Metaverse and regenerative tourism: the role of avatars in promoting sustainable practices

ABSTRACT

This study explores the role of avatars in enhancing awareness and learning outcomes in virtual regenerative tourism. Data from 483 participants engaging in online virtual tourism experiences were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that extrinsic motivations like authenticity, immersion, perceived social distance, and textual credibility positively influence attitudes toward avatars, which in turn significantly impact learning outcomes. These outcomes are moderated by intrinsic motivations such as prosocial identity. Enhanced learning notably shapes regenerative practices, including conservation efforts support for local community. Contributing to self-determination theory, this research highlights the interplay between virtual environments and self-identity in ethical behavior. It offers key insights for destination marketers and tourism operators in leveraging virtual technologies for sustainable tourism development.

KEYWORDS:

• Regenerative tourism
• metaverse
• avatar
• self-determination theory
• sustainability
• user engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s ).

Additional information

Funding

This research received support through several grants: (1) The Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, provided funding (Project No. 25504823; PolyU/RGC Project No: P0047204) for the project titled “Co-creating value with virtual humans: The effects of non-verbal communication during face-to-face service encounters.” (2) The Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, awarded a grant (Project No. ITS/028/22FP; PolyU/RGC Project No: P0043294) for the project “An Interaction Framework of Hospitality Virtual Human Persona and Brand Personality Consistency.” (3) PolyU (UGC) funded the project “Multi-Modal Multi-Label Tourism Statistics Inferring from Publicly Available Geo-Social Footprint Data” under VP(RI)’s Special Allocation (Project P0045695). (4) The University Grants Committee supported the project “Avatar in Green Training: Perceived Authenticity, Virtual Rapport, Green Engagement, and Green Creativity” under the Mr and Mrs Chan Chak Fu Research Assistantship (Project P0045911). (5) Project P0043864, “Data Science and AI for Hospitality,” by Accel Innovations Limited. (6) Project P0045486, “Metaverse in Hospitality and Tourism,” by the University Grants Committee under the Research Matching Grant Scheme (RMGS).