Seeing is believing? How VR and 360-degree video bypass trust to drive approach tendencies in Airbnb advertising

This study investigates the comparative effectiveness of virtual reality (VR), 360-degree video, and static images in the sharing economy by updating the stimulus-organism-response framework through theories of embodied cognition. It explores how technological stimuli (interactivity and vividness) interact with a consumer's internal cognitive simulation (mental imagery) and affective states (arousal and pleasure) to drive behavioral responses (approach tendency). A controlled laboratory within-subject experiment (N = 306) was conducted where participants engaged with Airbnb listings across the three media formats using a high-fidelity head-mounted display. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results reveal that while baseline transactional trust remains a highly significant direct predictor of approach tendencies across all media formats, its regulatory, moderating role undergoes a profound structural reconfiguration. In low-immersion static ads, behavioral intent is pleasure-driven and heavily moderated by perceived trust. Conversely, immersive formats externalize the imagery architecture—technologically scaffolding mental simulations and shifting consumers toward arousal-driven, heuristic processing where the active moderating sensitivity of trust is attenuated. This research identifies media immersion as a compensatory mechanism that reconfigures risk appraisals in peer-to-peer transactions. It provides a strategic roadmap for sharing economy platforms to leverage immersive media as an ambient verification tool, transforming abstract listings into lived sensory experiences.