Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the influence of four motivational elements (i.e. utilitarian, hedonic, social and escapism motivations) on the propensity of customers to utilize a metaverse hotel, as well as whether age, gender and mobility disability play substantial moderating roles in these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was gathered from 843 US residents who had experienced a hotel stay within the past two years. We tested the hypotheses using structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis.

Findings

The findings indicated that, in both age and gender groups, hedonic, social and escapism motivations had significant effects on intentions to use a metaverse hotel, whereas utilitarian motivation did not. The influence of escapism motivation on customers’ usage intentions was significantly more pronounced for males than females, suggesting the moderating role of gender in this relationship. Hedonic and social motivations exerted significant effects on usage intentions in both mobility disability and non-disability groups. The relationship between escapism motivation and intentions to use was significant for the non-disability group only, suggesting the moderating role of disability in this association.

Practical implications

This research provides recommendations for hotel managers and technology providers aiming to enhance the adoption of metaverse hotels by customers and to augment the worth of this technology.

Originality/value

This research fills the voids in the current literature by formulating and empirically evaluating a research framework to gain deeper insights into the motivations that drive the acceptance of a metaverse hotel.

中文翻译：

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哪些因素促使顾客接受元宇宙酒店？

 目的

本文旨在调查四种动机要素（即功利主义、享乐性、社交和逃避现实动机）对顾客使用虚拟宇宙酒店倾向的影响，以及年龄、性别和行动不便是否在这些关系中发挥重要的调节作用。

设计/方法论/途径

数据收集自过去两年内曾入住过酒店的 843 名美国居民。我们使用结构方程模型和多组分析来测试假设。

 发现

研究结果表明，在年龄和性别组中，享乐、社交和逃避现实动机对使用虚拟宇宙酒店的意图有显着影响，而功利主义动机则没有。逃避现实动机对顾客使用意图的影响对于男性来说明显比女性更明显，这表明性别在这种关系中起着调节作用。享乐和社会动机对行动障碍和非残疾群体的使用意图产生显着影响。逃避现实动机和使用意图之间的关系仅对非残疾组有意义，表明残疾在这种关联中起调节作用。

 实际意义

这项研究为酒店管理者和技术提供商提供了建议，旨在提高客户对元宇宙酒店的采用并增加该技术的价值。

 原创性/价值

这项研究通过制定和实证评估研究框架来更深入地了解推动虚拟宇宙酒店接受的动机，从而填补了当前文献的空白。