Investigates how virtual games affect visit intentions in travelers, suggesting implications for destination marketing.
Purpose This study aims to investigate how virtual games inspire visit intentions toward real-world destinations by examining the roles of gaming experience, mental imagery and technology readiness. Design/methodology/approach Three sequential studies were conducted using two virtual games. Study 1 adopted a field-based between-group experiment to compare the effects of gamified virtual exhibitions against traditional exhibitions. Study 2 used structural equation modeling to analyze the mediating role of mental imagery between five dimensions of game experience and visit intention. Study 3 revalidated the study 2 and tested the moderating effect of technology readiness. Findings The results indicate that gamified virtual exhibitions elicit stronger visit intentions and mental imagery than traditional exhibitions. Mental imagery mediates the relationship between most dimensions of gaming experiences- namely competence, sensory and immersion, flow and affections and visit intention. Technology readiness moderates the relationships between flow and mental imagery and between challenge and mental imagery. Originality/value Although virtual games are increasingly embedded in tourism, the psychological mechanisms driving subsequent destination-related behavior remain under-explored. By integrating gaming experience, mental imagery and technology readiness theories, this study offers new theoretical and managerial insights for virtual-game design and game-based destination marketing.
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Qian et al. (2026) studied this question.
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