Abstract Purpose/ Research Question: The paper intends to understand whether and how wearable virtual reality technologies influences visitors' experience at a museum. The work aims at advancing existing marketing research in the cultural heritage and tourism sectors shedding light on the potential adoption of smart technologies as a valuable tool for enhancing the customer's experience and thus increasing the competitiveness of cultural heritage organizations. To this end an empirical survey was carried out on a sample of visitors of a cultural heritage site (San Teodoro Palace), i.e. an ancient noble residence located in the tourism destination of Naples (Italy). Here, a project, named "San Teodoro Experience", was developed through the implementation of wearable VR technologies aimed at enriching the experience of visitors. It is worth highlighting that the museum was open to the public just in occasion of the new smart technology project launch. The questionnaire was developed based on a deep literature review related to the analysis of the key variables influencing consumers attitudes towards technology, customer experience and behavioral intentions. For the purposes of the study a factor-cluster analysis was run on a sample 287 visitors. Cluster analysis show that three main segments (namely: "Enthusiastic"; "Moderate" and "Skeptical") exist which differ among them based on their attitudes towards technology, the content, intensity and emotions related to their experience of the museum through virtual reality and their future intentions to re-use the virtual reality technology application in the future and share their experience with other people. Based on empirical findings the study offers some useful indications for the effective design of technology-mediated experience and the use of smart technologies (i.e. virtual reality) as a marketing tool for cultural heritage attractions. Further, the paper suggests future research direction. Key Literature Reviews (About 3~5 papers): The research work finds its scientific foundation in the recent literature on the use of smart technologies, notably virtual reality, within the tourism and cultural heritage sectors (Guttentag, 2010; Jung, 201; tom Dieck et al., 2015). The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for enhancing the marketing capabilities and competitiveness of tourism destinations and cultural heritage organizations is generating many changes both in terms of demand and in terms of site management (Carrillo 2015; Park 2017). In particular, by focusing on the use of virtual reality, the application of these technologies is assuming an important role not only for the preservation and use of cultural heritage attractions and sites, but also for the promotion and planning of the visitor experience at cultural sites and destinations (Schiuma 2017; Della Corte et al., 2015, 2016). Virtual reality (VR) consists in the use of a computer-generated 3D environment ('virtual environment') that one can navigate and possibly interact with, resulting in real-time simulation of one or more of the user's five senses (Guttentag, 2010) while 3D virtual worlds have been described as "a simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface consisting of features of shared space, immersive 3D environments with graphical user interfaces, immediate interaction, interactivity with users, persistence, and social community" (Bell, 2008; Novak, 2009; Schroeder, 1996). In the field of cultural heritage, Jung (2016) underlines how the application of AR and VR represents a valid support for heritage conservation and their potential becomes particularly relevant especially for UNESCO sites that constantly attract a large number of visitors. Moreover, AR and VR can be also used to rediscover sites that have been affected by erosion by developing increasingly precise rendering methods able to faithfully replicate buildings and other objects of particular cultural interest in 3D works. In a marketing perspective, virtual 3D applications for tourism destinations and cultural heritage sites do not only provide the technological platform to bring new products and services to the attention of hard-to-reach consumers, but can also be considered as a powerful tool for changing a potential visitor's destination image (Hay, 2008). In many cases, the AR and VR technologies are considered even a substitute for the cultural product as long as they are able to better replicate the environment related to the site, its distinctive and authentic characteristics (Han et al., 2018; Jung, 2016; tom Dieck et al., 2015). Moreover, the opportunity, provided by the use of the AR and VR to respectively insert the "good" in a storytelling path and to replicate physical objects does allows to transmit additional information on the cultural attraction along with enriching the overall visit experience. Clearly, the potential impact of VR implementation on visitors' experience and their behavioral intentions significantly depends on customers' attitude towards smart technologies. Indeed, as Guttentag (2010) highlights, "the opportunity of using VR experiences to serve as substitute tourism experiences is analyzed by examining several factors that will influence tourists' perceptions of potential VR tourism substitutes, thereby demonstrating that the acceptability of a VR tourism substitute will be determined subjectively by different users" (p.637). In this respect, one of the main models used to analyze the factors the individual attitude towards technology and recently extended in the field of VR and AR technologies is the so-called Technology Acceptance Model. The TAM was derived to apply to any specific domain of human-computer interactions (Davis et al., 1989). The TAM asserts that salient beliefs, notably perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, determine technology acceptance and are the key antecedents of behavioral intentions to use technology. The TAM suggests that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use enables to form individual attitudes including the