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Wirth Julia

Professeur-e HES associé-e

Main skills

Professeur-e HES associé-e

Phone: +41 32 930 20 79

Haute Ecole Arc - Gestion
Espace de l'Europe 21, 2000 Neuchâtel, CH

BSc HES-SO en Droit économique - Haute Ecole Arc - Gestion

Culture visuelle
Langue Russe
Service Design

MSc HES-SO en Business Administration - HES-SO Master

INTERCULTURAL MANAGEMENT & RUSSIAN/CHINESE COMMUNICATION 1

2023

VR in promotion of territory in the new normal :

Scientific paper ArODES

empirical and research approaches in the times of crisis

Julia Wirth, Marina G. Shilina, Maria Sokhn, Leonid P. Preobrazhenskiy

RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism, 2023, 28, 4, 809-817

Link to the publication

Summary:

In the New Normal, the most sought-after tools for territory promotion are digital and immersive, and closely intertwined with virtual reality technologies. This research centers on VR projects in Switzerland and Russia, two countries representing contrasting situations in the current tourist and promotion of territory landscape of 2023. The findings of the prior research on the incorporation of immersive VR technology in territory promotion in Switzerland with analogous research conducted in Russia are compared. By examining both theoretical and empirical data, including data analysis and semi-structured interviews with VR project managers in Switzerland and owners/managers in Russia, differences between Switzerland and Russia are identified. A spreading value-centered qualitative approach in English- and French-language scientific discourse on VR-driven territory promotion is connected with cultural heritage and sustainable consumption and is novel for Russia. Conceptual frameworks in this scientific field are still in their early stages. In Switzerland, the VR projects are more complex and are used as a part of territory and corporate promotion, despite the not value centered, but economic motivation. In Russia, VR is viewed as the next stage in the evolution of travel viewing and recreation, and it serves as an advertising tool to attract travelers to territory attractions. The ideas of VR-tours are connected with the past, and historical and cultural heritage. The best projects demonstrate the feasibility of combining on-site visits, VR, and sustainability awareness. VR-project in this case is the instrument of saving.

VR-mediated storytelling of experience in destination branding :

Scientific paper ArODES

hybrid 4D transformations

Marina G. Shilina, Maria Sokhn, Julia Wirth

RUDN journal of studies in literature and journalism, 28, 1, 165-174

Link to the publication

Summary:

In COVID-19 era, destination branding faces the challenge of digitalization and virtual reality (VR) in particular. The fundamentals of VR-mediated storytelling in destination branding are in the process of being developed. There is a luck of research on immersive VRmediated storytelling, scenarios, and messages in destination branding, especially realised with technologies of more complex – hybrid – immersivity (4D). The shift from 2D, 3D to 4D hybrid multisensory VR technologies is not only among the main technology developments – it provokes new research problems with VR-mediated destination branding and storytelling. The authors present the results of theoretical and empirical research of VR-mediated destination storytelling of a brand driven by the newest 4D hybrid multisensory technological approaches on the case of Switzerland. In Switzerland, VR-mediated projects in destination branding are developing actively last years but VR-mediated storytelling research in this field was not provided yet. In this regard, it was chosen 100 destination brand VR projects, presented in 2016–2022, to compare the parameters of VR-mediated storytelling of a brand. VR has to be included into brand storytelling paradigm, which must be rethought for this specific sphere. It was proved that it is more effective to combine different types of experience, virtual and physical both and make the VR-mediated brand storytelling hybrid. In terms of theoretical implications, this paper opened a specific research area by bridging theoretical and empirical ideas of destination branding, VR-mediated storytelling and digital media, technical and social communication.

2021

Immersive technologies in media :

Scientific paper ArODES

towards the concept of generative mediatization?

Marina G. Shilina, Julia Wirth

RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism, 2021, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 672–680

Link to the publication

Summary:

The practices of so-called immersive media have been developing in the past few years. The immersive media situation characteristics, infrastructure, content and social aspects have been identified through the use of a multilevel structural and functional methodology, and make it possible to fix its specificity at all levels. The new format of the immersive media situation leads to changes in approaches to the mediatization studies. In the article, to study the media immersive communicative situation a generative approach is proposed for the first time. It is relevant to topological thinking, and to the modern immanent picture of the world, when a person and technology co-create a new form. Along with the generative approach and generative design, the necessity of applying relevant paradigms and methods of psychology to form new theoretical and methodological foundations of immersive user-centric media communication is substantiated. Several new concepts and terms are introduced, in particular, the term “immersive hypermediation”, which is opposite to immediacy as a classical criterion of media effectiveness. As a result, the analysis of the essence and features of immersive media projects allows fixing the premises of immersive paradigm shift in mediatization studies.

