Understanding consumer behavior in the multimedia context: incorporating gamification in VR-enhanced web system for tourism e-commerce

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how gamification and virtual reality (VR)-enhanced web services can be integrated to influence consumer behavior in the context of tourism e-commerce. A gamified VR-enhanced tourism web system (VRTWS) was designed and developed for this investigation, while a research framework with 12 hypotheses was proposed and empirically tested by adopting PLS-SEM approach to analyze 208 valid data collected from survey. The results reveal that both Enjoyment and Activation in Gamification significantly and positively affected Media Richness. Additionally, Media Richness significantly and positively affected both Usefulness and Ease of Use in using VR technology with gamification. Also, a user’s Perceived Value is not only positively affected by Usefulness and Ease of Use but also Interactivity and Immersion in a gamified VRTWS. Immersion was found to be positively affected by Presence. Through the positive effect on Satisfaction, user’s Perceived Value had positive effect on the Intention toward adoption. The proposed gamified VRTWS and the study results with implications are expected to be referenced by the researchers and practitioners for managing incorporation of gamification into designing, developing, and managing their VR-enhanced service in tourism e-commerce.