attitude to construct intention to use the technology and cause behavior (i.e., the chain of beliefs-attitude-intention-behavior) (Davis, 1989). The TAM is evaluated as a superior model in terms of conciseness and predictability in many fields. In particular, the TAM identifies various external variables (e.g., systemic, individual, situational, social characteristics, etc.) as factors affecting the two beliefs in many existing studies (Burton-Jones & Hubona, 2006; Kim et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2007; Oh et al., 2014; Teo, 2009). In the field of tourism and cultural heritage, TAM has been recently increasingly applied to explain the factors affecting tourist and visitors' acceptance of different smart technologies, such as mobile technology (e.g. Kim et al., 2008), 3D virtual words (e.g. Huang et al., 2013), AR (Chung et al., 2015) and VR (Huang et al., 2016). Specifically, Kim et al. (2008) underlined that TAM provided a better understanding of travelers' acceptance of this technology, suggesting that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were key elements influencing the traveler's attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices in the trip decision-making process. Huang et al (2013) explored user acceptance of 3D virtual worlds in travel and tourism marketing integrating the TAM model with Hedonic Theory, investigating the role of enjoyment, emotional involvement, positive emotions, and flow experience. Relying on the TAM, Chung et al. (2015) showed how the use of AR can influence the visitor's intention to carry out the visit. The research, in particular, identifies the personal, stimulus ( i.e. visual appeal), and situational (i.e. facilitating conditions) factors affecting AR acceptance as exterior variables, considering how these factors influence visitors' beliefs, attitudes and intentions to both use AR and visit the real destination in the future. The authors examining the applicability of the TAM in the context of 3D virtual worlds and found that that perceived usefulness and ease of use of technology are antecedent of consumers' travel intentions to develop consideration and awareness in destination choice making. Finally, Huang et al (2016) proposed a framework to explore the implications of Virtual Reality Technology in tourism that integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. In this case, the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world, reflecting the concept that users of such technology are also potential tourists, is the point of departure to extend the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of SDT to understand consumer experience and behavioral intentions in the context of travel and tourism. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Drawing extensively on marketing and management in the field of tourism and cultural heritage and in particular on that research stream focused on the application of new smart technologies, such as VR and AR, for enhancing the visitors' experience we identity a series of constructs related to technology attitude, customer experience and behavioral intentions useful for deepening the implications of wearable virtual reality technology for museum visitors' experience. To this end an empirical survey was carried out on a sample of visitors of a cultural heritage site (San Teodoro Palace), i.e. an ancient noble residence located in the tourism destination of Naples (Italy). Here, a project, named "Santeodoro Experience", was developed through the implementation of wearable VR technologies aimed at enriching the experience of visitors. In this cultural site two immersive Virtual Reality viewers developed by Samsung Gear VR have been installed by the Apptripper start-up as an integral part of the overall museum tour. It is worth highlighting that the museum was open to the public just in occasion of the new smart technology project launch. The survey protocol was developed on the basis of an extended literature review on key variables related to individual attitudes towards technology, the fruition experience and behavioral intentions related to technology use and sharing the experience with other people. Qualitative factors/variables were measured empirically through the extensive use of Likert scales and the data collected through questionnaires were used for the creation of an excel database containing all the preparatory information for subsequent statistical elaborations. A final sample of 287 people was obtained. Data analysis was based on a factor-cluster analysis aimed at measuring the relationships between the qualitative factors/variables previously identified (Hair et. Al, 2010). (Expected) Findings/Results: From a theoretical point of view, this study provides new knowledge about the implications of wearable virtual reality application for visitor's experience and behavioral intentions at a cultural heritage site. Specifically, factor analysis enabled the identification of six main factors explaining the 76.44% of the overall variance. These factors related to: 1) visitors' degree of innovativeness towards technology; 2) the level of involvement of RV; 3) the usefulness of RV for the on-site experience; 4) the degree of escapism from reality enabled by the VR application during the technology-mediated experience; 5) visitors' intentions to use RV in the future; 6) visitors' intentions to share the experience with other people. Through cluster analysis it was subsequently possible to identity three main groups of visitors, distinguishable on the basis of the value of the six factors indicating their overall evaluation of the technology-mediated experience of the museum. Specifically, the three cluster include: 1) the "Enthusiastic"(N=156); 2) the "Moderate" (N=92); and, 3) the "Skeptical"(N=39). The first cluster - the largest one - shows a very positive attitude towards the RV application and is intentioned to use the RV in the future sharing their experience with others. Visitors belonging to the second cluster are more "cautious" in evaluating the RV for