This study aims to investigate older adults’ adoption of avatar-guided virtual tourism by extending the senior technology acceptance model (STAM) with emotional and social constructs. While traditional models emphasize functional perceptions, such as usefulness and ease of use, this study focuses on emotional connection as a key determinant of both attitude and actual usage behavior. By integrating emotional and social dimensions into STAM, the research clarifies how emotional engagement drives technology adoption among older adults in virtual tourism contexts.
A survey was conducted with 480 older adults (aged 65–81) who interacted with an avatar-led virtual tourism prototype. Structural equation modeling examined direct, mediating and moderating effects of key constructs, including emotional connection, gerontechnology self-efficacy and social isolation.
Emotional connection significantly predicted both attitude and actual usage, with stronger effects for socially isolated participants. Ease of use and gerontechnology self-efficacy also enhanced perceived usefulness and attitudes. Perceived usefulness had a more moderate impact, suggesting emotional and experiential factors may outweigh functional ones. Sense of companionship and hedonic motivation further strengthened the emotional connection.
Tourism technology designers should integrate emotionally engaging avatars and intuitive interfaces. Marketers should emphasize emotional fulfillment in outreach. Health-care and policy sectors can use avatar-based tourism to combat loneliness and promote well-being in older adults.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to integrate emotional and social constructs into STAM for virtual tourism, offering theoretical advancement and practical design insights for aging-friendly immersive technology.
