{"id":{"repo_id":"minho-thes","oai_identifier":"oai:repositorium.uminho.pt:1822/98493"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/minho-thes/oai:repositorium.uminho.pt:1822/98493","repository":{"repo_id":"minho-thes","name":"Universidade do Minho","base_url":"http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Exploring tourist engagement through immersive technology: virtual reality and augmented reality","abstract":"This thesis explores the contribution of Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote tourism engagement (TE). The thesis is structured in three articles addressing three key gaps: the lack of (1) synthesized scholarly knowledge of VR and AR applications to promote TE, (2) an understanding of the features of VR/AR mobile applications (apps) that influence tourist behavioral engagement (TBE), and (3) limited comparison of VR and AR in establishing emotional bonds between tourist and destination. The first article employs a hybrid integrative review by analyzing 236 peer-reviewed documents. The computer science perspective dominates the discussion of TE via VR/AR tourism, overshadowing tourism research. The potential of VR/AR tourism apps is highlighted as a promising avenue for enhancing TE. The second article analyzes 6,998 Google Play reviews from the top ten VR/AR tourism apps. The results indicate that utilitarian gratification, perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and immersive features are key drivers of TBE. The third article is a comparative study that analyzes 3,217 VR with 2,057 AR tourism app reviews. The outcomes showed that VR/AR utilitarian gratification strongly drives the feeling of groundedness. While AR social gratification evokes a sense of groundedness, VR social gratification has no effect. The groundedness-intentions link for AR is moderated by behavioral and emotional engagement, while for VR, it is moderated by cognitive and emotional engagement. This thesis contributes to deepening our understanding of the role of VR and AR in enhancing TE. It also identifies core design attributes in VR/AR apps for boosting TBE through large-scale analysis of user-generated content. Additionally, it compares emotional outcomes between VR and AR by introducing the concept of “feeling of groundedness” as a fresh perspective on virtual tourism. The thesis offers practical insights for destination managers to adopt these technologies to boost TE and suggests using VR/AR differently based on purpose. The thesis also provides guidance for developers on designing apps to promote TBE.","abstract_html":"This thesis explores the contribution of Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote tourism engagement (TE). The thesis is structured in three articles addressing three key gaps: the lack of (1) synthesized scholarly knowledge of VR and AR applications to promote TE, (2) an understanding of the features of VR/AR mobile applications (apps) that influence tourist behavioral engagement (TBE), and (3) limited comparison of VR and AR in establishing emotional bonds between tourist and destination. The first article employs a hybrid integrative review by analyzing 236 peer-reviewed documents. The computer science perspective dominates the discussion of TE via VR/AR tourism, overshadowing tourism research. The potential of VR/AR tourism apps is highlighted as a promising avenue for enhancing TE. The second article analyzes 6,998 Google Play reviews from the top ten VR/AR tourism apps. The results indicate that utilitarian gratification, perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and immersive features are key drivers of TBE. The third article is a comparative study that analyzes 3,217 VR with 2,057 AR tourism app reviews. The outcomes showed that VR/AR utilitarian gratification strongly drives the feeling of groundedness. While AR social gratification evokes a sense of groundedness, VR social gratification has no effect. The groundedness-intentions link for AR is moderated by behavioral and emotional engagement, while for VR, it is moderated by cognitive and emotional engagement. This thesis contributes to deepening our understanding of the role of VR and AR in enhancing TE. It also identifies core design attributes in VR/AR apps for boosting TBE through large-scale analysis of user-generated content. Additionally, it compares emotional outcomes between VR and AR by introducing the concept of “feeling of groundedness” as a fresh perspective on virtual tourism. The thesis offers practical insights for destination managers to adopt these technologies to boost TE and suggests using VR/AR differently based on purpose. The thesis also provides guidance for developers on designing apps to promote TBE.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Omran, Wajdy"],"institution":"Universidade do Minho","degree_name":"Tese de doutoramento em Gestão (especialidade em Marketing e Estratégia)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Casais, Beatriz Graça Luz","Ramos, Ricardo Filipe Carreira"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-10-08","date_published":"2025-10-08","updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:46:36Z","subjects":["Virtual Reality","Augmented Reality","Tourist Engagement","Tourism","Immersive Technologies","Realidade Virtual","Realidade Aumentada","Envolvimento Turístico","Turismo","Tecnologias Imersivas"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["embargoedAccess (1 Year)"],"rights_urls":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1822/98493","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"source_record":{"url":"http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Arepositorium.uminho.pt%3A1822%2F98493","prefix":"dim"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Casais, Beatriz