their museum experience, especially with regard to escapism; moreover, although they show their intentions to use VR in the future they are not very convinced to share their experience through worth-of-mouth or social networks. The last cluster - the smallest one - is made of visitors who only in part recognize the value of VR for enhancing their on-site museum experience and are quite skeptical about the idea of sharing the experience with other people or reviewing it through social networks. The examination of the link among these constructs in the context of 3D virtual environment moves the research forward in the realm of visitor experience design and marketing. From a virtual cultural site development perspective, the empirical analysis shows that museum managers should pay attention to technology-related factors, and specifically of the acceptance factors of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in developing positive virtual experiences within the context of virtual sites for promoting cultural site. However, it is also important to take into account individual characteristics related to the relationship with new technology, and specifically visitors' degree of technology innovativeness. It is interesting to highlight that Chi-squares test demonstrated that socio-demographical variables, such as sex, age, level of education and kind of job, did not influence the composition of clusters. On the contrary, emotions played a key role in explaining the formation of clusters and the overall visitors' evaluation of technology-mediated experience. Indeed, the ANOVA test showed that people belonging to the cluster of the enthusiast witnessed more intense emotions, in terms of enjoyment, interest, joy, etc. Research limitations/ Implications: The main limits of the work derive from the scant possibility to generalize the result related to San Teodoro Palace to other cultural heritage sites. In addition, our sample cannot represent the entire population of VR visitors, but only a sample of visitors population of San Teodoro Museum (n=287). Moreover, since the present study focused on a general understanding of VR usage and its associated intention to visit a museum, this study did not fully take into account factors related to the features of heritage site or visitors. The present study tried to investigate whether individual's experience enhanced by technologies such as VR can contribute to improving the overall visitor experience and even inducing intention to re- use the technology in the future and share the technology-mediated experience with friends and other people. Finally, the results of the present study provide VR developers, institutions and organizations with practical implications. In order to enrich visitor experience and ultimately attract them to revisiting the cultural site, it is required to have more focus on visitor social presence and experience in VR environments.
Exploring the implications of wearable virtual reality technology for museum visitors' experience: a cluster analysis
Luisa Errichiello;Roberto Micera;
2018
Abstract
Abstract Purpose/ Research Question: The paper intends to understand whether and how wearable virtual reality technologies influences visitors' experience at a museum. The work aims at advancing existing marketing research in the cultural heritage and tourism sectors shedding light on the potential adoption of smart technologies as a valuable tool for enhancing the customer's experience and thus increasing the competitiveness of cultural heritage organizations. To this end an empirical survey was carried out on a sample of visitors of a cultural heritage site (San Teodoro Palace), i.e. an ancient noble residence located in the tourism destination of Naples (Italy). Here, a project, named "San Teodoro Experience", was developed through the implementation of wearable VR technologies aimed at enriching the experience of visitors. It is worth highlighting that the museum was open to the public just in occasion of the new smart technology project launch. The questionnaire was developed based on a deep literature review related to the analysis of the key variables influencing consumers attitudes towards technology, customer experience and behavioral intentions. For the purposes of the study a factor-cluster analysis was run on a sample 287 visitors. Cluster analysis show that three main segments (namely: "Enthusiastic"; "Moderate" and "Skeptical") exist which differ among them based on their attitudes towards technology, the content, intensity and emotions related to their experience of the museum through virtual reality and their future intentions to re-use the virtual reality technology application in the future and share their experience with other people. Based on empirical findings the study offers some useful indications for the effective design of technology-mediated experience and the use of smart technologies (i.e. virtual reality) as a marketing tool for cultural heritage attractions. Further, the paper suggests future research direction. Key Literature Reviews (About 3~5 papers): The research work finds its scientific foundation in the recent literature on the use of smart technologies, notably virtual reality, within the tourism and cultural heritage sectors (Guttentag, 2010; Jung, 201; tom Dieck et al., 2015). The application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for enhancing the marketing capabilities and competitiveness of tourism destinations and cultural heritage organizations is generating many changes both in terms of demand and in terms of site management (Carrillo 2015; Park 2017). In particular, by focusing on the use of virtual reality, the application of these technologies is assuming an important role not only for the preservation and use of cultural heritage attractions and sites, but also for the promotion and planning of the visitor experience at cultural sites and destinations (Schiuma 2017; Della Corte et al., 2015, 2016). Virtual reality (VR) consists in the use of a computer-generated 3D environment ('virtual environment') that