2020

Le marketing expérientiel, nouvelle tendance dans la communication des programmes EMBA

Book chapter

Wirth Julia

Dans Krivonosov Aleksey, Politique de la marque comme technologie de communication du XXI-ème siècle : VI-ème conférence internationale. 2020, Saint-Pétersbourg : Université d’État d’économie de Saint-Pétersbourg

Summary:

En raison du paysage de plus en plus concurrentiel sur le marché international de l'enseignement supérieur, les collèges et les universités ont beaucoup à gagner des avantages d'une stratégie de communication réussie. Certains produits proposés par ces institutions nécessitent des efforts marketing particuliers. Cet article examine le positionnement web des programmes EMBA (Executive Master in Business Administration) proposés en Suisse occidentale, la partie majoritairement francophone du pays. L’étude des informations véhiculées par les sites web dédiés à ces programmes révèlent que les aspects liés au marketing expérientiel sont de plus en plus présents dans la communication de ces programmes.

2019

Le temps arrêté mais toujours en cours :

Book chapter ArODES

l'utilisation des cinemagraphs dans la communication numérique des marques horlogères sur Instagram

Michael Perret, Maria Bashuktina, Pierre-Yves Moret, Camille Dubied, Julia Wirth

Dans Courvoisier, François H. ; ed., Zorik, Kalust ; ed., Publicité horlogère 4.0 : les nouveaux codes (Pp. 63-78). 2019, Mont-sur-Lausanne, Suisse : Loisirs et pédagogie

Link to the publication

Ecrire ou traduire ? Les problèmes de la communication des sites web multilingues : l’exemple d’une marque territoriale suisse

Book chapter

Wirth Julia

Dans Okunkova Elena, La communication actuelle : Le discours de transformations : Recueil d’articles. 2019, Paris : L'Harmattan

Summary:

Des nombreux sites web de brands territoriaux existent en version multilingue. La question se pose : une simple traduction de contenus de pages web ou d’offres touristiques est-elle suffisante pour faire passer le message désiré auprès du public cible visé ? Cette communication propose à travers d’une analyse textuelle des sites web de répondre à cette question.

2018

Cultural values' role in the territorial brands positioning process :

Scientific paper ArODES

on the example of Northern Caucasus and Switzerland

Irina Babich, Julia Wirth

Vestnik Nauki, 2018, no. 17 (41), pp. 66-75

Link to the publication

Summary:

[ARTICLE EN RUSSE] In this article on the basis of Russian and Swiss concepts and methods of cultural geography, the authors Irina Babich and Julia Wirth consider the role of cultural values in the process of positioning territorial brands (case study — North Caucasus and Switzerland).

2025

The influence of subliminal stimuli on emotional perception and information retention in Immersive virtual reality tourism experiences

Conference ArODES

Manel Ben Ayed, Sonda Charfi, Julia Wirth, Lamia Ben Hamida

Actes de la 1ère conférence internationale de Technologies Immersives et valorisation du patrimoine

Link to the conference

Summary:

Although subliminal stimuli have been extensively studied in psychology and consumer behavior, their integration into immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environments, particularly in tourism and cultural heritage, remains largely unexplored. This research addresses that gap by investigating how subliminal cues, imperceptibly embedded within immersive VR content, influence emotional perception and cultural information retention. Grounded in Flow Theory and Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), this study introduces a new conceptual framework, the Subliminal-Flow Engagement Model (SFEM), specifically created to investigate the subconscious mechanisms driving engagement in immersive tourism experiences. The SFEM aims to explain how subliminal stimuli, including emotionally charged words/emojis subtly integrated into a VR-based cultural storytelling context, influence user engagement and facilitate better retention of information. An experimental design was conducted using VR headsets, where two participant groups explored a 360° virtual tour of a Tunisian heritage site. The control group experienced the tour without intervention, while the experimental group was exposed to subliminal visual cues, emojis and emotionally evocative words flashed for one frame at 60 Hz (16.67 ms). Emotional responses were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), given technical limitations in biometric measurement tools. Preliminary findings indicate that subliminal cues may enhance emotional engagement and improve memory consolidation of cultural content. These results reveal untapped potential for designing emotionally intelligent and persuasive VR experiences in the tourism industry. By subtly shaping user perceptions, subliminal design could be leveraged to create deeper, more memorable visitor connections with destinations, positioning this approach as a valuable tool in immersive tourism marketing and heritage storytelling. Ethical considerations regarding subconscious influence are also addressed.

