Author(s): Kiran Desai, Japmman Pahuja, Antra Shankar and Saket Lakhotia
Purpose: This research extends the Technology Adoption Model with experience variables that influence the adoption of Metaverse applications in the travel and tourism sector Methodology: Empirical study with data from 544 respondents. Data was analysed using PLS-SEM, PLSPredict, and Importance-Performance Mapping Analysis (IPMA). Findings: The standard TAM model is insufficient to predict adoption of Metaverse Tourism. However, two-dimensional Hedonic Motivation and Telepresence significantly affect user satisfaction and technology adoption intentions. Attitude mediates the relationship between hedonic motivation, perceived usefulness, and behavioural intention. MICOM analysis reveals varying impacts of some constructs across demographic sub-groups such as income, gender and frequency of travel. IPMA Analysis facilitates construct level analysis for practitioners and item-level analysis for future empirical use by researchers. Practical Implications: Researchers can use an extended TAM model to assess Metaverse tourism adoption and understand construct operationalisation. Marketers augment adoption by leveraging high hedonic motivation and telepresence. Limitations: Cross-sectional designs and convenience sampling limit generalizability. Future research may consider longitudinal designs and randomized sampling.