Purpose

With the advance of Web 3.0 and the range of sensory experiences offered by virtual reality (VR) to sport fans, this study examines how VR spectators’ sensory experiences affect their intentions to consume VR products and services. For this purpose, the study puts forth an expanded stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model. In this framework, the stimuli are the sensory imagery and stimuli, the organism factors are presence and arousal and the response is the consumption intention. This model adeptly encapsulates the comprehensive process of stimuli while spectating a sporting event in a virtual environment.

Design/methodology/approach

For a VR stimulus, researchers developed a 3-min collegiate women’s volleyball game. Watching the game in VR were 131 collegiate students, who were then questioned about their visual and aural imagination of the game stimuli, perceived visual and aural stimuli, sense of presence, arousal and VR consumption intentions. To ensure the validity and reliability of the measurement model, confirmatory factor analysis was first conducted. Subsequently, the model was subjected to path analysis.

Findings

The measurement model demonstrated both validity and reliability. The subsequent path analysis yielded the model’s satisfactory fit. In particular, the mental visualization of VR spectators significantly influenced their perception of visual stimuli, while their imaginative engagement with auditory aspects impacted their perception of aural stimuli. The observed visual stimuli positively impacted the degree of presence experienced and the level of arousal induced. Similarly, the auditory stimuli exerted comparable effects on presence and arousal. The sense of arousal exhibited a considerable influence on the sense of presence. Furthermore, arousal emerged as a substantial determinant of individuals' VR consumption intentions.

Originality/value

The study highlights that the affective status of VR sport spectators is dominant in determining their consumption intentions. Also, the study finds the decisive role of presence in processing sensory stimuli in virtual sport spectating. It also provides managerial insight into designing and customizing VR sport experiences to be more enjoyable and impactful.

中文翻译：

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虚拟环境中的体育观众：感官体验如何影响消费意图

 目的

随着 Web 3.0 的进步以及虚拟现实 (VR) 为体育迷提供的感官体验的范围不断扩大，本研究探讨了 VR 观众的感官体验如何影响他们消费 VR 产品和服务的意图。为此，该研究提出了扩展的刺激-有机体-反应（S-O-R）模型。在这个框架中，刺激是感官意象和刺激，有机体因素是存在和唤醒，反应是消费意图。该模型巧妙地概括了在虚拟环境中观看体育赛事时的刺激的综合过程。

设计/方法论/途径

为了获得 VR 刺激，研究人员开发了一款 3 分钟的大学女子排球比赛。 131名大学生在VR中观看了比赛，然后询问他们对游戏刺激的视觉和听觉想象、感知到的视觉和听觉刺激、存在感、唤醒度以及VR消费意图。为保证测量模型的有效性和可靠性，首先进行了验证性因素分析。随后，对模型进行路径分析。

 发现

测量模型证明了有效性和可靠性。随后的路径分析得出了模型令人满意的拟合结果。特别是，VR 观众的心理可视化显着影响了他们对视觉刺激的感知，而他们对听觉方面的想象力则影响了他们对听觉刺激的感知。观察到的视觉刺激对体验的存在程度和诱发的唤醒水平产生积极影响。同样，听觉刺激对存在感和唤醒度也产生了类似的影响。唤醒感对存在感有相当大的影响。此外，唤醒度已成为个人 VR 消费意图的重要决定因素。

 原创性/价值

研究强调，VR体育观众的情感状态在决定他们的消费意图方面占主导地位。此外，该研究还发现，在虚拟体育观看中，临场感在处理感官刺激方面发挥着决定性作用。它还提供了设计和定制 VR 运动体验的管理见解，使其更加有趣和有影响力。