social influence and virtual product adoption have mainly taken users’ purchase behavior as a dichotomous variable (i.e. purchasing or not). Given the prevalence of competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product in online communities, this paper investigated the differences in the effect of social influence on users’ adoption of basic and upgraded choices of a virtual product. It also examined how the effect varies with users’ social status and user-level network density.

A natural experiment was conducted in an online game community. Two competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product were provided for in-game purchase while a random set of users selected from 897,765 players received the notification of their friends’ adoption information. A competing-risk model was used to test the hypotheses.

Social influence exerts a stronger positive effect on users’ adoption of the upgraded virtual product than of the basic virtual product. Middle-status users have the greatest (least) susceptibility to social influence in adopting the upgraded (basic) virtual product than low- and high-status users. User’s network density enhances the effect of social influence on adoption of both virtual products, even more for the upgraded one.

This research contributes to the social influence and product adoption literature by disentangling the different effects of social influence on basic and upgraded versions of a virtual product. It also identifies the boundary conditions that social influence works for each version of the virtual product.

This study aims to uncover the underlying mechanism between the time length of We-media videos and customer satisfaction (CS)/participation (CP) based on experiential marketing theory.

Two datasets were collected from Bilibili; 308 data were used with bootstrapping for multiple linear regressions (MLR) to test the hypotheses, and 2,670 data were used for structural equation modelling (SEM) to verify robustness.

Videos’ time length acts as both a price and provision element of experiential marketing. As a price element, its linear term affects CS negatively but CP positively. As a provision element, its quadratic term affects CS positively but CP negatively.

Marketing management personnel and video creators at Bilibili could optimise videos’ time length as suggested. We-media video platforms should encourage high-quality videos with sufficient time lengths to improve CS. Video creators could balance CS and CP, as suggested.

This research proposed platform, provision, price and propagation as experiential marketing elements concerning experiences in online virtual encounters. It found CS was affected positively by provision but negatively by price, whereas the opposite is true for CP. Time length affects CS/CP as both a price and provision element, which may explain the neglect of significant relationships between the time length and marketing performances of videos.

Metaverse technology is of interest to researchers and practitioners in tourism and hospitality. The metaverse offers tourists the capacity to enjoy unprecedented tourism experiences. These opportunities may radically change the tourism and hospitality landscape. This study aims to examine how metaverse experiences affect tourists' cognitive processing, satisfaction and loyalty toward metaverse tourism using the stimulus-organism-response paradigm and cognitive experiential self-theory.

An online survey was undertaken to gather information from 329 respondents who were frequent users of different metaverse applications to meet the study's objectives. Data were evaluated through partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The findings revealed that metaverse experiences, such as immersion, escapism and enjoyment, had a significant positive impact on metaverse organismic experience. Additionally, metaverse cognitive processing positively influenced metaverse tourist responses, including satisfaction and loyalty, with tourist involvement acting as a moderator.

This study provides guidelines for metaverse developers and travel industry professionals to encourage visitor satisfaction and loyalty to metaverse tourism.

Metaverse 技术引起了旅游和酒店业的研究人员和从业人员的兴趣。 元宇宙为游客提供了享受前所未有的旅游体验的能力。 这些机会可能会从根本上改变旅游业和酒店业的格局。 本研究旨在使用刺激-有机体-反应 (S-O-R) 范式和认知体验自我理论 (CEST) 研究虚拟世界体验如何影响游客的认知处理、满意度和对虚拟世界旅游的忠诚度。

为了实现研究目标, 我们开展了一项在线调查, 从 329 名经常使用不同元宇宙应用程序的受访者那里收集信息。 通过偏最小二乘结构方程模型 (PLS-SEM) 评估数据。

研究结果表明, 虚拟世界体验, 如沉浸、逃避现实和享受, 对虚拟世界有机体体验有显着的积极影响。 此外, 虚拟世界的认知处理对虚拟世界游客的反应产生了积极影响, 包括满意度和忠诚度, 游客的参与起到了调节作用。

这项研究为元宇宙开发人员和旅游行业专业人士提供指导方针, 以鼓励游客对元宇宙旅游的满意度和忠诚度。

El Metaverso esta siendo de de interés para investigadores y profesionales en turismo y hotelería. Este avance tecnológico ofrece al turista la capacidad de disfrutar de experiencias turísticas inéditas, generando oportunidades que pueden cambiar radicalmente el panorama de la industria del turismo. Este estudio tiene la intención de examinar cómo las experiencias del metaverso afectan el procesamiento cognitivo, la satisfacción y la lealtad de los turistas hacia el turismo del metaverso utilizando el paradigma de estímulo-organismo-respuesta (S-O-R) y la auto-teoría cognitiva experiencial (CEST).

