From virtual to actual destinations: do interactions with others, emotional solidarity, and destination image in online games influence willingness to travel?

The line between fantasy and reality has become blurred in online gaming, whereby tourists are willing to visit associated real-world destinations they have experienced within virtual worlds (e.g. online games). This study investigates the impact of gamers’ interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) and other gamers on their in-game emotional solidarity, destination image and willingness to visit associated real-world destinations. Data were collected from 538 Grand Theft Auto 5 gamers and analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). Results reveal that both gamer-NPCs and gamer-gamer interactions were positively associated with emotional solidarity with NPCs and gamers, respectively. Also, emotional solidarity with NPCs and emotional solidarity with gamers were positively associated with in-game cognitive image. The in-game cognitive image was further confirmed to be positively associated with affective image and conative image. The in-game conative image was confirmed to be positively associated with the willingness to visit associated real-world destinations. These findings make a novel contribution to the literature on online gaming and tourism. Game developers need to develop activities that promote interactions between gamers while also designing NPCs that resemble locals and their customs to facilitate increased visitation to real-world destinations.