The impact of a 360° virtual tour on the reduction of psychological stress caused by COVID-19

Ting Yang, Ivan Ka Wai Lai, Zhao Bin Fan and Qing Min Mo

Technology in Society, 2021, vol. 64, issue C

Abstract: The continuous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing people to feel anxiety and stress. This study constructs a four-layer research model to examine how a 360° virtual tour can reduce people's psychological stress through two types of presence (the sense of presence and telepresence) and affective-motivational states (enjoyment and involvement) in this extraordinary period of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to test the moderating effect of involvement, partial least squares (PLS) analysis is employed to analyse valid data collected from 235 individuals. The results of this study indicate that telepresence has a higher impact in generating affective-motivational states than the sense of presence. Among the factors, enjoyment shows the highest effect on satisfaction with the 360° virtual tour experience and stress reduction; involvement moderates the effect of telepresence on satisfaction with the 360° virtual tour experience. This study also contributes to virtual reality research by distinguishing the concepts of ‘sense of presence’ and ‘telepresence’ as well as demonstrating the mechanisms whereby virtual reality technology influences people's psychological well-being. Timely recommendations are provided for people in order to reduce psychological stress during and after COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; 360° virtual tour; Psychological stress; Presence and telepresence; Enjoyment and involvement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:teinso:v:64:y:2021:i:c:s0160791x20313178

DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101514

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