Visitors’ attraction and co-creation at World Expo – a qualitative study unveiling visitors’ delight and engagement with immersive technology

ABSTRACT

Global business events like World Expo attract massive numbers of visitors to attend this event. The present study investigates internal and external factors that attracted visitors to attend World Expo – Dubai 2022 and uncovers the core elements of these factors which are important for the strategic & planning context too. To this end, the attendees of this Expo were interviewed using the in-depth interview technique. The results revealed that internal factors such as functional, mechanic, and human cues affect visitors’ perception, whereas external factors, which include technological, socio-cultural, political, economic, and environmental aspects, contribute to the collaborative process of shaping visitor experience. The results also demonstrate that strategic planning and marketing strategies align with the AIDA model and that technological integration can help attract more visitors to Business-Expo, thereby boosting local tourism. Taken together, our findings provide meaningful implications for marketers, stakeholders, and governments.

KEYWORDS:

• Visitors’ immersive attraction
• satisfaction factors
• marketing strategy
• spatial tourism
• business-trade fair
• co-creating visitors’ experience

Acknowledgements

All authors contributed equally.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vikas Arya

Vikas Arya has a doctorate in Digital Brand Management and is currently associated with Rabat Business School, Morocco, as an Assistant Professor (Digital Marketing) and heading the Strategic & Digital Marketing department as a Programme Manager. He is also a Founder of Blue Forskning Research Academy. Dr. Arya edited several special issues from renowned Journals. He has published papers in reputed journals such as the Journal of Consumer Behavior, International Journal of Human Resource Management, International Journal of Consumer Studies, International Journal of Information Management, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Studies, Journal of Global Information Management, etc. His core research and teaching interests are in Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Communication, Destination Branding, Digital Mobile Apps marketing, Metaverse, AR/VR, and NFTs.

Shalini Sahni

Shalini Sahni is an independent researcher from India. She has over 15 years of experience in academia and corporate. She is an internationally certified PPA Thomas and Emotional Quotient trainer. She has also conducted MDPs for companies like Adani ports, Parle G and Mancer Consulting. She has published papers in the reputed journals. Her areas of interest include human resource management, organizational behaviour, conflict resolution in teams, organizational justice, and workplace diversity issues, tourism diversity, etc.

Bouchra Oukhayi

Bouchra Oukhayi is a PhD scholar at Rabat Business School, Morocco. Her research work focuses on luxury fashion brands and their AR-VR branding strategies and Techno-induced consumer buying behavior in an Immersive Metaverse environment. She has conducted diverse international training & workshops about digital marketing and has showcased her work at esteemed academic conferences, including the University of Surrey 2023. Her research interests include Metaverse, customer behavior and purchasing habits in a virtual world, brand equity, Artificial Intelligence for marketing, and e-customer experience management. She is an expert in diverse marketing tools, such as HubSpot, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Waalaxy, Knime and Insist, SMART-PLS, etc.

Vilte Auruskeviciene

Vilte Auruskeviciene is the Vice-President for Studies and Research at ISM University of Management and Economics (ISM). She obtained her doctorate degree in social sciences (management and business administration) at Kaunas University of Technology. V. Auruskeviciene is a board member and an international director of Marketing Educators' Association (US), an editorial board member of Baltic Journal of Management. A member of American Marketing Association (US) and European Marketing Academy. Her research focuses mainly on cross-cultural behavioral issues in real and virtual environments. She has published in various journals, including Journal of Business Research, Electronic Markets, Appetite, Baltic Journal of Management, and other.