The use of virtual tours to stimulate consumers’ buying and visit intentions: an application to the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the use of virtual tours may represent a lever to improve customers’ intention to buy food products and/or visit places where products are manufactured. Emerging virtual reality and augmented reality can allow people to interact with products and places where products are produced even from very distant places, with a positive impact on their purchase intentions. Applying the theory of planned behaviour, this study focuses on the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, one of the most exported Italian foods. A sample of consumers was surveyed online to explore the role of virtually visiting the food production place on consumers’ intention to physically visit the production place and on their intention to buy the food. The empirical results deriving from a structural equation model developed on 399 completed and valid questionnaires indicate that the opportunity to experience products through virtual tours positively influences consumer behaviours. Young males show the highest intention to physically visit the food production place and to buy the cheese. Findings provide new insights for the emerging literature on the use of virtual reality to experience products through virtual interaction and the impact that interactive technologies have on consumer purchase intentions. Local areas can use virtual tours to improve food tourism and stimulate food product sales. To our knowledge, this paper represents one of the first empirical endeavours aimed at exploring the impact of virtual tours on consumers’ buying and visiting intentions when a food product and a dairy are concerned.