Virtual reality facilitated travel inspiration: the role of pleasure and arousal.

Abstract

The paper investigates how Virtual Reality (VR)-facilitated travel inspiration increases visit intention through pleasure and arousal. The research rationale is based on our conceptual framework suggesting that the transmission model of inspiration (from the state of inspiration-by to the state of inspiration-to) and the model of emotional states of pleasure and arousal go in tandem. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses with data from 290 participants recruited through Prolific Academic who had visited a destination via a 360° VR activity. Our findings demonstrate that VR inspired-by has significant relationships with pleasure and arousal. Pleasure is a complementary partial mediator of the relationship between inspired-by and inspired-to. Similarly, our findings demonstrate that there is a positive effect of pleasure on visiting intention through inspired-to. Arousal neither appears to mediate the relationship between inspired-by and inspired-to nor has any significant relationship with visiting intention.