The Influence of Mixed Reality on Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty: A Brand Equity Perspective

Mixed reality technology is being increasingly used in cultural heritage attractions to enhance visitors’ experience. However, how the characteristics of mixed reality affect satisfaction and brand loyalty has not been explored in previous research. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting satisfaction with mixed reality experiences at cultural and artistic visitor attractions and their influence on brand loyalty, which is connected with management performance. We propose a theoretical model based on brand equity theory in the context of mixed reality experience. Survey data were gathered from 251 respondents visiting a cultural and artistic visitor attraction in Seoul, Korea using a stratified sampling method. PLS-SEM was employed for the data analysis. The results suggest that the characteristics of mixed reality (interactivity, vividness) not only influence the affective aspects (perceived immersion, perceived enjoyment) of visitors’ experience, but also positively affect brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty.


Introduction
As 5G services become more and more ubiquitous, interest in developing mixed reality content with high user acceptance is increasing. Mixed reality content has traditionally been used for games [1], education [2], training [3], tourism [4], and cultural exhibitions [5]. Satisfaction with cultural and artistic exhibitions has been linked to the consumption of souvenirs and the sustainability of visitor attractions. Accordingly, researchers have examined the factors affecting construction and operation of exhibitions by public institutions and private companies [6]. Case studies focused on planning, composition, and exhibition content have demonstrated that visitor satisfaction with exhibition experiences can be increased by adding various information technologies including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and holograms. Integration of mixed reality technology into cultural and artistic attractions is expected to contribute to a richer visitor experience [7].
For sustainability and continued operation of cultural and artistic visitor attractions, it is necessary to to create appealing and individual experiences that attract people's attention [23]. Immersive technologies such as Mixed Reality (MR), AR, and VR have become increasingly used in cultural heritage attractions, providing experiences through a combination of real and digital content [24].
Several studies focus on the application and use of both AR and VR in urban cultural heritage attractions.
These studies are written from various perspectives including experiential learning with AR in museums (e.g., [25]), AR acceptance in urban heritage tourism (e.g., [26]), and experiencing VR in museums (e.g., [27]). By comparison, fewer studies have focused on mixed reality (e.g., [4,28]), which can be defined as "the combination of virtual computer graphics and real-world elements into a virtual environment" ( [23] p. 89). Powered by mobile devices or HMDs, mixed reality can enrich the user's experience by providing enhanced information through multisensory modalities such as video, audio, touch, and scent. Mixed reality enhances the user's experience of the surrounding environment.
Two characteristics of mixed reality can enhance users' experience of a cultural heritage attraction.
Feelings of presence tend to occur when a virtual environment provides high levels of interactivity and vividness [29,30,31]. Interactivity allows users to manipulate the virtual environment in real time [32] and is perceived to be one of key determinants of enjoyment in interactive systems [33]. Vividness (i.e., "the ability of a technology to produce a sensorially rich mediated environment"; [31] p. 80) and interactivity are two important media features of mixed reality. In AR research, vividness and interactivity have been found to influence consumer evaluations positively through increased immersion [34]. In addition, AR offers increased interaction through 3D virtual objects and system quality has been found to enhance learning effectiveness and learner satisfaction with the learning environment [35].
By connecting information and material reality, mixed reality can make the invisible visible in situ, allowing visitors to experience the space, its history, and a community simultaneously [23]. The stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model [36], which asserts that a stimulus (S) may influence an organism (O) that in turn influences behavior (R), was one of the first models developed to investigate the influence of atmosphere on customer behaviors; this approach continues to be used widely today [37] in immersive technology research (e.g., [38]), among other fields of study. As mixed reality technologies continue to advance, their potential applications in hybrid spaces increase and become more widespread [23]. Although researchers have begun to investigate how mixed reality can be integrated into urban cultural heritage experiences (e.g., [11]), research in this area is largely still in its infancy and no comprehensive framework has been developed for evaluating these novel experiences and their multiple dimensions of adoption, usability, engagement, immersion, presence, and physical awareness [23]. As highlighted by Trunfio and Campana [39], further investigation is also required into the influence of mixed reality on visitor experience and value propositions in such spaces.

