The acceptance of augmented reality tour app for promoting film-induced tourism: the effect of celebrity involvement and personal innovativeness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence mainland Chinese film tourists’ behavioural intention in accepting an augmented reality (AR) feature film character-related tour APP (an IfilmAR-tour-APP) based on an extension of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. Design/methodology/approach Systematic sampling was used to collect data; 360 valid questionnaires were collected from mainland Chinese film tourists visiting Macau. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyse the data. Findings The findings indicated that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, celebrity involvement and personal innovativeness have a significant impact on mainland Chinese film tourists’ behavioural intention in accepting the IfilmAR-tour-APP, while facilitating conditions do not significantly affect tourists’ behavioural intention. Furthermore, the study revealed that effort expectancy, celebrity involvement and personal innovativeness positively influence performance expectancy in the use of an IfilmAR-tour-APP. Practical implications The findings of this study provide implications for AR tour APP developers which will help them to enhance their designs, and for the governments of tourist destinations to formulate their promotion strategies in developing niche tourism. Originality/value This study extended the application of UTAUT to tourism technology by introducing two personality traits in the context of AR tour APPs for film-induced tourism. This research contributes to niche tourism research by linking niche tourism and tourism technology.