Cultural user experience (CUX) in immersive heritage :

Conference ArODES

towards the personalization of cultural experiences through immersive technology

Manel Ben Ayed, Ranim Zouari, Lamia Ben Hamida, Julia Wirth

Actes de la 1ère conférence internationale de Technologies Immersives et valorisation du patrimoine

Link to the conference

Summary:

The valorization of Cultural Heritage (CH) plays a crucial role in preserving cultural identities, history, and traditions in an increasingly globalized world. While traditional approaches to heritage engagement have largely focused on static representation, immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) offer dynamic, interactive experiences that can revolutionize how users engage with cultural content. However, traditional User Experience (UX) frameworks often fail to capture the complexity of cultural engagement, especially in immersive environments. This article introduces the concept of Cultural User Experience (CUX), a multidimensional framework that incorporates cultural, emotional, and pragmatic aspects of users’ interactions with heritage content. CUX recognizes the impact of cultural context on emotional engagement and proposes a more inclusive approach to immersive heritage experiences. By combining theories such as Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), Flow Theory, and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this paper examines how CUX can enhance the valorization of CH through personalized, accessible, and participatory experiences. The study highlights CUX’s potential to deepen cultural engagement and inclusivity in heritage experiences, fostering more meaningful interactions between users and cultural artifacts.

2023

Discovering the distribution of attention in destination marketing using 360° video :

Conference ArODES

the eye-tracking study

Yulia Rogoleva, Artem Kovalev, Galina Menshikova, Marina Shilina, Julia Wirth

Procedia computer science

Link to the conference

Summary:

Virtual tours in 360° video format are a modern way to destination marketing. The relevance of the study of innovative ways of promoting territories is determined by the process of digitalization of the economy and the high prevalence of digital communications. The scientific problem addressed in this study is to examine the effectiveness of 360° video in the marketing of territories in order to determine its impact on consumers and assess the emotional attitude to the territory. The present study used eye-tracking technology to analyze patterns of attention distribution, which are related to the level of knowledge about territories, while watching a 360° video showcasing to these territories. The scientific novelty of this study is a consideration of attention distribution features using eye-tracking technology while watching a 360° video in the context of territory marketing. The sample consisted of 30 students from Switzerland and Russia and the study was conducted in two countries. The objective of the study was to identify differences in eye movements when watching a 360° video in groups of people with different degrees of awareness of Switzerland. The results showed that the average duration per fixation was significantly longer in the Russian group, as was the degree of cognitive load, compared to the Swiss group. The Swiss group required more time to fixate their gaze on large objects, while the amount of the objects which were observed significantly decreased in both groups in the last part of the video. The results of the study can be used as recommendations for the creation and effective use of 360° video in the marketing of territories.

Exploratory study of eye-tracking path :

Conference ArODES

a case study from Switzerland

Marina Kholod, Julia Wirth, Ahmed ElDarawany, Marina Shilina

Agents and Multi-agent Systems: Technologies and Applications 2023

Link to the conference

Summary:

It is known that due to the nature of 360° videos, a user only utilizes about 20 % of the transmitted data, so understanding how the viewer actually watches them, is very crucial for the scenario of the video, and for stimulating the viewer for a certain action, like taking a real trip. We conducted the experiment using the 360° videos produced by the tourist bureau of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland, on 16 viewers. This study was conducted in January 2023, and therefore, this paper is the initial step for the eye-movement path description from this exper- iment. The paper consists of 4 parts – introduction, theoretical back- ground for eye-tracking path data, eye-tracking data analysis and conclusion.