Se realizó una encuesta en línea para recopilar información de 329 encuestados que eran usuarios frecuentes de diferentes aplicaciones de metaverso para cumplir con los objetivos del estudio. Los datos se evaluaron a través de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-SEM).

Los hallazgos revelaron que las experiencias del metaverso, como la inmersión, el escapismo y el disfrute, tuvieron un impacto positivo significativo en la experiencia organísmica del metaverso. Además, el procesamiento cognitivo del metaverso influyó positivamente en las respuestas de los turistas del metaverso, incluidas la satisfacción y la lealtad, y la participación del turista actuó como moderador.

Este estudio proporciona pautas para los desarrolladores de metaversos y los profesionales de la industria de viajes para fomentar la satisfacción y la lealtad de los visitantes al turismo de metaversos.

Service research offering a view of both the dark and bright sides of smart technology remains scarce. This paper embraces a critical perspective and examines the conflicting outcomes of smart services on the customer experience (CX), with a specific focus on chatbots.

This study uses empirical research methods to examine a single case study where an online retail service provider implemented a chatbot for customer service. Using discourse analysis, we analysed 7,167 conversations between customers and the chatbot over a two-year period.

The analysis identifies seven general themes related to the effects of the chatbot on CX: interaction quality, information gathering, procedure literacy, task achievement, digital trust, shopping stress and shopping journey. We illuminate both positive (i.e. having a pleasant interaction, providing information, knowing procedures, improving tasks, increasing trust, reducing stress and completing the journey) and negative outcomes (i.e. having an unpleasant interaction, increasing confusion, ignoring procedures, worsening tasks, reducing trust, increasing stress and abandoning the journey).

The paper develops a comprehensive framework to offer a clearer view of chatbots as smart services in customer care. It delves into the conflicting effects of chatbots on CX by examining them through relational, cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions.

In the tourism industry, immersive technologies become increasingly vital, amplifying traveler experiences and industry growth. By studying “e-booking” applications prevalent in hotels, this study aims to analyze the impact of integrating an anthropomorphic virtual agent (AVA) on user perceptions of humanness and service usage intent.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of using an AVA and explain the psychological mechanism of how AVA’s attributes increase intention to use “e-booking” application.

The results highlight the positive influence of AVA on the intention to use. They illustrate the psychological mechanism of how AVA’s attributes (agency and emotionality) influence perceived humanness and intention to use. More specifically, the results indicate that perceived humanness mediated the effect of an AVA on intention to use.

Further research should delve into additional capabilities related to humanness.

This study provides useful insights for hotels’ managers about incorporating AVAs in digital services to enhance the perceived humanness of AVAs. The findings suggest that such efforts could yield benefits, especially when they involve conveying that AVAs possess agency and emotionality.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how AVA impacts hotel human–computer interaction. It examines agency and emotionality features on humanness perception and behavioral intent. It also guides successful digitalized hotel service development and design, expanding existing research on human–virtual agent digital services, which mainly focuses on superficial traits like face and gender.

This research paper aimed to investigate the affordances of using virtual reality (VR) in teaching culture among in-service teachers of teaching Persian to speakers of other languages (TPSOL) in Iran.

This qualitative case study, conducted at two Iranian universities, used purposeful sampling to select 34 eligible in-service Persian teachers from a pool of 73. Data collection used an open-ended questionnaire and interviews.

Before the TPSOL in-service training workshop, teachers expressed their reservations regarding the use of VR to teach culture in TPSOL courses. The emerged themes were “skepticism toward effectiveness,” “practicality concerns,” “limited awareness of VR applications,” “technological apprehension” and “prevalence of traditional teaching paradigms.” During the post-workshop interview, it was discovered that the teachers’ perceptions of VR in teaching culture had undergone a positive shift. The workshop generated emergent themes that reflected positive perceptions and affordances for using VR to teach culture in TPSOL, including “enhanced cultural immersion,” “increased student engagement,” “simulation of authentic cultural experiences,” and “facilitation of interactive learning environments.”

One primary limitation is the lack of prior experience with VR for teaching practices in real-world classrooms among the participants. While the study aimed to explore the potential of VR in enhancing pedagogical approaches, the absence of participants with prior exposure to VR in educational contexts may impact the generalizability of the findings to a broader population. Additionally, the study faced practical constraints, such as the unavailability of sufficient facilities in the workshop. As a result, the instructor had to project the VR cont7ent on a monitor, potentially diverging from the immersive nature of true VR experiences. These limitations offer opportunities for future research to refine methodologies and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of integrating VR into teaching practices.

