The implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) in destination marketing and its’ implications on consumer behaviour have recently received attention from researchers and businesses. VR experiences for tourism businesses, such as destination marketing organisations, are increasingly of importance, as they hold the potential to attract tourists to specific destinations, engage and inform them through a virtual experience. While the visual and experiential aspects of VR technology have been studied broadly, the influence of auditive stimuli upon desired outcomes has received less attention in VR research. A variety of past studies in marketing revealed the positive influence of congruent background music on consumer behaviour, but this has not yet been studied in a VR destination experience. Considering previous studies, this thesis aims to gain a deeper understanding on the creation of impactful VR experiences in the context of destination marketing. The thesis contributes to the research by examining the impact of music congruence on a range of behavioural variables, namely presence perception, destination image, attitude towards the ad, importance of the quality and travel intention. This is tested by conducting a quantitative experiment on the example of a 360-degree virtual walkthrough of Bergamo, a city in Italy, using Google Cardboards. The results of the present study did not support the main hypotheses regarding the positive impact of congruent music, which results in partially inconsistent findings. Although congruent music was perceived as more fitting with the video and contributed to higher means of the outcome variables, music congruence did not significantly impact these variables as expected. Nevertheless, important relationships between the variables were uncovered, which contributes to the research on VR and destination marketing. Possible explanations for apparently inconsistent and insignificant findings are discussed. The review, study and conclusions highlight a range of implications that will be of value to destination marketing managers who might use music as a key order to enhance desired cognitive and affective responses. These results might enable a better understanding of the effects of VR technology on consumer behaviour and eventually lead to the design of more engaging and effective VR content. Future research proposals identify the need to examine music congruence influences more in depth.
L'implementazione della realtà virtuale (VR) nel destination marketing e le sue implicazioni sul comportamento dei consumatori hanno recentemente ricevuto attenzione da ricercatori e aziende. Le applicazioni VR per le imprese turistiche, come le organizzazioni di destination marketing, sono sempre più importanti, poiché hanno il potenziale per attirare i turisti verso destinazioni specifiche, coinvolgerli ed informarli attraverso un'esperienza virtuale. Mentre gli aspetti visivi ed esperienziali della tecnologia VR sono stati ampiamente studiati, l'influenza degli stimoli uditivi ha ricevuto meno attenzione. Ciò nonostante, una serie di studi passati hanno evidenziato l’importanza del soffondo musicale rispetto al comportamento del consumatore. Questo, tuttavia, non è ancora stato studiato nel campo della realtà virtuale. Considerando studi precedenti questa tesi punta a raggiungere una più profonda comprensione dell'impatto della realtà virtuale nel campo del destination marketing. Questa tesi esamina l'effetto della congruenza musicale durante un'esperienza virtuale di una destinazione su una gamma di variabili comportamentali, ovvero percezione della presenza, immagine di destinazione, attitudine verso l'annuncio e intenzione di viaggio. Questo esperimento è stato condotto attraverso un accompagnamento virtuale a 360 gradi della città storica di Bergamo, utilizzando i visori Google Cardboard. I risultati di questo studio non hanno soddisfatto le ipotesi principali riguardo l’impatto positivo di una musica congruente. Sebbene una musica congruente sia stata percepita come più coerente, la congruenza musicale non ha avuto un impatto significativo sulle variabili di risultato, come previsto. Tuttavia, sono state scoperte importanti relazioni tra le variabili, che contribuiscono alla ricerca su VR e destination marketing. Vengono discusse delle possibili spiegazioni per una serie di risultati apparentemente incoerenti e insignificanti. La revisione, lo studio e le conclusioni evidenziano una serie di implicazioni che potrebbero esseri utili nel campo del destination marketing. Tali applicazioni potrebbero utilizzare la musica come un ordine chiave al fine migliorare le risposte cognitive e affettive desiderate. Questi risultati consentirebbero una migliore comprensione degli effetti della tecnologia VR sul comportamento dei consumatori e alla fine portare alla progettazione di contenuti VR più coinvolgenti. Le future proposte di ricerca identificano la necessità di esaminare le influenze della congruenza musicale in modo più approfondito.
DESTINATION MARKETING: THE IMPACT OF MUSIC CONGRUENCE IN VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES ON TRAVEL INTENTION
PAWLAK, ADRIANNA
2018/2019
Abstract
The implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) in destination marketing and its’ implications on consumer behaviour have recently received attention from researchers and businesses. VR experiences for tourism businesses, such as destination marketing organisations, are increasingly of importance, as they hold the potential to attract tourists to specific destinations, engage and inform them through a virtual experience. While the visual and experiential aspects of VR technology have been studied broadly, the influence of auditive stimuli upon desired outcomes has received less attention in VR research. A variety of past studies in marketing revealed the positive influence of congruent background music on consumer behaviour, but this has not yet been studied in a VR destination experience. Considering previous studies, this thesis aims to gain a deeper understanding on the creation of impactful VR experiences in the context of destination marketing. The thesis contributes to the research by examining the impact of music congruence on a range of behavioural variables, namely presence perception, destination image, attitude towards the ad, importance of the quality and travel intention. This is tested by conducting a quantitative experiment on the example of a 360-degree virtual walkthrough of Bergamo, a city in Italy, using Google Cardboards. The results of the present study did not support the main hypotheses regarding the positive impact of congruent music, which results in partially inconsistent findings. Although congruent music was perceived as more fitting with the video and contributed to higher means of the outcome variables, music congruence did not significantly impact these variables as expected. Nevertheless, important relationships between the variables were uncovered, which contributes to the research on VR and destination marketing. Possible explanations for apparently inconsistent and insignificant findings are discussed. The review, study and conclusions highlight a range of implications that will be of value to destination marketing managers who might use music as a key order to enhance desired cognitive and affective responses. These results might enable a better understanding of the effects of VR technology on consumer behaviour and eventually lead to the design of more engaging and effective VR content. Future research proposals identify the need to examine music congruence influences more in depth.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/6431