Virtual Is Real: Demystifying Consumer Behaviour in the Metaverse—A Review and Future Research Agenda

Shaping of Metaverse: Meta and (Uni)verse

Stephenson first connected the term ‘metaverse’ to the notion of immersive VR in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. Reference to metaverse dates to the 1990s when it appeared in the literature on the development of interactive worlds and virtual-human research (Barrera & Shah, 2023). While early understanding of metaverse included an immersive 3D virtual world in which individuals interacted with each other as avatars, metaverse was still viewed from a single-world perspective. More recent definitions of metaverse suggest four key aspects (Figure 1): (a) inhabitation in virtual worlds (Belk et al., 2022), (b) interconnectedness of multiple virtual worlds (Dionisio et al., 2013), (c) immersive experience (Han et al., 2022) and (d) socially interactive and co-created world (Gursoy et al., 2022).

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Metaverse Conceptualization.

Inhabitation is manifested by representing consumers as digital avatars, letting them express their sense of presence in the virtual world for unrestrained self-expression. The interconnectedness of different virtual worlds allows seamless movement of users from one world to another, carrying their identities, characteristics and belongings with them. Interconnectedness between the virtual and physical worlds transfers user data from one world parallelly to another (Barrera & Shah, 2023). The use of AR, VR and mixed reality (MR) devices facilitates immersiveness with improving fidelity. Finally, metaverse allows users to actively participate in the co-creation of experiences in virtual spaces through social interactions for sharing, collaborating and transacting.

Layers That Build the Metaverse

Second Life, an online multimedia platform, was one of the first attempts to create a metaverse-like platform in 2003. While the platform allowed for creating cartoon avatars and virtual interactions in immersive spaces, it needed to overcome network and processing limitations. These basic limitations have been resolved over time. Our review reveals three layers (each straddling the one before) that incorporate eight components in the metaverse building block, driving its adoption (Figure 2).

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Metaverse Layers.

The foundational Layer 1 of capabilities includes robust networks, hardware advancements and increasing processing power, forming the bedrock of metaverse growth (Hollensen et al., 2023). The 5G telecom network enhances the metaverse experience quality by improving bandwidth, latency and reliability (Hollensen et al., 2023). Hardware, with immersive technologies (AR, VR, MR), enhances the metaverse experience through 3D real-time rendering (Kailas & Tiwari, 2021).

Importantly, enhanced processing capability is crucial for data reconciliation, rendering, physics calculations and motion capture, enabling seamless movement, transactions and interoperability (Hollensen et al., 2023).

The central Layer 2 of enablers consists of common protocol, security enhancements and decentralization. Interoperability across platforms is crucial in the metaverse, and common protocols, formats and services ensure seamless experiences across hardware devices. In addition, blockchain-enabled cryptocurrencies serve as a cross-platform exchange currency and enable virtual asset ownership while facilitating decentralization (Barrera & Shah, 2023).

The topmost Layer 3 comprises applications (Apps) with content and designing capabilities required to provide business and services in the metaverse (Hollensen et al., 2023). These apps drive businesses to innovate with user-friendly designs, opening opportunities for new metaverse content and app design ventures.

Having consolidated metaverse conceptualization, we begin addressing our RQs by starting with a bibliometric analysis to assess the current literature through performance and science mapping.

Performance and Citation Analysis

About 143 articles appeared across 69 journals, averaging 25 citations per article and totalling 10,660 references. Of these publications, 92% had multiple authors, with each document averaging 3.6 co-authors. Figure 3 illustrates the annual distribution of the articles from 2011 to 2024 (Note: This figure includes 133 articles, excluding 10 preprints from 2025 for the trend analysis). There is a sharp rise in publications over the last 3 years, reflecting the evolving landscape of consumer interactions in virtual environments.

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Figure 3:

Source: Scopus.

A document-level VOSviewer analysis identified 55 documents (37 of which were linked) with at least 10 citations. The most-cited articles (Table 2) include seminal works by Dwivedi, Hughes, et al. (2023), Gursoy et al. (2022) and Barrera and Shah (2023), which explore the contours of the metaverse, consumer adoption drivers and barriers. These articles focus on the transformative impact of the metaverse on CB, with implications for marketing, branding and value co-creation.

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Table 2:

Top 10 Most-cited Articles.

