Seeing clearly in a virtual reality: Tourist reactions to an offshore wind project

Most research to elicit citizen's reactions to proposed windfarms use either no visuals (relying on text) or static representations (e.g., 2-D photos or drawings); we develop and test a virtual reality (VR) tool to determine whether increased information - in the form of VR - alters tourists' perceptions, attitudes, concerns and behaviors related to a proposed siting of wind turbines. Tourists using the VR were better at evaluating the impact of wind turbines on their experience and forecasting how their behavior may change. Also the VR caused respondents, on average, to have more negative reactions.