A theoretical model of mobile augmented reality acceptance in urban heritage tourism

Abstract

Latest mobile technologies have revolutionized the way people experience their environment. Recent research explored the opportunities of using augmented reality (AR) in order to enhance user experience; however, there is only limited research on users’ acceptance of AR in the tourism context. The technology acceptance model is the predominant theory for researching technology acceptance. Previous researchers used the approach of proposing external dimensions based on the secondary literature; however, they missed the opportunity to integrate context-specific dimensions. This paper therefore aims to propose an AR acceptance model in the context of urban heritage tourism. Five focus groups, with young British female tourists visiting Dublin and experiencing a mobile AR application, were conducted. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and revealed seven dimensions that should be incorporated into AR acceptance research, including information quality, system quality, costs of use, recommendations, personal innovativeness and risk as well as facilitating conditions.

Keywords:

• augmented reality
• technology acceptance model
• Dublin AR
• urban heritage tourism

Acknowledgements

Thanks are expressed to the General Post Office for their kind cooperation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by Knowledge Exchange Innovation Fund, MMU (M-80024.8.3) and the authors would like to thank Dublin City Council and Dublin Institute of Technology for the financial support.