Merchandising/Marketing/Retailing: Management

Investigating Consumers’ Intent to Shop at Metaverse: A Proposed Agenda

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Abstract

The term Metaverse is comprised of the prefix “meta” and “universe” indicating the imaginary linkage between the physical and digital world where the users can interact with each other through digital avatars. Metaverse creates the opportunity to relate consumers’ increased demand for novel experiences with compelling retail experiences that have established a presence in a 3D virtual world. In the Metaverse, the development of “virtual avatars” creates the opportunity for different brands to connect with consumers by engaging them in a new shopping experience and facilitate businesses in a unique way. There are ample opportunities for selling digital goods inside the Metaverse. Studies related to the Metaverse in retail settings are limited. Therefore, this study was to explore the recent status of the Metaverse and proposed to borrow concepts of consumer experiences and engagement research in the physical world and adopt them in the Metaverse context for future research. 

Keywords: Metaverse, Virtual avatars, Digital merchandise, Augmented reality (AR), Virtual reality (VR), Immersive technology, Consumers' Styles Inventory (CSI), Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

How to Cite:

Hossain, M. & Sadachar, A., (2022) “Investigating Consumers’ Intent to Shop at Metaverse: A Proposed Agenda”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.15944