Does Virtual Help Reality? Effects of Pre-Visit Information Tools on Learning, Satisfaction, Museum Liking, and Willingness to Visit

Assuming the disruptive role played by Information and Communication Technologies in enhancing museums’ appeal and attracting new audiences, this paper examines the use of virtual tours (VTs) as a pre-visit information tool outside of a museum and their effects on users’ learning and satisfaction, as well as the museum liking and the intention to visit it. Across two experimental studies and one Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis, the research shows that VTs, compared with written guides, increase satisfaction, liking, learning, and intention. The individual participant data meta-analysis combining both studies confirmed that VTs’ indirect effects on satisfaction, liking, and intention via flow were significant at low and moderate awareness, but weaker at high levels (moderated mediation). Taken together, these results orient practitioners to reconsider the use of traditional written tools and to evaluate the quality of VR-based experiences.