Virtual destination brand experiences shaping real-world travel intentions: Evidence from global and Vietnamese discourse

This paper explores how virtual destination brand experience (VDBE) is constructed in a discourse related with real-world visit intention (RWVI). Instead of assuming a linear and firm chain of causal relationships between virtual experience and actual travel behaviors, more complex and subtle relationships are explored. Key interpretive mechanisms of cognition regarding perceived authenticity and affective memory define the sensory–affective–cognitive dimension in this study. Depending on affective impact, a virtual destination brand experience can shape narratives about real-world visit intentions. Therefore, comparative discourse analysis is deployed based on two supplementary data sources: user-generated content (UGC) from 301 users on the international platform Quora (2014–2025) and 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews, which include nine Vietnamese and seven non-Vietnamese participants. The combination of a global spontaneous discourse and interviews from in-situ post-experience narratives builds an interpretive cross-cultural perspective about how VDBE are mentioned, explained and linked with RWVI. Four interactive themes are identified: (1) VDBE is co-created through multi-sensory immersion and emotional resonance; (2) VR operates as a destination brand touchpoint that is able to evoke an imagined journey and generates an expected intention to visit; (3) technical and cultural–spatial authenticity are a foundation for destination brand trust and evaluation; and (4) emotional attachment along with affective memory act as an “anchor” which is a long-term connection between users and the destination (brand). A cross-cultural comparison shows that Vietnamese participants emphasize the cultural congruence and collective memory, while international participants prioritize novelty and uthenticity. At the same time, the presence of reactions such as skepticism and hesitation in both groups indicates the boundary conditions for transforming VDBE into RWVI. This research, refines current theories about VDBE and VR tourism by placing cognition related to authenticity and affective memory into the central interpretive mechanisms. This suggests a level of perceived cultural relevance as a contextual factor to explain the difference of these mechanisms in cultural terms not just as a moderating variable. Methodologically, this research illustrates the value of a global UGC and in-situ VR interview data to build an exploratory, discourse-based conceptual framework, which can orient future VDBE/RWVI research.