TECHNOLOGICAL AFFORDANCES IN 360-DEGREE VIDEO VIEWING APPARATUS: A STUDY OF TECHNOLIGICALY TRIGGERED HEURISTICS AND THEIR EFFECT ON USER ATTITUDES ABOUT 360-DEGREE VIDEO TRAVEL ADVERTISEMENTS

Abstract

Abstract360-degree travel advertisement videos can be beneficial to destinations that are trying to showcase themselves to potential visitors. The various technologies used to view these videos have become more affordable and more accessible, allowing destinations to consider using these systems in displays at travel conventions as opposed to traditional videos on monitors. This thesis examined how different viewing systems could impact the effectiveness of a 360° video advertisement in changing a viewer’s opinion of a destination and their desire to visit the destination. This thesis used the Main Model to measure the effects on viewers provided by different technological affordances of the viewing systems. The viewing systems being focused on for this study are a head-mounted display (HMD) and a motion-controlled tablet. This study was a 2 (viewing system: HMD/tablet) x 2 (destination: butterfly garden/air & space museum) repeated-measures experiment, where the destination was the within-subjects factor, and the viewing system was the between-subjects factor. The destinations were 360-degree video advertisements with narrated audio elements lasting one minute. The viewing systems will be a Meta Quest 3 head-mounted display and an iPad 10 motion-controlled tablet. Participants were randomly assigned to the different viewing systems, and the order of their video advertisements was randomized. The two destinations that participants were shown ads for are the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and the Texas Discovery Butterfly Gardens. Repeated measures and comparative mean analysis were run on the data in SPSS to answer the 10 hypotheses posed in this study. Results indicated a significant increase in the feeling of presence, the association of novelty to the viewing system, and the intention to visit. The outcomes, limitations, and conclusions are discussed in the corresponding sections of the paper.