Abstract
This study investigates how experiential stimuli influence cognitive processing, tourist satisfaction and engagement in metaverse tourism among Generation Z. Integrating the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework with Cognitive Experiential Self-Theory (CEST), the study distinguishes immersion, enjoyment and presence/telepresence as related but conceptually distinct experiential stimuli. Data were collected through an online survey of 158 Gen Z respondents with prior metaverse experience and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that enjoyment and presence/telepresence significantly enhance cognitive processing, whereas immersion has no significant effect. Cognitive processing positively influences metaverse tourist satisfaction (β = 0.531, p < 0.001) and metaverse engagement (β = 0.308, p < 0.001). Enjoyment and presence/telepresence exert significant indirect effects on satisfaction and engagement through cognitive processing, whereas immersion’s indirect effects are not significant. Metaverse tourist involvement moderates the relationship between cognitive processing and tourist satisfaction, providing a boundary condition for this mechanism. These findings suggest that technological immersion alone may not be sufficient to stimulate elaborative cognitive evaluation among digitally experienced Gen Z users; rather, hedonic enjoyment and the perceived sense of presence may serve as more influential cues for cognitive appraisal. The study contributes to metaverse tourism research by integrating S-O-R and CEST, differentiating key experiential stimuli and identifying cognitive processing as an important mediating mechanism and tourist involvement as a boundary condition. Practically, the findings suggest that metaverse tourism experiences should combine immersive technologies with enjoyable, credible and meaningful interactions to strengthen satisfaction and sustained engagement.
Keywords: Generation Z, Immersive Marketing, Metaverse, Metaverse Tourist Involvement, Tourist Satisfaction.