Graça Luz","Ramos, Ricardo Filipe Carreira"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Omran, Wajdy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-12-04T14:24:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-10-08"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["UI/BD/152284/2021"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["doctoralThesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Tese de doutoramento em Gestão (especialidade em Marketing e Estratégia)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Universidade do Minho"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Virtual Reality","Augmented Reality","Tourist Engagement","Tourism","Immersive Technologies","Realidade Virtual","Realidade Aumentada","Envolvimento Turístico","Turismo","Tecnologias Imersivas"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["embargoedAccess (1 Year)"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1822/98493"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis explores the contribution of Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote tourism engagement (TE). The thesis is structured in three articles addressing three key gaps: the lack of (1) synthesized scholarly knowledge of VR and AR applications to promote TE, (2) an understanding of the features of VR/AR mobile applications (apps) that influence tourist behavioral engagement (TBE), and (3) limited comparison of VR and AR in establishing emotional bonds between tourist and destination. The first article employs a hybrid integrative review by analyzing 236 peer-reviewed documents. The computer science perspective dominates the discussion of TE via VR/AR tourism, overshadowing tourism research. The potential of VR/AR tourism apps is highlighted as a promising avenue for enhancing TE. The second article analyzes 6,998 Google Play reviews from the top ten VR/AR tourism apps. The results indicate that utilitarian gratification, perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and immersive features are key drivers of TBE. The third article is a comparative study that analyzes 3,217 VR with 2,057 AR tourism app reviews. The outcomes showed that VR/AR utilitarian gratification strongly drives the feeling of groundedness. While AR social gratification evokes a sense of groundedness, VR social gratification has no effect. The groundedness-intentions link for AR is moderated by behavioral and emotional engagement, while for VR, it is moderated by cognitive and emotional engagement. This thesis contributes to deepening our understanding of the role of VR and AR in enhancing TE. It also identifies core design attributes in VR/AR apps for boosting TBE through large-scale analysis of user-generated content. Additionally, it compares emotional outcomes between VR and AR by introducing the concept of “feeling of groundedness” as a fresh perspective on virtual tourism. The thesis offers practical insights for destination managers to adopt these technologies to boost TE and suggests using VR/AR differently based on purpose. The thesis also provides guidance for developers on designing apps to promote TBE.","Esta tese explora o contributo da Realidade Virtual (RV) e da Realidade Aumentada (RA) para promover o engagement no turismo (ET). A tese está estruturada em três artigos que abordam três lacunas principais: a falta de (1) conhecimento académico sintetizado de aplicações de RV e RA para promover a TE, (2) uma compreensão das características das aplicações móveis de RV/RA (apps) que influenciam o envolvimento comportamental do turista (TBE); e (3) comparação limitada de RV e RA no estabelecimento de laços emocionais entre turista e destino. O primeiro artigo emprega uma revisão integrativa híbrida analisando 236 documentos revistos por pares. A perspetiva da ciência da computação domina a TE através do discurso de turismo de RV/RA, ofuscando a investigação em turismo. O potencial das aplicações de turismo VR/AR é destacado como um caminho promissor para melhorar a TE. O segundo artigo analisa 6.998 avaliações do Google Play das dez principais aplicações de turismo de RV/RA. Os resultados indicam que a gratificação utilitária, a utilidade percebida, a facilidade de utilização e as características imersivas são os principais impulsionadores do TBE. O terceiro artigo é um estudo comparativo que analisa 3.217 avaliações de aplicações de turismo de RV e 2.057 de RA. Os resultados mostraram que a gratificação utilitária da RV/RA impulsiona fortemente o sentimento de estabilidade. Enquanto a gratificação social da RA evoca a sensação de estar no terreno, a gratificação social da RV não tem qualquer efeito. A ligação entre as intenções e o grounding na RA é moderada pelo envolvimento comportamental e emocional, enquanto que na RV, é moderada pelo envolvimento cognitivo e emocional. Esta tese contribui para aprofundar a nossa compreensão do papel da RV e da RA na melhoria da TE. Também identifica os principais atributos de design em aplicações de RV/RA para impulsionar o TBE através de análises em larga escala de conteúdo gerado pelo utilizador. Além disso, compara os resultados emocionais entre a RV e a RA ao introduzir o conceito de “sensação de estar no terreno” como uma nova perspetiva sobre o turismo virtual. A tese oferece insights práticos para que os gestores de destinos adotem estas tecnologias para impulsionar a TE e sugere a utilização de RV/RA de forma diferente com base no propósito. A tese também fornece orientação para os programadores sobre como projetar aplicações para promover o TBE."