Sr. No.	Author/Year	Article	Citations
1	Dwivedi et al. (2023)	Metaverse marketing: How the metaverse will shape the future of consumer research and practice	390
2	Gursoy et al. (2022)	The metaverse in the hospitality and tourism industry: An overview of current trends and future research directions	335
3	Barrera and Shah (2023)	Marketing in the metaverse: Conceptual understanding, framework, and research agenda	308
4	Buhalis et al. (2022)	Metaverse as a driver for customer experience and value co-creation: Implications for hospitality and tourism management and marketing	258
5	Belk et al. (2022)	Money, possessions, and ownership in the metaverse: NFTs, cryptocurrencies, Web3 and Wild Markets	244
6	Hollensen et al. (2022)	Metaverse: The new marketing universe	232
7	Joy et al. (2022)	Digital future of luxury brands: Metaverse, digital fashion, and non-fungible tokens	146
8	Hadi et al. (2024)	The metaverse: A new digital frontier for consumer behaviour	138
9	Yoo et al. (2023)	The merchants of meta: A research agenda to understand the future of retailing in the metaverse	138
10	Ahn et al. (2022)	The bifold triadic relationships framework: A theoretical primer for advertising research in the metaverse	81

Source: VOSviewer.

The author analysis revealed 38 authors with at least two articles and five citations. The author-wise analysis of the 10 most influential authors is presented in the Appendix (Table A1). Buhalis emerged as the most influential (648 citations). Buhalis co-authored the most-cited and fourth most-cited articles in Table 2. Rauschnabel, with the highest h-index and g-index of 4, is the most impactful author (Table A2) and also co-authored the most-cited articles.

VOSviewer analysis identified 15 journals with at least two publications and two citations. The most-cited journals are listed in Table A3. The Journal of Business Research leads with 8 publications and 631 citations. Source impact analysis via Biblioshiny (Table A4) reveals the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (h-index: 8, g-index: 13) as the most influential, followed by Psychology and Marketing (h-index: 7, g-index: 10).

The country analysis identifies 25 nations with authors who have published at least three times and received at least three citations. Figure 4 displays the top 10 countries by document count, with India leading in paper output and the UK in citation count.

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Figure 4:

Source: Biblioshiny.

Science Mapping and Visualization

An analysis of author keywords revealed that ‘metaverse’ and ‘consumer behaviour’ were the two most frequently occurring terms in the literature. Due to their relevance to the study’s focus, these terms were excluded from further analysis. ‘Virtual reality’ emerged as the most frequent term, reflecting its central role in metaverse experiences. ‘Augmented reality’ follows as the second most common term, important for metaverse commerce applications, such as virtual try-ons in online retail.

A TreeMap (Figure 5) was generated with a selection of the top 20 terms, excluding the dominant terms ‘metaverse’ and ‘consumer behaviour’. TreeMap shows that VR- and AR-related terms account for 27% of the keywords. Interestingly, terms related to non-fungible token (NFT), blockchain and digital fashion together accounted for 17% of the keywords, signalling a growing commercial interest in the field.

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Figure 5:

Source: Biblioshiny.

Thematic analysis was used to examine the evolution and maturity of various themes. This analysis (Figure 6) was conducted with 100 author keywords, with a minimum cluster frequency threshold of five per 1,000 documents. The size of each cluster circle represents the number of keywords associated with that cluster (Cobo et al., 2011). The ‘virtual reality’ cluster is the most prominent cluster (keywords: 10, frequency: 81), including terms such as AR, extended reality and avatar-based marketing. Next is digital fashion (keywords: 10, frequency: 43), followed by hospitality (keywords: 10, frequency: 32). Key terms in the hospitality cluster include virtual tourism, social presence, engagement and immersion.

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Figure 6:

Source: Biblioshiny.

The two dimensions of thematic maps are represented by centrality and density. Centrality, defined as the ‘intensity of its links with other clusters’, reflects a theme’s importance to the field’s growth (Cobo et al., 2011). Density indicates ‘the strength of the links among the words in the cluster’, highlighting the theme’s capacity for sustained development (Cobo et al., 2011). Figure 6 indicates that VR and hospitality are both central to the development of the area and have good density. This highlights the prominence of VR, AR and extended reality as a rendering mechanism and hospitality as the currently most important research context. Digital fashion, on the other hand, is closely connected to the other themes but remains an emerging theme with weaker internal connections.

