It’s About Enjoying the Virtual Experience: The Role of Enjoyment and Engagement in the Adoption of Virtual Reality in Marketing Education

Digital technologies are becoming more embedded and prevalent in everyday life. One leading technology, Virtual Reality (VR), is well-positioned to extend its impact past the gaming industry and move deeper into education, particularly in university settings. Embracing digital technologies is essential in keeping marketing education relevant. Based on the technology acceptance model, this mixed-methods study investigates the role of perceived engagement and enjoyment in adopting VR as a new technology and its influence on satisfaction and perceived learning effectiveness. The paper provides empirical evidence supporting the importance of student enjoyment in the adoption of VR. Engagement, when enjoyable, is also an important contributor to the adoption of new technology. With increasing pressure placed on universities to quickly implement digital pedagogy applications, enjoyment is critical in allowing students to more easily adopt VR applications and to feel satisfied that they can learn effectively as an integral part of their educational experience