Salient features and emotions elicited from a virtual reality experience: the immersive Van Gogh exhibition

Abstract This research is based on the cognitive-affective-conative model applied to the online reviews posted by visitors of a tourist attraction titled “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” held in York (UK). The goals of the study specifically focus on the identification of the cognitive features triggered using the VR device and on the understanding of sentiments and emotions activated by the VR experience. To this end, Text mining and Sentiment analysis have been utilised. This work extends prior studies on VR based on surveys by providing a comprehensive hybrid view of how knowledge is derived from the posted online reviews. The findings offer practitioner insights into the cognitive and affective aspect of the VR experience, which requires special attention for its adaptation so that it continues meeting visitors’ expectations.