Purpose

An increasing number of immersive technologies have been adopted in museum tourism in response to shifting consumer habits in the digital era. In contrast, the authenticity experience of museum tourists relies on genuine relics, the environment and activities, which are ancient or traditional. This raises the question of whether tourists can perceive authenticity in immersive technology-based museum tourism. To address this question, this study aims to explore the impact of virtual reality (VR) attributes on tourists’ presence, tourism authenticity and subsequent behavioral intentions in virtual museums.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via scenario-based surveys of participants who had taken virtual museum tours based on VR. A total of 174 effective questionnaires were collected for exploratory factor analysis via SPSS 25. Afterward, 597 questionnaires were obtained for confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis via Mplus 7.4.

Findings

A conceptual model of how VR attributes influence presence, authenticity and visit intention was developed. There is a chain intermediary between presence and visit intentions, from original authenticity to interactive authenticity and then to emotional authenticity. Technology readiness and museum familiarity moderate some relationships between VR attributes and presence.

Practical implications

The findings can guide museums in improving the use of VR. For example, managers can improve the quality of virtual systems and adopt various interactive forms to enhance tourists’ participation experiences.

Originality/value

These research findings contribute to the research area of immersive technology adoption, enhance the understanding of tourism authenticity in the new context of technology application and extend the presence-emotion-intention theory.

中文翻译：

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虚拟中的真实：博物馆旅游中虚拟现实对游客存在感和真实性感知的影响机制

目的

为了适应数字时代消费者习惯的变化，博物馆旅游中越来越多地采用沉浸式技术。相比之下，博物馆游客的真实性体验依赖于真实的文物、环境和活动，这些都是古老的或传统的。这就提出了一个问题：游客能否在基于沉浸式技术的博物馆旅游中感知到真实性。为了解决这个问题，本研究旨在探讨虚拟现实（VR）属性对游客在虚拟博物馆中的存在感、旅游真实性以及随后的行为意图的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

通过对参加基于 VR 的虚拟博物馆之旅的参与者进行基于场景的调查来收集数据。共收集有效问卷174份，采用SPSS 25进行探索性因素分析。随后，又获得597份问卷，采用Mplus 7.4进行验证性因素分析和通径分析。

发现

开发了 VR 属性如何影响存在感、真实性和访问意图的概念模型。在存在和访问意图之间存在一个链条中介，从原始真实性到互动真实性，再到情感真实性。技术准备度和博物馆熟悉度调节了 VR 属性和存在感之间的一些关系。

实际影响

研究结果可以指导博物馆改善 VR 的使用。例如，管理者可以提高虚拟系统的质量，采用各种交互形式来增强游客的参与体验。

原创性/价值

这些研究成果有助于沉浸式技术应用的研究领域，增强了技术应用新背景下​​对旅游真实性的理解，并扩展了存在-情感-意图理论。