Cluster Analysis

Bibliographic coupling (VOSviewer) was used for cluster analysis, with ‘documents’ as the unit of analysis (Perianes-Rodriguez et al., 2016). A minimum citation threshold of 15 resulted in 38 documents (37 connected, 1 isolated). These documents were grouped into five clusters (Figure 7): foundational perspectives and strategic applications (Cluster 1: Red); brand strategy and marketing in the virtual economy (Cluster 2: Green); emerging metaverse technologies and marketing research (Cluster 3: Blue); immersive consumer experience and virtual shopping environments (Cluster 4: Yellow) and VR, avatars and co-creation (Cluster 5: Purple).

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Figure 7:

Source: Authors’ analysis using VOSviewer.

Theories

Researchers have applied various theoretical frameworks to explore CB in the metaverse. Studies have used 24 theories, which we categorize into eight themes that capture different aspects of virtual consumer experiences and consumption (Figure 8).

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Theories Explaining CB in Metaverse.

Addressing the theme of presence, the flow theory is employed to discern stimuli enhancing the perceived immersiveness and engagement within the metaverse. Flow refers to the mental state of optimal experience and enjoyment achieved when an individual is completely involved in any activity/experience. The application of the flow theory to metaverse becomes critical in understanding which stimuli enhance the perceived immersiveness and the engaging nature of the metaverse, resulting in desirable affective and cognitive responses from consumers.

The information processing theme involves four key theories: the cue-utilization theory explains how individuals focus on relevant stimuli in their environment, with novel cues heightening arousal and thereby increasing attention. In the metaverse, unfamiliar or immersive elements can trigger this arousal, making cue selection more effective and enhancing information processing. The impact of realistic expectations on cognitive load and attitudes towards brands is explained by the cognitive load theory. The theory posits that individuals have limited cognitive capacity, so a reduction in cognitive exertion may make it easier for individuals to process and retain information. Reasonable expectations from consumers in the metaverse can help ease the cognitive load on their minds. This, in turn, may have an effect on consumer attitudes towards brands and also actions in metaverse. The feelings-as-information theory examines how the metaverse influences mood and emotions, thereby enhancing affinity for products/services. It serves as a useful explanation to understand how individuals use their emotional state as a source of information for making judgements and decisions. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) examines how varying stimuli affect consumers at different levels of involvement. ELM proposes that individuals can take two distinct routes when processing persuasive messages: the central route (a more deliberate approach) and the peripheral route (a less thoughtful approach), depending on their motivation and ability to process the message. Varying metaverse stimuli could influence consumers at varying involvement levels. These levels are also likely to change for different product/service types, and the virtuality of metaverse would lend itself to persuasion.

Transitioning to the theme of sociability, the social presence theory examines how media allow users to perceive others as physically present. In the metaverse, this sense of real connection depends on media features that convey visual and verbal cues such as gaze, posture, facial expressions and voice tone. The (socially) situated cognition theory suggests that processing of knowledge is not just a function of an individual’s mind but is also influenced by different social, cultural and physical contexts. It emphasizes the role of virtual environments and entities in shaping cognitive processes.

Under the technology theme, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains the adoption of technology based on its usefulness and perceived ease of use. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technologies elucidates the adoption of technology, based on four key constructs: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions. Moreover, five attributes that impact the adoption of a new technology are suggested by the innovation adoption theory: perceived relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Incorporation of these five attributes becomes particularly important for the adoption of new experiences such as the metaverse. The theory of compensatory internet use suggests that individuals resort to the internet as an escape mechanism to compensate for deficits in other areas of their lives. Finally, the cognitive fit theory explains how the adoption of technology (e.g., the metaverse) depends on its alignment with the users’ cognitive abilities and the cognitive demands of the task at hand.

Within the theme of media consumption, the media richness theory is employed to assess the effectiveness of a communication channel, depending on its ability to handle multiple cues and provide immediate feedback.

The cognitive theory of multimedia learning posits that individuals better process information when it is presented in both visual and auditory forms, allowing for effective management of cognitive load. The task– media–fit theory is useful for understanding the effectiveness of a communication medium depending on how optimally it fits the specific characteristics and demands of the task being performed. Lastly, the uses and gratifications theory states that people actively choose and use media to fulfil specific needs rather than being passive recipients of media messages. It becomes useful in understanding the differential use of technology for various media purposes in the metaverse, depending on product types, such as utilitarian versus hedonic and experiential versus search.

