Virtual Reality and Implications for Destination Marketing

Virtual Reality and Implications for Destination Marketing Abstract This study considers the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) in affecting destination image. Three groups viewed related promotional content on South Africa as either a website, a 2D Video, or an immersive VR video using a head mounted display. Participants were asked questions relating to destination image and advertisement effectiveness. Results show that VR positively impacted affective destination image, as well as most items within conative destination image and advertisement effectiveness. Practitioners should consider using VR to visually promote their destinations and experiences, as participants did generally feel more positive emotions towards the destination, and were more likely to share their experiences about the destination and the advertisement itself with friends and relatives

Is VR always better for destination marketing? Comparing different media and styles

The increasing popularity and accessibility of virtual reality (VR) presents an opportunity for destination marketers to leverage its strengths to attract visitors. However, VR's benefits over more traditional media formats remain unclear. This paper reports results from two experiments that compared the impacts of consuming destination marketing material through VR with other media formats. The measured impacts include destination image, perceived advertising effectiveness, and behavioral intentions. Further, the dual experiments allowed for a comparison between different VR content styles (i.e. active vs. passive). Results show that more active VR content largely outperformed other media formats, but with a more passive style of VR these benefits were mostly muted. The findings have direct theoretical and practical implications relating to VR tourism marketing.</p