The real effectiveness of VR :

Conference ArODES

the tourism and cultural organization managers' point of view

Julia Wirth, Nina Racine

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Tourism Research - ICTR 2023

Link to the conference

Summary:

Virtual reality (VR) has become an important field of academic research investigation, firstly and obviously in relation to its technological aspects. Then, as a marketing tool for promotion and communication purposes. In this context, researchers have mainly focused on analyzing the behavior and appreciation of tourists with respect to this new technology. This article proposes an alternative approach, focusing on the company’s decision-makers, mainly tourism and cultural organizations, who use this technology. This approach seeks to understand how and why VR is integrated into a company's strategy. Methodology: Firstly, we did a literature review and studied a systematic collection of virtual tour offers in Switzerland, which led to the analysis of characteristics of these virtual reality offers. These characteristics consider the different virtual reality systems according to the level of immersion, interactivity, and presence, which made it possible to construct a classification of virtual tour offers in Switzerland. Secondly, a qualitative method was used to conduct twelve semi-structured interviews with companies offering virtual tours of Swiss regions, in order to understand the managerial vision of VR usage and to deepen understanding of the various applications of virtual reality in the context of Swiss tourism. Findings: The analysis revealed that there is a distinction between the different virtual reality systems used in the Swiss tourism sector. Research has shown that non-immersive 360° videos as a marketing tool are no longer of great benefit to tourist destinations. Conversely, immersive virtual tours for promotional purposes at trade fairs and with travel partners are still of interest however are no longer considered a competitive advantage. It is the integration of VR into the in-situ tourism experience which has received a more enthusiastic response but creating fears among tourism stakeholders. Originality/Value: The main argument of this article is that it analyzes the use of VR tools from the point of view of managers of cultural and tourist institutions, and not from the point of view of customers. Furthermore, the article proposes a new structural classification of VR projects in Switzerland and offers practical implications for tourism and cultural organizations, as well as new directions for future studies.

La réalité virtuelle en tant qu'outil de marketing durable du territoire :

Conference ArODES

analyse du contexte suisse

Julia Wirth, Marina Shilina

Actes du 39ème congrès international de l'Association française du marketing

Link to the conference

Summary:

Face aux défis environnementaux, les chercheurs et praticiens du marketing sont davantage à la recherche de solutions répondant aux problématiques de développement durable. La théorie et la pratique liée à des projets de réalité virtuelle dans le marketing des territoires se développent. Pour la première fois, cet article étudie cette question à travers une revue de la littérature, combinée à un corpus de douze entretiens semi-structurés avec des responsables de projet de visites RV en Suisse. Les résultats mettent en évidence le rôle que les circuits de RV peuvent jouer dans la consommation durable du territoire. Alors que la majorité des chefs de projet n'intègrent pas encore les questions de durabilité dans la réflexion qui sous-tend leurs projets de RV, une minorité l'utilise avec succès pour promouvoir des comportements durables, ce qui correspond aux conclusions des théoriciens.

2020

Le marketing expérientiel, nouvelle tendance dans la communication des programmes EMBA

Conference ArODES

Julia Wirth, Nina Racine

Branding as a communicative technology of the XXI century: materials of the VI international scientific and practical conference

Link to the conference

Summary:

En raison du paysage de plus en plus concurrentiel sur le marché international de l'enseignement supérieur, les collèges et les universités ont beaucoup à gagner des avantages stratégiques d’une communication réussie. Certains produits proposés par ces institutions nécessitent des efforts marketing particuliers. Cet article examine le positionnement web des programmes EMBA (Executive Master in Business Administration) proposés en Suisse occidentale, la partie majoritairement francophone du pays. L'étude des informations véhiculées par les sites web dédiés à ces programmes révèlent que les aspects liés au marketing expérientiel sont de plus en plus présents dans la communication de ces programmes.

Achievements

PEOPLE@HES-SO
Directory and Skills inventory

Wirth Julia

Professeur-e HES associé-e

Main skills

Linguistics

Marketing expérientiel

Marketing territorial

Neuromarketing

Service Design

Professeur-e HES associé-e

PEOPLE@HES-SO Directory and Skills inventory

Wirth Julia

Professeur-e HES associé-e

Main skills

Linguistics

Marketing expérientiel

Marketing territorial

Neuromarketing

Service Design

Professeur-e HES associé-e

PEOPLE@HES-SO
Directory and Skills inventory