The value assessment theme encompasses the privacy calculus theory and the experience economy theory. According to the privacy calculus theory, individuals weigh the potential benefits and risks of disclosing personal information online. This highlights the acknowledgement of metaverse consumers’ need to balance the dangers of data privacy and the value of their wellness. The experience economy theory argues that economic value is also created through memorable and engaging experiences rather than just through products or services.

Within the imagery theme, the theory of vividness explains how people are more likely to remember and be persuaded by information presented in a vivid, concrete and emotionally engaging manner. The mental imagery theory states that mental representations of past sensory experiences can facilitate cognitive processes and highlights how multi-sensory cues in the metaverse can activate mental imagery to simulate real-world experiences thereby creating a pleasant memory bank.

The last theme relates to self-assessment, in which the escape theory suggests that the metaverse enables emotionally immersive escapes, which can engage users deeply but may also foster unhealthy detachment if not designed mindfully. Importantly, platforms offering avatar control, skill mastery and social connection can fulfil users’ core psychological needs and drive sustained motivation, as highlighted through the self-determination theory. However, as novelty fades, metaverse engagement may decline, which makes ongoing innovation essential to keep experiences fresh and stimulating (habituation–tedium theory). The self-referencing theory suggests that avatars and digital twins, which reflect users’ identities, can enhance personal relevance and improve memory, engagement and brand impact.

Characteristics

This section discusses the various factors/variables that help understand ‘what impacts consumers?’ (antecedents), ‘why and how do they process?’ (individual-related elements) and ‘how do they react?’ (outcomes) (Figure 9).

OPEN IN VIEWER Figure 9:

Factors Impacting Consumer Behaviour in the Metaverse.

What Impacts Consumers? (Antecedents)

Metaverse stimuli influence consumer value through a balance of perceived benefits and costs. Consumer benefits may stem from enriched experiences (experiential value), increased control and sociability (participative value) and a sense of ownership. Concurrently, consumer costs can be mitigated by assurance of well-being and security (assurance). The overall perception of benefits and costs is influenced by the communication of the message and its source (communique).

Delivering Benefits Through Experiential Value: A Sense of Engagement and Realism

We now discuss each element related to experiential value. Enhancing engagement involves immersion, multi-sensory experiences, gamification, vividness and user-friendly interfaces. The level of immersion depends on system technology (Barrera & Shah, 2023). Design elements blending virtual content with real-world surroundings increase perceived value, while advanced interaction and haptic devices (touch, smell, motor) enhance consumer enjoyment and value (Barrera & Shah, 2023; Han et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2022). Novelty remains pivotal in providing robust stimuli for utilitarian, hedonic and social values within immersive experiences. Also, a user-friendly interface, aligned with consumers’ social and cultural factors, fosters efficiency, learnability and immersiveness (Layer 3) (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al., 2023).

Combining immersiveness with multi-sensory experiences creates a sense of ‘presence’—the feeling of being in a place or an environment, even without physical presence (Han et al., 2022). Matching multi-sensory stimuli with real-world experiences makes virtual products feel more authentic, boosting consumer interest (Petit et al., 2022). Enhanced stimuli vividness contributes to a more immersive, multi-sensorial experience. Vividness, or technology’s ability to create a sensorially rich environment (Steuer et al., 1995), impacts the entire consumer journey, from information search to purchase behaviour (Harz et al., 2022). Rich, vivid information enhances mental visualization, boosting attention and engagement, with higher vividness linked to positive attitudes and intentions (Van Kerrebroeck et al., 2017b).

Gamification fosters platform intimacy, generating heightened experiential value (Hsu & Chen, 2018). Applying gaming concepts in non-game contexts, such as avatar development, content creation and digital badge rewards, can engage users effectively (Wang et al., 2022).

Realism, crucial for consumer experience in the metaverse, involves fidelity and congruence with the physical world. Fidelity, gauging the metaverse’s resemblance to the physical world in both experience and functionality (Barrera & Shah, 2023), comprises display and interaction fidelity (McMahan et al., 2012). High fidelity is linked to enhanced presence and favourable marketing outcomes (Ahn et al., 2022). Marketers using stimulus-enhancing technologies to engage consumer senses create varying congruencies between physical and virtual environments, influencing consumption experiences (Petit et al., 2022).

