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Elderly Tourists' Motives for Virtual Tourism and Its Impact on Subjective Vitality

Cenhua Lyu,Wen Xu,Yangyang Jiang

Published 2025 in The international journal of tourism research

ABSTRACT

Tourism serves as a vital approach for promoting active aging. In recent years, virtual tourism has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional travel, offering the elderly new opportunities to enhance their mental health and well‐being. Grounded in self‐determination theory, this study explores how elderly tourists' motivations—specifically autonomy (convenience, usability), relatedness (cultural exploration, interpersonal seeking), and competence (continuous learning, ego‐enhancement)—influence virtual tourism involvement, destination psychological ownership (DPO), and subjective vitality. Survey data from 364 participants aged 60 and above across multiple countries were analyzed using AMOS and SPSS. The results reveal that all six motivations positively predict virtual tourism involvement. DPO mediates the relationship between involvement and subjective vitality, whereas fear of missing out moderates the link between involvement and DPO. This study deepens the understanding of elderly tourists' psychology in virtual tourism, offering insights for designing age‐friendly virtual experiences that promote well‐being and engagement among them.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2025

  • Venue

    The international journal of tourism research

  • Publication date

    2025-09-01

  • Fields of study

    Not labeled

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1002/jtr.70104
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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