Brand Equity Theory
Brand equity has been an important marketing concept since the 1980s [40] and has recently become an increasingly important concept for cultural organizations [41]. Many studies on customer-based brand equity (CBBE) rely on the models created by Aaker [18] and Keller [19] [42]. Although these two authors conceptualized brand equity differently, they both generally defined the concept from a consumer-based perspective [43]. Brand equity is generally considered a multidimensional construct [16]. According to Aaker, it comprises brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and other proprietary assets (e.g., patents, registered trademarks, and so on), which must be perceived positively by the consumer for brand equity to be achieved [44,18]. Brand awareness plays an important role in CBBE [19]; it refers to a) consumers' ability to recall, recognize and connect with a brand (via brand name, logo, symbol, etc.), linking it with certain associations in memory (depth of brand awareness) and b) the range of purchase and consumption situations in which the brand comes to mind (breadth of brand awareness) [45]. To create brand equity, it is also important that the brand has strong, favorable, and unique brand associations [19]. Brand association is another component of brand equity linked to consumers' memory of a brand [46], which provides the basis of purchase decisionmaking [47]. Favorable and unique brand associations are essential to brand image [48]; therefore, when examining brand association, many studies focus on brand image (e.g., [49,41]). Overall, positive brand association and significant brand awareness contribute to a positive consumer response [16].
Empirical studies have demonstrated that the higher the brand equity, the greater the loyalty [13,14,15]. A brand is likely to have positive brand equity if it receives more favorable responses, that is, higher levels of brand association, awareness, preference, and familiarity [47]. The role of the brand in creating preferences and generating value and loyalty is no doubt of interest to managers of cultural institutions [41]. Indeed, most of their marketing efforts are directed toward sustaining and increasing loyalty [12]. Research shows that when a museum's brand is evaluated positively, customer loyalty toward the museum is greater [22]. Although CBBE has been widely discussed in tourism research [44,22,50], there has been little application of this approach to urban cultural heritage organizations, with only a few researchers investigating CBBE in the museum [21,22] and art contexts [41], and even fewer focusing on mixed reality in urban cultural heritage attractions from this perspective.

Hypotheses
In this section, we present our hypotheses. Figure 1 shows our theoretical model, which represents the characteristics of mixed reality affecting visitor satisfaction via perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment and the associated hypotheses. Based on brand equity theory, we also posit that the characteristics of mixed reality affect brand awareness and, in turn, brand awareness influences brand association and brand loyalty.

Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty
User satisfaction refers to visitors' degree of satisfaction with the content they experience [51]. In this study, brand loyalty refers to the customer's tendency to repurchase a brand, revealed through purchase behavior or brand sales (e.g., actual purchases observed over time) [52,53]. Research on user satisfaction and brand loyalty has been conducted in various contexts. For example, it was found that shopping mall visitor satisfaction has a positive effect on brand loyalty [54], and brand studies in the hotel and restaurant industries have found that brand experiences are driven by customer experience and satisfaction and have positive effects on loyalty [55]. However, there are few empirical studies that examine the effects on user satisfaction and brand loyalty of content display using mixed reality in the context of cultural and artistic visitor attractions. Similar to shopping and restaurant experiences, we expect that satisfaction with mixed reality in this context will have a positive impact on brand loyalty. Therefore, we hypothesize that: H1: User satisfaction with mixed reality will have a positive effect on brand loyalty.

Brand Association and Brand Loyalty
As previously mentioned, we investigate brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty from the perspective of brand equity theory. The role of brand associations as an important element in brand equity management has been previously studied [56]. Brand association is closely related to customers' memories about a brand [57]. In brand equity theory, brand association is closely related to the degree of loyalty to a brand felt by customers [58]. This has been observed in several contexts, including an ebrand study [57]. In our study, brand association refers to everything related to the brand in consumers' minds. Brand association can help consumers determine the relevance of both the parent brand and extended brands [59]. We believe that brand association will affect brand loyalty in the context of cultural and artistic visitor attractions and mixed reality souvenir shops. Therefore, we propose the next hypothesis as follows: H2: Brand association for a souvenir in a gallery with mixed reality content will have a positive impact on brand loyalty.

