Immersion or social presence? Investigating the effect of virtual reality immersive environments on sommelier learning experiences

We investigate the impact of immersive experiences on sommeliers’ learning in the wine industry, specifically examining the role of immersion and social presence. With the growing prevalence of digitally enhanced wine experiences, such as virtual reality (VR), understanding the effects of immersion and social presence on sommeliers’ learning outcomes becomes crucial. Drawing upon research on immersive technologies like VR headsets and cave automatic virtual environments (CAVEs), the study explores their potential in creating immersive wine tasting experiences for sommelier learning. It addresses the limited research on the impact of VR on sommeliers’ learning and training. An experimental study is conducted with sommelier training students, yielding results that are discussed in relation to the wine industry's workforce training and customer engagement strategies. The paper concludes by acknowledging limitations and suggesting future research directions.