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring tourist engagement through immersive technology: virtual reality and augmented reality"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Casais, Beatriz Graça Luz","Ramos, Ricardo Filipe Carreira"],"dc:creator":["Omran, Wajdy"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-12-04T14:24:56Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-10-08"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis explores the contribution of Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote tourism engagement (TE). The thesis is structured in three articles addressing three key gaps: the lack of (1) synthesized scholarly knowledge of VR and AR applications to promote TE, (2) an understanding of the features of VR/AR mobile applications (apps) that influence tourist behavioral engagement (TBE), and (3) limited comparison of VR and AR in establishing emotional bonds between tourist and destination. The first article employs a hybrid integrative review by analyzing 236 peer-reviewed documents. The computer science perspective dominates the discussion of TE via VR/AR tourism, overshadowing tourism research. The potential of VR/AR tourism apps is highlighted as a promising avenue for enhancing TE. The second article analyzes 6,998 Google Play reviews from the top ten VR/AR tourism apps. The results indicate that utilitarian gratification, perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and immersive features are key drivers of TBE. The third article is a comparative study that analyzes 3,217 VR with 2,057 AR tourism app reviews. The outcomes showed that VR/AR utilitarian gratification strongly drives the feeling of groundedness. While AR social gratification evokes a sense of groundedness, VR social gratification has no effect. The groundedness-intentions link for AR is moderated by behavioral and emotional engagement, while for VR, it is moderated by cognitive and emotional engagement. This thesis contributes to deepening our understanding of the role of VR and AR in enhancing TE. It also identifies core design attributes in VR/AR apps for boosting TBE through large-scale analysis of user-generated content. Additionally, it compares emotional outcomes between VR and AR by introducing the concept of “feeling of groundedness” as a fresh perspective on virtual tourism. The thesis offers practical insights for destination managers to adopt these technologies to boost TE and suggests using VR/AR differently based on purpose. The thesis also provides guidance for developers on designing apps to promote TBE.","Esta tese explora o contributo da Realidade Virtual (RV) e da Realidade Aumentada (RA) para promover o engagement no turismo (ET). A tese está estruturada em três artigos que abordam três lacunas principais: a falta de (1) conhecimento académico sintetizado de aplicações de RV e RA para promover a TE, (2) uma compreensão das características das aplicações móveis de RV/RA (apps) que influenciam o envolvimento comportamental do turista (TBE); e (3) comparação limitada de RV e RA no estabelecimento de laços emocionais entre turista e destino. O primeiro artigo emprega uma revisão integrativa híbrida analisando 236 documentos revistos por pares. A perspetiva da ciência da computação domina a TE através do discurso de turismo de RV/RA, ofuscando a investigação em turismo. O potencial das aplicações de turismo VR/AR é destacado como um caminho promissor para melhorar a TE. O segundo artigo analisa 6.998 avaliações do Google Play das dez principais aplicações de turismo de RV/RA. Os resultados indicam que a gratificação utilitária, a utilidade percebida, a facilidade de utilização e as características imersivas são os principais impulsionadores do TBE. O terceiro artigo é um estudo comparativo que analisa 3.217 avaliações de aplicações de turismo de RV e 2.057 de RA. Os resultados mostraram que a gratificação utilitária da RV/RA impulsiona fortemente o sentimento de estabilidade. Enquanto a gratificação social da RA evoca a sensação de estar no terreno, a gratificação social da RV não tem qualquer efeito. A ligação entre as intenções e o grounding na RA é moderada pelo envolvimento comportamental e emocional, enquanto que na RV, é moderada pelo envolvimento cognitivo e emocional. Esta tese contribui para aprofundar a nossa compreensão do papel da RV e da RA na melhoria da TE. Também identifica os principais atributos de design em aplicações de RV/RA para impulsionar o TBE através de análises em larga escala de conteúdo gerado pelo utilizador. Além disso, compara os resultados emocionais entre a RV e a RA ao introduzir o conceito de “sensação de estar no terreno” como uma nova perspetiva sobre o turismo virtual. A tese oferece insights práticos para que os gestores de destinos adotem estas tecnologias para impulsionar a TE e sugere a utilização de RV/RA de forma diferente com base no propósito. A tese também fornece orientação para os programadores sobre como projetar aplicações para promover o TBE."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1822/98493"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:relation":["UI/BD/152284/2021"],"dc:rights":["embargoedAccess (1 Year)"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"],"dc:subject":["Virtual Reality","Augmented Reality","Tourist Engagement","Tourism","Immersive Technologies","Realidade Virtual","Realidade Aumentada","Envolvimento Turístico","Turismo","Tecnologias Imersivas"],"dc:title":["Exploring tourist engagement through immersive technology: virtual reality and augmented reality"],"dc:type":["doctoralThesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Tese de doutoramento em Gestão (especialidade em Marketing e Estratégia)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Universidade do Minho"]},"updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:46:36Z"}