Brand Awareness and Brand Association
Brand awareness is a key determinant of brand equity [60,61,17,57]. It is defined as an individual's ability to recall and recognize a brand [60]. In the context of this study, brand awareness refers to whether consumers can recall or recognize a brand, or simply whether they know about a brand at all [62]. Brand awareness indicates an association in memory about a particular brand [63]; brand awareness can have either a positive or negative impact on brand association [64]. This is observed in many brands, including car brands [65]. Therefore, we hypothesize as follows: H3: Brand awareness of souvenirs in galleries with mixed reality content will have a positive impact on brand association. customer is prepared to exert relative cognitive, emotional, and behavioral resources in specific interactions with a focal brand [69]. Highly immersive environments that reproduce perceptual richness, thus heightening the sense of presence, have positive effects on self-endorsement [70]. Selfendorsement subsequently triggers favorable attitudes toward products and brands. Prior research suggests that users wearing a particular brand of clothing in a highly immersive environment prefer the brand worn by their virtual self to the brand worn by others [70].
High sensory immersion is also associated with a more favorable brand attitude, greater product knowledge, and elevated purchase intention [71]. In the context of 3D virtual worlds, presence was found to influence enjoyment and brand equity, which is consistent with the theory of flow, which states that a sense of immersion can produce hedonic outcomes and influence learning and attitudes [16]. Even when AR technology is applied to a game, perceived immersion affects the satisfaction of game participants [72]. In addition, perceived immersion has a positive effect on satisfaction in a merchant virtual universe, which hyper-realistically reproduces the environment of a real shopping mall [73].
Likewise, perceived immersion affects satisfaction with experience. We surmise that the same results may be possible in the context of mixed reality experiences. Therefore, we state the next hypothesis as follows: H4-1: Perceived immersion in mixed reality experiences will have a positive effect on user satisfaction.

H4-2:
Perceived immersion in mixed reality will have a positive effect on brand association.

Perceived Enjoyment, User Satisfaction, and Brand Association
In the user experience domain, researchers either focus on one or two factors (e.g., previous experience or interactivity, involvement and vividness, intention or presence, enjoyment and simulator sickness) (e.g., [74,75,76]). For instance, Islam and Rahman [74] investigated how the unique characteristics of a brand community, including information quality, system quality, virtual interactivity, and rewards, affect customer engagement and, subsequently, brand loyalty. van Kerrebroeck et al. [75] explored the impact of VR on transformational brand appeals and found an association between this technology and higher perceptions of vividness and presence than regular 2D video. Finally, Virvilaite et al. [76] studied the relationship between vividness and usefulness (word of mouth communication messaging) and four brand equity components (brand association, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and perceived quality) and found an overall positive effect.
Perceived enjoyment refers to the degree to which visitors who experience mixed reality content enjoy it [77,78]. According to the expectation-confirmation model of Shiau and Luo [79], perceived enjoyment has a positive effect on satisfaction. In addition, another study using the expectationconfirmation model by Joo et al. [80] confirmed that perceived enjoyment has a significant positive effect on satisfaction and sustained use intention for students using digital textbooks. In another study on learning outcomes of VR users in education, it was found that the participants' perceived enjoyment of the VR experience not only affected perceived learning outcomes, but also that perceived learning outcomes positively affected satisfaction, perceived learning, and behavioral intention [81]. Prior research has indicated that enjoyment of an advertisement can affect people's attitude towards the advertised product [82]. Hence, we conclude that perceived enjoyment is related to attitudes towards new marketing systems. Recent research supports this assertion that perceived enjoyment positively influences brand attitude [83]. Likewise, in the context of mixed reality experience, perceived enjoyment may affect satisfaction. Therefore, we present the next hypothesis as follows: H5-1: Perceived enjoyment of mixed reality content will have a positive impact on user satisfaction.
H5-2: Perceived enjoyment of mixed reality content will have a positive impact on brand association.

