Purchasing tourist guiding services in the metaverse: an analysis of tech-savvy Gen Z consumers

Purpose This study aims to investigate the intention to purchase online tourist guide services in the Metaverse, focusing on the attitudes of tech-savvy consumers, specifically Gen Z, a generation of digital natives whose adoption of recent technologies is critical for market success. Design/methodology/approach This study used scales from the technology acceptance model (TAM), user competence, and intention to purchase virtual tour guide services. A quantitative survey was conducted in two parts. The first part included the TAM scale, which assessed perceived usefulness and ease of use with six items. The user competence scale contained two dimensions: finesse (two items) and knowledge (three items). The online purchase intention scale included three items on a single dimension, and 299 complete questionnaires were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The findings reveal a nonintuitive psychological mechanism. Although finesse and knowledge did not individually mediate the relationship between perceived ease of use and purchase intention, a significant full mediation effect emerged only when they were modeled in parallel. Originality/value This research advances the existing literature on technology acceptance by examining and testing an extended TAM that includes user competence as a parallel mediator. By integrating finesse and knowledge as a combined mechanism, the authors’ model reveals a more complex indirect effect than a simpler model might suggest. A significant and nonobvious finding of the authors’ study is that the pathway from perceived ease of use to purchase intention is fully mediated not by skill or knowledge in isolation, but only by their simultaneous and synergistic development. This reveals a competence-gating effect, suggesting that commercial engagement is contingent on achieving a holistic sense of mastery, an insight that moves beyond the predictable, linear relationships found in standard TAM studies.