one can navigate and possibly interact with, resulting in real-time simulation of one or more of the user's five senses (Guttentag, 2010) while 3D virtual worlds have been described as "a simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface consisting of features of shared space, immersive 3D environments with graphical user interfaces, immediate interaction, interactivity with users, persistence, and social community" (Bell, 2008; Novak, 2009; Schroeder, 1996). In the field of cultural heritage, Jung (2016) underlines how the application of AR and VR represents a valid support for heritage conservation and their potential becomes particularly relevant especially for UNESCO sites that constantly attract a large number of visitors. Moreover, AR and VR can be also used to rediscover sites that have been affected by erosion by developing increasingly precise rendering methods able to faithfully replicate buildings and other objects of particular cultural interest in 3D works. In a marketing perspective, virtual 3D applications for tourism destinations and cultural heritage sites do not only provide the technological platform to bring new products and services to the attention of hard-to-reach consumers, but can also be considered as a powerful tool for changing a potential visitor's destination image (Hay, 2008). In many cases, the AR and VR technologies are considered even a substitute for the cultural product as long as they are able to better replicate the environment related to the site, its distinctive and authentic characteristics (Han et al., 2018; Jung, 2016; tom Dieck et al., 2015). Moreover, the opportunity, provided by the use of the AR and VR to respectively insert the "good" in a storytelling path and to replicate physical objects does allows to transmit additional information on the cultural attraction along with enriching the overall visit experience. Clearly, the potential impact of VR implementation on visitors' experience and their behavioral intentions significantly depends on customers' attitude towards smart technologies. Indeed, as Guttentag (2010) highlights, "the opportunity of using VR experiences to serve as substitute tourism experiences is analyzed by examining several factors that will influence tourists' perceptions of potential VR tourism substitutes, thereby demonstrating that the acceptability of a VR tourism substitute will be determined subjectively by different users" (p.637). In this respect, one of the main models used to analyze the factors the individual attitude towards technology and recently extended in the field of VR and AR technologies is the so-called Technology Acceptance Model. The TAM was derived to apply to any specific domain of human-computer interactions (Davis et al., 1989). The TAM asserts that salient beliefs, notably perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, determine technology acceptance and are the key antecedents of behavioral intentions to use technology. The TAM suggests that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use enables to form individual attitudes including the attitude to construct intention to use the technology and cause behavior (i.e., the chain of beliefs-attitude-intention-behavior) (Davis, 1989). The TAM is evaluated as a superior model in terms of conciseness and predictability in many fields. In particular, the TAM identifies various external variables (e.g., systemic, individual, situational, social characteristics, etc.) as factors affecting the two beliefs in many existing studies (Burton-Jones & Hubona, 2006; Kim et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2007; Oh et al., 2014; Teo, 2009). In the field of tourism and cultural heritage, TAM has been recently increasingly applied to explain the factors affecting tourist and visitors' acceptance of different smart technologies, such as mobile technology (e.g. Kim et al., 2008), 3D virtual words (e.g. Huang et al., 2013), AR (Chung et al., 2015) and VR (Huang et al., 2016). Specifically, Kim et al. (2008) underlined that TAM provided a better understanding of travelers' acceptance of this technology, suggesting that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were key elements influencing the traveler's attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices in the trip decision-making process. Huang et al (2013) explored user acceptance of 3D virtual worlds in travel and tourism marketing integrating the TAM model with Hedonic Theory, investigating the role of enjoyment, emotional involvement, positive emotions, and flow experience. Relying on the TAM, Chung et al. (2015) showed how the use of AR can influence the visitor's intention to carry out the visit. The research, in particular, identifies the personal, stimulus ( i.e. visual appeal), and situational (i.e. facilitating conditions) factors affecting AR acceptance as exterior variables, considering how these factors influence visitors' beliefs, attitudes and intentions to both use AR and visit the real destination in the future. The authors examining the applicability of the TAM in the context of 3D virtual worlds and found that that perceived usefulness and ease of use of technology are antecedent of consumers' travel intentions to develop consideration and awareness in destination choice making. Finally, Huang et al (2016) proposed a framework to explore the implications of Virtual Reality Technology in tourism that integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. In this case, the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world, reflecting the concept that users of such technology are also potential tourists, is the point of departure to extend the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of SDT to understand consumer experience and behavioral intentions in the context of travel and tourism. