EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE RESPONSE TO CULTURAL HERITAGE AND EFFECTS ON VIRTUAL IMAGE OF DESTINATION; A EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISON OF DATA WITH ENCEPHALOGRAMS AND MEASUREMENT SCALES.

Abstract

Abstract: The research takes as a conceptual framework the construct of the image of the tourist destination, specifically in the emotional component on which there is not much research, and focuses on virtual destinations characterized by historical, cultural, and architectural heritage. The research compares, through the PLS-SEM technique for modeling partial least squares structural equations, the results obtained by electroencephalograms with the results obtained by applying a measurement scale with a survey, in both techniques, the cognitive and emotional responses of a group of subjects immersed in the virtual reality of heritage tourist destinations have been measured. Subsequently, these results are contrasted with those obtained based on the measurement scales of the cognitive and emotional components of the image. The results show that the cognitive and emotional response that architectural and cultural heritage provokes through virtual reality in individuals is high, interrelated, and positively affects the formation of the image of the historical heritage destination.

 It is worth highlighting as a methodological element the performance of a neuroscience experiment in which cognitive and affective responses can be observed and measured using alpha α and beta β brain bioelectric waves.