Delivering Benefit Through Participation: Co-action and Social Residency

Empowering consumers to design their experience and interact in the virtual space yields higher-order customized value. This sense of co-action in the past body of work is operationalized through co-creation, personalization, interaction and interoperability, which provide a fertile ground for consumer participation.

Co-creation, driven by tech progress (Figure 2: Layer 1), goes beyond marketing managers, involving diverse stakeholders (Rihova et al., 2019). Granting consumers control of the virtual space enhances co-creation, enabling personalization. In the metaverse, alongside marketer content, consumers access innovative and personalized experiences, exemplified by platforms like Roblox. However, hyper-personalization also raises concerns about data privacy (Zaki et al., 2023).

Consumer value comes from interacting with a firm’s offerings, with co-creation and personalization (Bousba & Arya, 2022). From passive engagement to active participation in virtual events like concerts (Gursoy et al., 2022), heightened interactivity shapes consumer experiences, influencing purchase behaviour (Kumar et al., 2023). Data generated fuel customized communication through interactive advertising in the entire metaverse consumer journey (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al., 2023).

At the hyper level, interoperability is crucial for consumer control, offering seamless access across platforms (Ahn et al., 2022). This enables unified preferences, allowing for tailored advertising at different stages of the purchase process. Digital twin tech contributes to interoperability, presenting opportunities in retailing and e-commerce (Jeong et al., 2022).

Consumers, social by nature, benefit from enhanced social residency in the metaverse, promoting sharing and collaboration (Oh et al., 2023). The social nature of VR platforms, like VRChat, allows marketers to simulate real-life scenarios, thereby facilitating an understanding of CB in this socially facilitated VR setting (Han et al., 2022).

Delivering Benefit Through Ownership: Virtual Possessions

The metaverse boosts consumer value through decentralized ownership via NFTs and cryptocurrency (Belk et al., 2022), enabling the trade of virtual items and self-expression through ownership of moments like sports clips. Avatars, currently owned by platforms, may become consumer-owned across platforms in the future, aided by interoperability (Belk et al., 2022). Brands can capitalize on the illusion of ownership, offering fractional virtual ownership of brand elements or moments to drive aspirational value. For instance, Nike introduced Nike CryptoKicks, a virtual sneaker with fractional ownership available on the RTFKT Studios platform.

Reducing Perceived Cost Through Assurance: Ensuring Well-being and Security

Metaverse offers experiential, participative and ownership benefits but raises concerns about privacy and safety, with the potential for undesirable data use (Zaki et al., 2023). Assuaging consumers’ feelings of apprehension about their security and well-being can have significant rewards.

Concerns about data manipulation by governments, firms and hackers deter metaverse adoption (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al., 2023). Strong data privacy policies, cybersecurity measures and platform regulations can reassure consumers (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al., 2023). Hackers may use consumer data for ‘catfishing’ (creating fake identities to deceive others), fraud or accessing personal information and virtual assets. Without proper regulation, issues like cyberbullying could also arise. Additionally, metaverse addiction, particularly among young users, may worsen tech overload and detachment from reality (Musamih et al., 2022). Platforms like Oculus have instituted guidelines to protect users’ well-being by preventing bullying and abuse.

Ensuring Proper Communication of Value

By now, it is evident that messaging to consumers by brands/firms in metaverse can be used creatively to influence consumers’ perception of value. The roles of the messenger (who is saying), signage (where it is said), information (what is being said) and the elements of creativity and novelty (what is new) are all integral.

Consumers rely on influencers they admire or relate to (Lou, 2022) to guide their purchase decisions. Similar to social media, the credibility of online influencers in the metaverse fosters positive intentions (Khan et al., 2022). Additionally, avatars or virtual influencers (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al., 2023) can serve as key salespeople or brand advocates.

Further, novelty in communication plays a captivating role in influencing consumers. To elicit consumer engagement, communication should be novel, fresh and individualized (Bousba & Arya, 2022), as demonstrated by Gucci’s virtual exhibition with interactive elements and limited-edition digital items.

Why and How Do They Process? (Individual-related Elements)

Every consumer is unique, each processing a stimulus differently based on their unique attributes of ‘who they are’ (characteristics), ‘what excites them’ (motivations) and ‘what they value’ (individual assessment).