Interactivity, Perceived Immersion, Perceived Enjoyment, and Brand Awareness
Interactivity refers to the degree to which users of a medium can influence the form or content of the mediated environment [84]. Some research suggests that interactivity can have an impact on the personal experience of the user [84]. User experience consists of perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment. Interactive games are perceived to be immersive when they offer predictable, tightly scripted interactions that enable the user to enjoy the virtual experience [85]. Early research indicates that interactive components, multisensory stimulation, and dynamic displays influence immersion and are salient and important design features that distinguish one area from another in the mind of the visitor [66]. Later, Shafer et al. [86] found that perceived reality influenced predicted spatial presence, which in turn was a significant predictor of enjoyment. Overall, a more immersive, realistic and fun experience can be achieved through a more natural user interface [86].
Previous research also suggests a positive relationship between interactivity and perceived enjoyment [87,88,86]. For instance, in Lin and Parker's [87] study, interactivity was considered the most profound way to enhance the user experience in terms of increased presence and enjoyment in virtual environments. In the context of motion-based systems (e.g., Kinect), Shafer et al. [86] found similar results: higher interactivity increased spatial presence, perceived reality, and enjoyment. Interactivity in artistic spaces has also been found to increase audience enjoyment and creative identity [88]. Finally, Shin [89] proposed a model of attitudes towards 3DTV, identifying significant roles for social presence and flow, both of which affect attitude, perceived usefulness, and perceived enjoyment. Accordingly, these factors are considered to underlie users' expectations of 3DTV [89].
When evaluated as characteristics of an online brand community, both virtual interactivity and information quality were found to have strong effects on customer engagement [74]. Customer engagement is a strong predictor of brand loyalty. As a result, many organizations are developing brand communities to promote and communicate their offerings to customers [74]. Recent research demonstrated that the more actively firms use and manage social media, the higher awareness of the brand will be [90]. Moreover, Mauroner et al. [91] found that interactivity has a significant influence on brand recall, suggesting that interaction with an ad may lead to more intense cognitive processing of the brand message. Hence, we hypothesize that: H6-1: Interactivity of mixed reality will have a positive effect on perceived immersion.
H6-2: Interactivity of mixed reality will have a positive effect on perceived enjoyment.
H6-3: Interactivity of mixed reality will have a positive effect on brand awareness.

Vividness, Perceived Immersion, Perceived Enjoyment, and Brand Awareness
Vividness, also known as realness, realism, or richness [92,93], refers to the ability of a technology to produce a sensorially rich mediated environment ( [31] p. 80). It includes not only the sensory experience of actual objects, but also the non-sensory experience of imaginary objects [94]. Vividness is also perceived as a quality of brand expression rather than a quality of the brand itself. For example, in ecommerce, it is known that how a product is displayed on the web affects evaluation and sales of that product [95].
Vividness has a positive effect on immersion in the VR context [34]. To feel immersed, consumers must be free to interact with products, to inspect vividly and realistically generated virtual product images [96]. This relationship between vividness and immersion is likely also to be present in mixed reality, where virtual objects appear as a vivid and seamless part of the actual physical scene.
On the other hand, vividness may also have a positive effect on the enjoyment of mixed reality [97]. In VR, vividness is recognized as a representative form of modality richness, which is known to have a significant effect on shopping enjoyment [75]. When it comes to e-commerce, the visual vividness of online websites is associated with enjoyment [98]. Similarly, McLean and Wilson [99] suggested that perceived enjoyment obtained from technology is related to two functional elements: interactivity and vividness. We believe this will also be true in the mixed reality context.
According to earlier research, extrinsic cues of website vividness allow unfamiliar brands to compete against familiar brands [100]. Highly vivid advertisements have been found to influence positive brand attitudes compared with less vivid advertisements, which in turn stimulates consumers' purchase intentions [75]. Additionally, a positive correlation has been demonstrated between the vividness of word of mouth communication messages and both brand awareness and brand association [76].
Therefore, we present the next hypothesis as follows:

Study Context
For this study, we selected a cultural and artistic visitor attraction located in Seoul in an area where modern and classical culture and fashion encounter each other and are well-balanced. The attraction includes 19th-century Impressionist artists and has integrated mixed reality technology into the visitor experience. Specifically, it consists of an exhibition hall containing works of 19th-century Impressionist painters and the stories of various artists, such as van Gogh and Gauguin. Some portraits are actually available for conversation, like that of van Gogh's friend, postman Joseph Roulin. As part of the mixed reality attraction, visitors can experience artwork through a media art show on the theme of "Monet's Garden." There is also a musical performance based on van Gogh's life story, and the "X Files on Masterpieces: Hologram Talk Show" tracks the death of van Gogh. In musicals and talk shows, actors and characters in digital works interact with real actors through dialogue.

Measures
A survey with a total of 25 measurement items was used for this study. The following items were adopted from previous literature: interactivity [101], vividness [102,103], perceived immersion [104,105,72], perceived enjoyment [106,107], brand awareness [108], brand association [109,110], satisfaction [111,112], and brand loyalty [113,111]. The other items were identified through factor and reliability analyses and scored on a 7-point Likert scale. In order to avoid any material discrepancies in the survey, the initial questionnaire was created in English and then translated to Korean by researchers who are proficient in both languages.