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Drawing extensively on marketing and management in the field of tourism and cultural heritage and in particular on that research stream focused on the application of new smart technologies, such as VR and AR, for enhancing the visitors' experience we identity a series of constructs related to technology attitude, customer experience and behavioral intentions useful for deepening the implications of wearable virtual reality technology for museum visitors' experience. To this end an empirical survey was carried out on a sample of visitors of a cultural heritage site (San Teodoro Palace), i.e. an ancient noble residence located in the tourism destination of Naples (Italy). Here, a project, named "Santeodoro Experience", was developed through the implementation of wearable VR technologies aimed at enriching the experience of visitors. In this cultural site two immersive Virtual Reality viewers developed by Samsung Gear VR have been installed by the Apptripper start-up as an integral part of the overall museum tour. It is worth highlighting that the museum was open to the public just in occasion of the new smart technology project launch. The survey protocol was developed on the basis of an extended literature review on key variables related to individual attitudes towards technology, the fruition experience and behavioral intentions related to technology use and sharing the experience with other people. Qualitative factors/variables were measured empirically through the extensive use of Likert scales and the data collected through questionnaires were used for the creation of an excel database containing all the preparatory information for subsequent statistical elaborations. A final sample of 287 people was obtained. Data analysis was based on a factor-cluster analysis aimed at measuring the relationships between the qualitative factors/variables previously identified (Hair et. Al, 2010). (Expected) Findings/Results: From a theoretical point of view, this study provides new knowledge about the implications of wearable virtual reality application for visitor's experience and behavioral intentions at a cultural heritage site. Specifically, factor analysis enabled the identification of six main factors explaining the 76.44% of the overall variance. These factors related to: 1) visitors' degree of innovativeness towards technology; 2) the level of involvement of RV; 3) the usefulness of RV for the on-site experience; 4) the degree of escapism from reality enabled by the VR application during the technology-mediated experience; 5) visitors' intentions to use RV in the future; 6) visitors' intentions to share the experience with other people. Through cluster analysis it was subsequently possible to identity three main groups of visitors, distinguishable on the basis of the value of the six factors indicating their overall evaluation of the technology-mediated experience of the museum. Specifically, the three cluster include: 1) the "Enthusiastic"(N=156); 2) the "Moderate" (N=92); and, 3) the "Skeptical"(N=39). The first cluster - the largest one - shows a very positive attitude towards the RV application and is intentioned to use the RV in the future sharing their experience with others. Visitors belonging to the second cluster are more "cautious" in evaluating the RV for their museum experience, especially with regard to escapism; moreover, although they show their intentions to use VR in the future they are not very convinced to share their experience through worth-of-mouth or social networks. The last cluster - the smallest one - is made of visitors who only in part recognize the value of VR for enhancing their on-site museum experience and are quite skeptical about the idea of sharing the experience with other people or reviewing it through social networks. The examination of the link among these constructs in the context of 3D virtual environment moves the research forward in the realm of visitor experience design and marketing. From a virtual cultural site development perspective, the empirical analysis shows that museum managers should pay attention to technology-related factors, and specifically of the acceptance factors of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in developing positive virtual experiences within the context of virtual sites for promoting cultural site. However, it is also important to take into account individual characteristics related to the relationship with new technology, and specifically visitors' degree of technology innovativeness. It is interesting to highlight that Chi-squares test demonstrated that socio-demographical variables, such as sex, age, level of education and kind of job, did not influence the composition of clusters. On the contrary, emotions played a key role in explaining the formation of clusters and the overall visitors' evaluation of technology-mediated experience. Indeed, the ANOVA test showed that people belonging to the cluster of the enthusiast witnessed more intense emotions, in terms of enjoyment, interest, joy, etc. Research limitations/ Implications: The main limits of the work derive from the scant possibility to generalize the result related to San Teodoro Palace to other cultural heritage sites. In addition, our sample cannot represent the entire population of VR visitors, but only a sample of visitors population of San Teodoro Museum (n=287). Moreover, since the present study focused on a general understanding of VR usage and its associated intention to visit a museum, this study did not fully take into account factors related to the features of heritage site or visitors. The present study tried to investigate whether individual's experience enhanced by technologies such as VR can contribute to improving the overall visitor experience and even inducing intention to re- use the technology in the future and share the technology-mediated experience with friends and other people. Finally, the results of the present study provide VR developers, institutions and organizations with practical implications. In order to enrich visitor experience and ultimately attract them to revisiting the cultural site, it is required to have more focus on visitor social presence and experience in VR environments.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
