Virtual reality in retirement communities: Technology acceptance and tourist destination recommendation

Abstract

Despite the importance of analysing virtual reality (VR) technology acceptance by older adults and investigating the use of this technology as a marketing tool to enhance destination tourism word of mouth (WOM), no study seems to have addressed these issues. Thus, this study explores how the technology acceptance model (TAM) and anxiety regarding the use of VR after virtually visiting a tourist destination influence older adults’ intention to reuse VR for tourism. Most importantly, this study examines whether this intention is related to WOM recommendations of a virtually visited tourist destination. Using a combination of quantitative (PLS) and qualitative (thematic analysis) methods, this study uses data gathered from older adults living in four continuing care retirement communities. VR glasses (Oculus Go Standalone) were used to virtually visit the Carnival of Venice. Results show that the TAM factors are key drivers of older adults’ use of VR, which in turn influences tourist destination recommendations. Anxiety was found to reduce the VR device's perceived ease of use, but it was not found to be related to perceived usefulness. Implications for practitioners and possible directions for future research are discussed.