Does Emotion Matter? Gen Z’s Augmented Reality Intention in Tourism

Digital transformation is changing how tourists search for destinations, and one of the most compelling tools is Augmented Reality (AR), which combines the physical with the digital to form the immersion of phygital tourism experiences. However, even with significant technological improvements, AR in tourism has not been widely adopted, and it can be assumed that the current models fail to include the essential emotional aspects that can affect the behaviour of users. Thus, using Technology Acceptance Model as the theoretical foundation, this study incorporates perceived enjoyment as an intermediate emotional factor between cognitive (usefulness and ease of use) and psychological (self-efficacy) antecedents to intention of tourists in using AR. A questionnaire was used to collect data from Generation Z travellers and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The results indicate that enjoyment is a major facilitator of perceived usefulness, confidence, ease of use, and behavioural intention.