Enhancing “virtual museum tour” experience with informative and design features: a neuromarketing research

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of informative and design features employed to enhance the presentation of art pieces in virtual museum tours. Design/methodology/approach Based on the principles of neuromarketing and the primary data collected through the functional near infrared spectroscopy experiment as well as in-depth interviews, the study hints at the importance of virtual tours embracing various presentation methods to support art pieces on virtual display. Findings The experiment findings reveal that there was a significant difference between the groups in the mean change in the oxyhemoglobin (HbO) concentration in the prefrontal cortex. The findings based on the positive and negative affect scale indicates statistically significant differences between the experiment subject groups, who viewed the same art pieces with interchanging textual, audial and video narration and background music. Practical implications The study contributes to the development of virtual museums. Originality/value The study contributes to the importance of different informative and design features in virtual museums, and their varying impact on visitor experience.