Although museum visitor experience and satisfaction have received growing attention in academic research, the impact of new elements of the museum service model, including AR and VR, on visitor experience and satisfaction remains an unexplored area of investigation. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by investigating how the innovation of museum service aspects (exhibition content, VR and AR, general organisation, and reception staff) can enhance visitor experiences and satisfaction, opening spaces for innovating museum service models. A quantitative survey methodology combining correlation analysis, Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), descriptive statistics, and cluster analysis was conducted on a random sample of 739 museum visitors experiencing ‘The Ara It Was’ project at the Pacis Museum in Rome. Discussion and conclusions contribute to the debate on the disruptive power of AR and VR and its impact on service model innovation for cultural heritage museums. The paper proposes theoretical advances, has managerial implications for future improvements in museum management, and opens Museum 4.0 academic debate.

The spread of social media platforms enhanced academic and professional debate on social media engagement that attempted to better understand its theoretical foundations and measurements. This paper aims to systematically contribute to this academic debate by analysing, discussing, and synthesising social media engagement literature in the perspective of social media metrics. Adopting a systematic literature review, the research provides an overarching picture of what has already been investigated and the existing gaps that need further research. The paper confirms the polysemic and multidimensional nature of social media engagement. It identifies the behavioural dimension as the most used proxy for users' level of engagement suggesting the COBRA model as a conceptual tool to classify and interpret the construct. Four categories of metrics emerged: quantitative metrics, normalised indexes, set of indexes, qualitative metrics. It also offers insights and guidance to practitioners on modelling and managing social media engagement.

Although virtual and augmented reality are receiving increasing attention in tourism and cultural heritage, the effect of mixed reality on museum visitors’ experience has still not been fully answered, and research on this topic is still in its infancy. This paper aims to contribute to this debate proposing a novel model that measures the impact of mixed reality on museum visitors’ experience and satisfaction. ‘The Ara as It Was’, an innovative project enhancing the value of the Italian masterpiece, the Ara Pacis Museum, has been used to test this model. The discussion and conclusion open up new avenues of research.

Although research on the impact of new realities on museum experience is receiving increasing attention, it remains mainly conceptual in nature and measuring the impact of mixed reality on a museum visit is still in its infancy. This paper attempts to shed light on this topic by applying the visitor experience model for mixed reality, which measures how 23 functional and experiential elements have been reshaping a traditional museum visit, enhancing visitor satisfaction. The empirical analysis interests ‘The Ara As It Was’, a mixed reality project installed in the iconic Ara Pacis Museum in Rome (Italy), an expression of Roman history and unique on the Italian and international panorama. The findings and conclusions open up new scenarios for future research on immersive museum experiences, combining cultural heritage with technological innovation. They suggest managerial implications to combine authenticity and innovation in the museum, generating unique experiences and redefining museum service models.

The metaverse has increasingly attracted the attention of academics and practitioners, who attempt to better understand its theoretical foundations and business application areas. This paper provides an overarching picture of what has already been studied and investigated in metaverse academic investigation. It adopts a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysis. The study designs a thematic map of the metaverse research. It proposes four streams of research (metaverse technologies, metaverse areas of application, marketing and consumer behaviour and sustainability) for future investigation, which academics and practitioners should explore. It also contributes towards a systematic advancement of knowledge in the field, provides some preliminary theoretical contributions by shedding light on future research avenues, and offers insights for business.