Data Collection
For data collection, survey responses were gathered using a tablet PC. The researchers were situated in the café within the attraction on weekends between the 21 st and 29 th September 2019 and survey data were gathered from visitors after they experienced mixed reality at the attraction. A stratified sampling method was used for data collection in order to match the demographic profiles (i.e., age and gender) of actual visitors to this cultural and artistic visitor attraction. Respondents experienced the attraction for one or more hours before visiting the souvenir shop. Each visitor was approached and invited to participate in the study at the end of their experience. Only those who volunteered to participate were included.
Data collection was conducted on weekends with an aim to gather an even number of respondents with regards to age and sex. The age range was limited to adults who were able to purchase their own entrance tickets. Visitors who had not fully experienced mixed reality during their visit were excluded from the survey. In order to recruit participants, one researcher wearing a uniform promoted the survey at the entrance while other researchers conducted the survey with visitors at the café near the exit. Table 1 lists the demographic characteristics of the participants included in the valid sample. All participants were offered a gift box worth about $5 USD as compensation for participation. In total, 322 surveys were collected, of which 251 were used in the final analysis; others were excluded due to inappropriate answers to the reverse-coded questions.  Fig. 1. PLS-SEM was selected as it is designed to evaluate how well a proposed model or hypothetical construct explains the collected data. It is conducted using a two-step hybrid method, specifying a measurement model through confirmatory factor analysis, and then testing a latent structural model developed from the measurement model.

Factor Analysis
To create the questionnaire, 25 items were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and the Varimax rotation method. The factor analysis (shown in Appendix A) using SmartPLS 2.0 revealed that commonality exceeded 0.683, and factor loadings revealed 8 factors, with no multiple loading items for only one factor of 0.6 or more. The results of the exploratory factor analysis also revealed that the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) value for the sample was 0.905, which confirms that the data set is valid for the purposes of factor analysis. In addition, the sphere formation test value for the sample was x 2 = 8022.512 (df = 300, p < .001), and the cumulative total variance of the factors was 90.39%, which also indicates suitability for factor analysis. Reliability of the eight identified factors was confirmed by Cronbach's α coefficient, which was higher than 0.832, thus indicating high credibility.

Validity and feasibility of the measurement model
The validity and appropriateness of the measurement model were determined before testing the hypotheses of this study. First, as shown in Table 2, the AVE (average variance extracted) exceeds 0.888, which indicates convergent validity [114]. Composite reliability (CR), which is an index that measures the feasibility of the measurement model, exceeds 0.900, indicating reliability. The Cronbach's α value resulting from the PLS algorithm was 0.833. Except for vividness, internal consistency of questionnaire items was indicated by a high reliability value of 0.9 or higher on all other factors [114,115]. Furthermore, the communality value, measuring the quality of the measurement model, exceeded 0.888, indicating the suitability of the measurement model. In order to ensure discriminant validity, the square root of AVE for each factor should be greater than the correlation coefficients between variables [116,117]. The results in Table 3 show that the model satisfies this condition. In addition, the cross-loading results in Appendix B show that all factor loading values exceed 0.855, confirming the discriminant validity of each factor.

Fit of the structural model
In this study, all values except that for the deviation experience factor of location-based AR are positive.
Predictability exists when all values for all path coefficients are positive. However, it is reasonable to assume that the path coefficients for deviation experience may be rejected since it appeared as a negative number [118]. Also, the size of goodness-of-fit in the PLS path model is regarded as large if the value is 0.36 or larger; the value for location-based AR was 0.536, thus showing high goodness-of-fit [118].

Hypothesis Testing
The hypotheses in this study were tested through path counting and the valence of each path coefficient was confirmed by setting 5,000 bootstrapping specimens [119,117]. The significance of individual paths is summarized in Figure 2.

