Influence of Embodiment and Challenges on Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions during a Virtual Reality Experience

The development of virtual reality (VR) applications provides users to physically interact in the virtual environment as in a real experience. This new experience offers for brands a new way to promote their offer to consumers, becoming the avatar and accomplish goals based on gamification mechanisms like video games. While actors from different professional fields are developing VR experiences (VRE), especially in the tourism industry, several works has focused on the role of VRE on enjoyment but not between the role played by gamification between the feeling of embodiment (resulting of the VRE sensorimotor interactions) and behavioral intentions. The research aims to measure the effects of the feeling of embodiment during a VR tourism experience on consumers' behavioral intentions and the role of the challenges level offered as moderator. Results of the experimental (n=200), where the user embodies a kayaker exploring Antarctica, confirm that the feeling of embodiment induces positive behavioral intentions towards the discovered tourist destination. More specifically, a greater intensity in the level of challenges offered to achieve the virtual experience moderates with greater intensity the relationship between feeling of embodiment and behavioral intentions. On a theoretical level, research enrich literature in marketing through the concept of embodiment, never used before. The study also makes recommendations to professionals and VR application developers on the positive effects of VRE directly related to the feeling of embodiment as well as the challenges offered. Finally, the study sets out certain limits to follow for further research in the field of marketing.