Discussion of purchasing virtual digital nature and tourism.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the potential and prospects of consumers purchasing virtual digital nature and smart tourism. During the lockdown period, people experienced a trend toward increased subjective well-being as a result of their familiarity with the digital nature. In order to academically validate these experiences, this study examines how interaction with nature in the digital environment stimulates new consumer behavior in post-pandemic life. The study will apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to 300 data collected through a questionnaire to develop the discussion, with a particular focus on the mediating effects of digital forest bathing. The results show that digital forest bathing has a mediating effect in stimulating people’s environmentally oriented behavior, and that the more active they are in digital space and interact with others, the more consumers enjoy interacting with nature in cyberspace and, in turn, the more willing they are to commune with digital nature through smart tourism. This can be expected to provide an effective reference for marketing strategies that contribute to the promotion of smart tourism in the age of symbiosis with COVID.