Cognitive Responses

Metaverse stimuli impact consumer experiences at every purchase stage, shaping attitudes through sight, sound and touch (Ahn et al., 2022). Studies show greater consistency in information search and purchase intention in virtual environments compared to real-world testing (Branca et al., 2023). Product evaluation is influenced by both knowledge and haptic feedback (Branca et al., 2023). These responses are explained through consumer psychology frameworks like the ELM, which describes how people process information either through deep thinking when involvement is high or through surface-level cues when it is low. Similarly, as discussed earlier, the cognitive load theory is relevant in the metaverse environments where users may encounter multiple stimuli at once. When the sensory load exceeds processing capacity, it can reduce comprehension and disrupt decision-making (Petit et al, 2022). As consumers navigate both worlds, congruent marketing across them becomes crucial for influencing decisions.

Behavioural Intentions and Actions

Once cognitive responses are formed, consumers move towards behavioural intentions and actions through adoption, coping and brand engagement. Adoption follows a positive cost–benefit analysis, leading to sustained loyalty. The theory of planned behaviour explains how intentions emerge from attitudes, perceived control and social influence. In the metaverse, consumers are more likely to act when they feel confident navigating the environment and when they perceive social approval.

Presence and flow also influence behaviour (flow theory). Engagement results from higher presence and immersion. Avatars that align with consumer expectations enhance self-expression and are likely to foster engagement (Barrera & Shah, 2023). Meanwhile, in line with the theory of compensatory internet use, consumers cope with fears and uncertainties in the virtual space by using mechanisms to address issues such as addiction, emotional harm, social anxiety and loneliness (Han et al., 2022). Recognising these coping behaviours helps organizations address barriers to adoption and improve platform usability/trust.

Evaluative Judgements

Metaverse stimuli nudge consumers to form post-experience assessments. Literature classifies post-consumption reflection as advocacy and loyalty (Bousba & Arya, 2022). Unlike cognitive responses, which occur during information processing or behavioural intentions, which drive actions, these evaluations reflect how consumers feel after the experience.

Consumers are more likely to engage again or recommend the experience when the environment meets or exceeds their expectations. AR and VR devices help maintain consumer connection post-purchase, tracking and influencing brand advocacy through narrative and social interactions (de Regt et al., 2021). Exposure to VR during purchase boosts satisfaction and loyalty (Van Kerrebroeck et al., 2017a), while higher virtual presence increases value perception, patronage and word-of-mouth advocacy (Pizzi et al., 2020).

These evaluative outcomes are influenced not only by the quality of the immersive experience but also by how consumers interpret the values and risks associated with it. As we stated earlier, the privacy calculus theory suggests that these post-experience judgements are shaped by how consumers weigh the perceived benefits of engagement against potential privacy concerns. The experience economy theory further explains that lasting value is created when metaverse experiences are immersive, emotionally resonant and personally meaningful. Post-consumption judgements are critical for understanding long-term consumer commitment.

Contexts

Research on CB in the metaverse spans various contexts, examining digital ownership, NFTs, cryptocurrencies and virtual possessions (Belk et al., 2022). Studies have explored immersive VR experiences and industry readiness for metaverse integration (Han et al., 2022). A growing trend is the role of metaverse in reshaping e-commerce across sectors (Jeong et al., 2022). Ethical consumerism in sharing economy platforms highlights sustainable resale and green consumption (Musamih et al., 2022). Metaverse’s impact on healthcare, predictive analytics, sensory data and digital content is also explored. As it transforms industries such as luxury brands, advertising, tourism and hospitality, research has also focused on customer experience, co-creation and future consumption (Buhalis et al., 2022; Joy et al., 2022; Musamih et al., 2022).

Methods

Research in this area has predominantly existed at a conceptual and theoretical level. Future investigations must extend beyond these and incorporate a blend of quantitative and qualitative measures to empirically comprehend CB in the metaverse. Scholars are encouraged to adopt experimental methods to establish causal relationships between marketing stimuli and consumer responses. Furthermore, there is a growing consensus on the utility of advanced neuroscientific and biometric measurements in explaining CB within the metaverse, emphasizing the need for a multidimensional research approach.

Having discussed the current state of evolution of CB in metaverse through TCCM, we now focus on avenues for future research.