Extensive research has been conducted on the effectiveness of VR in language education. However, there is a significant gap in research on TPSOL, which is considered a less commonly taught language. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the use of VR in the TPSOL through the lenses of in-service teachers. As part of a larger investigation, this qualitative inquiry focuses on the perceptions of in-service teachers about VR, with a particular emphasis on the cultural understanding of the Persian language.

This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by buying centers in small and medium enterprises (SME) manufacturing companies in view of recent technological changes and the virtualization of communication.

This study uses a qualitative approach with multiple case studies to portray complex realities within the buying centers in the manufacturing SME context. The authors selected five Italian companies to portray the diverse characteristics, practices and policies of relevant stakeholders before reaching saturation with the issues explored.

The authors find that interactions among buying center members are more effective with greater collaboration and exchange (as opposed to competition and a struggle for power). Virtual/hybrid relations require greater intra-group cooperation, whereas diverse backgrounds and collaborative interactions help the flexibility and performance of the buying center. Greater use of technology produces certainty and automation, but it may also cause overload and biases that can be solved with the ability to analyze and clear responsibility for decisions.

The authors studied only five Italian companies in this study. Future research in other countries with diverse cultural and socio-economic conditions and methods would help extend this research.

The findings would improve the understanding of the challenges of adopting new purchase process technologies that would help automate routine tasks, produce useful data and support decision-making.

Unlike prior studies, this study uses an exploratory design to study the evolution of buying centers in SMEs to seek deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs because of the growing use of emerging technologies.

This paper aims to provide a critical reflection on the management of experiences in hospitality and tourism (H&T). The paper investigates the evolution of experience research, while discussing the emerging challenges and opportunities for management.

The study adopts a critical and reflective approach for providing future directions of experience research. Three major fields are identified to discuss advances, challenges and opportunities in experience research: conceptualization and dimensions of experiences; relational network for experience management; and theoretical and methodological approaches.

The paper proposes a mindset shift to guide experience research, but also to redirect and research thinking and managerial practices about the role of experiences in the economy and society. This proposed humanized perspective to experience research and management is deemed important given the contemporary socio-economic, environmental and technological challenges of the environment.

This paper identifies a set of theoretical and managerial implications to help scholars and professionals alike to implement the humanized perspective to experience research. Implications relate to conceptualization, relational network and theoretical and methodological approaches in experience research.

This study critically assesses research challenges and opportunities around customer experience management (CEM) in H&T contexts. This reflective and critical look at customer experiences not only informs future research for advancing knowledge and practice but also proposes a mindset shift about the role and nature of CEM in the society and economy.

Guided by the self-determination theory and theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to examine the determinants of participating in metaverse tourism for Gen Z and Gen Y.

The cross-sectional method was used to collect data from 248 respondents from Gen Z and Gen Y tourists. The research model was evaluated using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The PLS-SEM results supported the positive effect of attitude and perceived behavioural control on tourists’ intention to participate in the metaverse tourism. In addition, the crucial role of intrinsic motivation in raising individuals’ cognitive beliefs about metaverse tourism was confirmed.

In addition to the theoretical contributions, the findings provide several managerial implications for tourism practitioners, scholars and metaverse developers to help them make insightful decisions and promote the development of metaverse tourism.

在自我决定理论和计划行为理论的指导下, 本研究探讨了Z世代和Y世代参与元宇宙旅游的决定因素。

采用横截面法收集了248名Z世代和Y世代游客的数据。采用偏最小二乘-结构方程模型(PLS-SEM)对模型进行了分析。

PLS-SEM结果支持态度和感知行为控制对游客参与元宇宙旅游意愿的积极影响。此外, 内在动机在提高个人对元宇宙旅游的认知信念方面的关键作用也得到了证实。

本文为旅游从业者、学者和元宇宙旅游开发商提供了一些管理启示, 帮助他们做决策, 促进元宇宙旅游的发展。

Guiado por la teoría de la autodeterminación y la teoría del comportamiento planificado, este estudio examina los determinantes de la participación en el turismo del Metaverso para la Generación Z y la Generación Y.

Se utilizó el método transversal para recopilar datos de 248 turistas encuestados de la Generación Z y la Generación Y. El modelo de investigación se evaluó utilizando la metodología de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-SEM).

Los resultados del PLS-SEM respaldan el efecto positivo de la actitud y el control percibido del comportamiento en la intención de los turistas de participar en el turismo en el metaverso. Además, se confirma el crucial papel, de la motivación intrínseca a la hora de elevar las creencias cognitivas de los individuos sobre el turismo del metaverso.

Además de las contribuciones teóricas, los hallazgos proporcionan varias implicaciones empresariales para los profesionales del turismo, académicos y desarrolladores de Metaverso para ayudarles a tomar decisiones perspicaces y promover el desarrollo de este turismo.