Discussion
The aim of this study was twofold. The first aim was to investigate how the characteristics of mixed reality (interactivity, vividness) affect the affective aspects (perceived immersion, perceived enjoyment) of the experience and satisfaction of visitors to a mixed reality-based attraction. The second aim was to examine the effects of characteristics of mixed reality on brand awareness, brand association, and, eventually, brand loyalty, which is connected to the management of cultural and artistic visitor attractions. Overall, the findings support our proposed hypotheses. Firstly, the findings show that satisfaction positively influences brand loyalty, which is consistent with previous satisfaction-related research suggesting that online shopping malls have a positive influence on brand loyalty [54] and research on hotel restaurants [55]. The relationship between brand association and brand loyalty was also confirmed, which provides additional, context-specific evidence for the findings of existing studies related to luxury fashion brands [120] and behavior indicating brand loyalty [58]. The same tendencies are evident even in the context of souvenirs and the brand of artistic and cultural attractions that incorporate mixed reality, at least in the case study described herein.
Consistent with prior marketing [64] and luxury car brand studies [65], brand awareness was found to have a positive effect on brand association. However, this study's findings reflect new brand-related factors in a research model including souvenirs as part of the product brand. Perceived immersion had a positive effect on satisfaction, which extends the findings of previous AR [72] and VR [73] research to the mixed reality context. Previously, perceived immersion was considered as a factor influencing satisfaction or continuance intention [121]; however, this study's unique contribution is to demonstrate the influence of perceived immersion on brand association in the mixed reality context. This influence suggests that perceived immersion is a key factor in sustaining experience and affecting satisfaction for those in charge of developing mixed reality experiences. Additionally, previous research suggests that perceived enjoyment influences satisfaction [81,80,79] and this relationship was confirmed in this study focusing on mixed reality. Perceived enjoyment was also found to influence the souvenir brand association, which may inform designers of experience venues that management of such exhibitions affects not only the ticket income, but also the souvenir income.
Moreover, studies of interactive games have shown that interactivity has a positive effect on perceived immersion [85] and that interaction between the player and the game world has a positive effect on perceived immersion [86]. With mixed reality technology, interactivity also affects perceived immersion. Therefore, in designing mixed reality experiences, interactivity is an important factor affecting perceived immersion. In this study, interactivity also had a positive effect on perceived enjoyment [86,88,87]. Hence, when developing technologies or content involving mixed reality, interactivity should be well integrated in order to influence perceived enjoyment positively. Most previous studies on interactivity observe its influence on satisfaction or continuance intention [122,123]. The results of this study also demonstrated that interactivity has a positive effect on brand awareness. For future studies on souvenir purchasing in the field of tourism, it is necessary to design a research model considering brand awareness.
Like prior researchers, we found that vividness influenced perceived immersion [34] and perceived enjoyment [97,75]. Perceived immersion was positively influenced by vividness in a study of AR technology in e-commerce [34] and of the learning effect in virtual game worlds [124]. The same relationship was confirmed in our research on the mixed reality technology visitor experience.
Furthermore, another study revealed that vividness, interactivity, and telepresence influenced the flow experience of sport spectators engaged in a VR experience [125], and that interactivity and vividness affected consumers' emotional responses and behaviors in video game situations. This study is the first to propose a research model including vividness of experience content in tourist attractions and its effect on brand awareness. Overall, these findings suggest that vividness is an important factor for perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment and should therefore be considered in the development of mixed reality content.

Theoretical Contributions
There are several theoretical contributions in the current study. First, we used brand equity theory to examine factors influencing satisfaction and brand loyalty of mixed reality experiences at cultural and artistic visitor attractions. Second, looking at characteristics of mixed reality, we suggested that interactivity and vividness not only affect perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment, but also positively affect brand awareness, brand association, and brand loyalty. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies to employ brand equity theory to examine the effects of characteristics of mixed reality on these constructs in the context of cultural and artistic attractions. We also empirically examined how the technical characteristics of mixed reality influence mixed reality experience (perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment) and visitor satisfaction in the context of a specific cultural and artistic exhibition. We went beyond the boundary of existing research, which focuses on development of experimental environments or proof of concept [10]. Finally, this study adds to existing research (e.g., [28,4,126] on the use of immersive technologies (AR, VR, MR) in cultural heritage organizations, specifically the influence of mixed reality on visitor experience [39].

Practical Implications
This study has several interesting practical implications that can be drawn from the findings. First, the importance of immersion and enjoyment of mixed reality content is emphasized in this study, which is useful for content creators and developers of cultural and artistic attractions. Second, our findings associated with factors affecting brand awareness, brand association, and brand equity could help managers of cultural and artistic attractions to develop and create mixed reality content that is closely linked to brand equity. Third, when creating content, practitioners could consider the characteristics of mixed reality highlighted in this study to create immersive visitor experiences. This study demonstrated that perceived immersion and perceived enjoyment influence satisfaction strongly; therefore, practitioners should focus on creating mixed reality content that provides immersive and enjoyable experiences.

Limitations and Future Research
This study also has some limitations that provide avenues for further research. First, although the sample was sufficient for the purposes of this study and allowed reasonable conclusions to be drawn, respondents were mostly aged between 20 and 30 years old, which could be considered a limitation.
However, as the data were collected with actual visitors to a specific cultural and artistic attraction, this