Visitor virtual reality theme park ride’s gratifications, attitudes, satisfaction and post-visit behavioral intentions: direct and indirect assessment

The rapid diffusion of location-based virtual reality (VR) rides has transformed theme park experiences by offering immersive, technology-mediated entertainment that blends physical and virtual environments. Despite their growing popularity, VR theme park rides remain operationally fragile, facing challenges related to high maintenance costs, uncertain visitor retention, and unclear long-term experiential value. Existing studies predominantly emphasize technology adoption and novelty effects, leaving limited understanding of the socio-psychological gratifications visitors seek from VR rides and how these experiences shape attitudes toward the broader theme park, its image, and brand. Addressing this gap, this study draws on Uses and Gratification Theory (U&G) and Cultivation Theory to examine how VR ride gratifications influence visitor attitudes, experience satisfaction, and post-visit behavioral intentions. Data were collected through an on-site questionnaire survey of visitors who had experienced location-based VR rides at four major theme parks in Malaysia: LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park, Berjaya Times Square Theme Park, and SplashMania Waterpark. The target population comprised adult visitors with prior VR ride experience, screened using purposive questions. A total of 307 valid responses were obtained following a pilot-tested instrument. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that cognitive-functional gratifications namely flow, theming, and immersion significantly influence attitudes toward VR theme park rides, whereas affective-hedonic gratifications such as escapism, social presence, and telepresence do not. Positive attitudes toward VR rides further shape favorable perceptions of theme park image and brand; however, their effects on post-visit behavioral intentions are realized only indirectly through experience satisfaction. Theoretically, this study extends U&G by demonstrating the dominance of cognitive-functional gratification in VR theme park contexts, challenging assumptions of hedonic primacy. It also advances Cultivation Theory by showing that experiential exposure to VR rides shapes evaluative beliefs and long-term engagement through experience satisfaction. Managerially, the findings highlight experience satisfaction as the central driver of sustainable visitor outcomes, emphasizing flow-oriented design and coherent theming as strategic priorities.