TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED ENJOYMENT OF IMMERSIVE 360-DEGREE VIDEOS ON BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS IN TOURISM MARKETING

Abstract

The growth in the tourism sector calls for new and innovative ways to attract customers towards each country and tourist destination. One such tool is 360° Virtual Reality (VR) Video, which is all about taking users to a place thousands of miles away from their home while sitting in the comfort of their house and allow them to enjoy it as if they are sitting right there. This study investigated the influence of perceived enjoyment of immersive 360-degree videos on behavioral intentions in tourism marketing. The type of data used is quantitative and collected with the help of a questionnaire through cross-sectional methods. Previous studies have confirmed that being in the virtual environment increases enjoyment and increases the feeling of being there, which creates positive feelings towards a destination, influencing positive visit intention. The study population consists of both male and female gender around the age of 18-65, who have a keen interest in tourism of Pakistan and plans to visit any Pakistan tourist destination within coming one year; non- probability sampling is used through purposive sampling. Product Moment Correlation analysis is used to closeness the relationship between two variables and determine the direction of the relationship. This study revealed that the perceived enjoyment of immersive 360-degree videos could positively influence behavioral intentions to visit a tourist destination; the correlation coefficient value is 0.446, which shows a strong relationship between both variables.