Exploring the role of immersive technology in promoting ecotourism: Integrating perspectives from environmental psychology theory and the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Immersive technology has become an effective tool for stimulating consumer interest in tourism destinations. However, its application in ecotourism, particularly in promoting tourists’ responsible behavior at destinations, remains underexplored. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, environmental psychology theory, and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study investigates how multidimensional stimuli of immersive virtual environments influence tourists’ intention to engage in responsible behavior through their effects on attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms. Based on an environmental psychology perspective, the stimuli are categorized into three dimensions: functional (telepresence), emotional (vividness), and social (social presence and connectedness), integrating findings from prior research on immersive virtual environments. The study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze data from 481 respondents who watched a 360-degree online immersive ecotourism video. Results show that telepresence positively affects attitude and perceived behavioral control; vividness positively influences perceived behavioral control but has no significant effect on attitude; social presence and connectedness positively influence attitude and subjective norms. Attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms positively predict tourists’ intention to engage in responsible behavior. Furthermore, imagination proclivity is a significant moderating trait that amplifies the effects of virtual environment stimuli. This study contributes to the literature on tourism marketing, responsible tourist behavior, and the application and development of the S-O-R model, environmental psychology theory, and TPB.