Millennials’ virtual reality experiences pre- and post-COVID-19

Abstract Drawing upon the stimuli-organism-response framework, we investigate the effects of the possible actions and self-location of virtual reality experiences on perceived enjoyment, affecting millennials’ attitude changes and visit intentions. The results show a significant influence of possible actions on perceived enjoyment, leading to attitude change and visit intention, while self-location leads to perceived enjoyment and thus attitude change. Through two independent samples (i.e., pre- and post-COVID-19), we examine the moderating effects of a change in circumstances on structural relationships. Our findings suggest that self-location is critical to changing attitudes toward destinations during the pandemic. Thus, we demonstrate that VR plays a critical role in helping tourism destinations recover and building tourism resilience. This study extends current knowledge of spatial presence by examining the respective roles of self-location and possible actions in tourism destinations.