Synchronous Technology-Mediated Service Experience Scale

What it measures

This scale measures consumer experience in synchronous, real-time virtual tourism services delivered by a live local host or provider (e.g., Airbnb Online Experiences, Amazon Explore), a novel service format existing experience scales were not built to capture. It is a higher-order reflective construct built from four dimensions: the sense of being virtually transported to and present at the destination, how actively and attentively the host engages with participants in real time, how much new understanding or skill the experience produces, and the sense of shared presence with other co-participants despite physical separation. The scale was validated across three studies and shown to predict psychological ownership of the service, repurchase intention, and recommendation intention.

Response format

7-point Likert scale

Scale items

Immersive Spatial Telepresence

• I had a sense of "being there."
• I felt like I was transported to the destination.
• I felt like I was really there in person.
• I had a sense of presence at the destination rather than watching something on a screen.
• I felt like the destination was brought to me.
• I felt like I went to a destination without leaving my place.

Responsive Provider Engagement

• The experience I had was interactive.
• The service provider (host) provided real-time interaction.
• The service provider (host) was responsive in answering my questions.
• I had enough opportunities to communicate with the service provider (host).
• The service provider (host) paid attention to every participant.

Experiential Learning Enhancement

• I discovered new things.
• It has made me better understand the destination/activity.
• It enriched my knowledge and/or enhanced my skills.
• I learned a lot from the host's insights and/or experiences.
• I learned something that is not easily learned from other sources.
• It stimulated my curiosity to learn more.

Virtual Co-experience

• I felt connected with others.
• I felt a sense of coexistence with others.
• I could be with other people, even if we were geographically separated.
• I could do something with other people together.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Study 3 (final validation, higher-order CFA): Immersive Spatial Telepresence alpha=.93; Responsive Provider Engagement alpha=.91; Experiential Learning Enhancement alpha=.88; Virtual Co-experience alpha=.91. AVE ranged .61-.75 across dimensions; composite reliability and alpha both exceeded .70 for every dimension per the authors' own reporting, and every dimension exceeded .80. The four dimensions loaded significantly onto a higher-order consumer experience factor (loadings .60-.89), with the higher-order model significantly outperforming one-, two-, and three-factor alternatives. The scale significantly predicted psychological ownership, repurchase intention, and recommendation intention (all outcome measures adapted from prior published scales, not part of this instrument, and therefore not included here). Directly relevant to virtual/technology-mediated tourism experience design.

Citation

Lyu, C., Jiang, Y., Balaji, M.S. and Wang, Y. (2026). Synchronous technology-mediated service experience: conceptualization, scale development, and validation. Journal of Business Research, 210, 116102.

Keywords

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