The impact of virtual reality functions of a hotel website on travel anxiety

Abstract

This study deals with the impact of virtual reality ( VR) features that are embedded in a hotel website on travelers' anxiety. Having more information is thought to be a factor in relieving anxiety in travel. A hotel website can be a good place for gathering information about the accommodation. In this study, we posit that a hotel website with VR functions should lead to a reduction in travelers' anxiety about travel. We built a website of a hotel and used VR functions to show the exterior, the lobby, a guest room, and a restaurant through an interactive and spatial shot of the hotel images. The experiment was conducted with a premise that the subjects were about to embark on a journey to an unknown place and to stay at an unknown hotel whose website contained VR functions. The subjects were asked to play with VR functions of the hotel website and then to complete a survey with questions regarding the degree of anxiety on the travel and psychological relief that might have been perceived by the subjects. The result confirms our hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between the degree of travel anxiety and psychological relief caused by the use of VR functions of a hotel website.