An Empirical Investigation of Factors Driving Virtual Reality System Usage Intention in Rural Tourism

The virtual reality system has important implications for promoting the growth of rural tourism, and also provides a mirror and guideline for the development of Internet plus tourism strategy. However, the mechanism underlying the virtual reality use is not fully understood. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and the information system success model, this study proposes a model to investigate the factors influencing rural virtual reality system usage intention. In specific, this study examines how system quality influences rural virtual reality system usage intention by mediating immersion and interactivity. The model is assessed using data collected from 181 respondents. The data are analyzed by PLS-SEM and the results show that information technology (IT) quality consisting of system quality, service quality and information quality is positively associated with the user perceptions (including immersion and interaction); meanwhile the user perceptions have significantly positive effect on usage intention. The research results not only contribute to understanding the mechanism underlying virtual reality adoption, enriching the understanding of user participation in virtual reality system, and expanding the existing online community participation behavior theory, but also it provides practical implications for the developers of tourism virtual reality system.