Meta-Brand Engagement and Willingness to Buy: Exploring the Pre-Adoption Behavior on Emerging Digital Platforms
PDF

Keywords

Metaverse
Brand Engagement
Willingness to Buy

How to Cite

A., P. . and Mukthar K.P, J. . (2024) “Meta-Brand Engagement and Willingness to Buy: Exploring the Pre-Adoption Behavior on Emerging Digital Platforms”, EuroMid Journal of Business and Tech-Innovation (EJBTI), 3(3), pp. 67-79. doi: 10.51325/ejbti.v3i3.200.

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of meta-brand engagement on consumers’ willingness to buy in the Metaverse. Adopting a quantitative, cross-sectional research design, data were collected through an online survey from 300 active Metaverse users, selected via purposive sampling to ensure relevance. Validated instruments measured various dimensions of meta-brand engagement and willingness to buy. The analysis employed both correlation and multiple regression techniques to test five hypotheses concerning these relationships. The results revealed that brand awareness and knowledge, as well as emotional and psychological factors, have a positive and significant influence on willingness to buy. Conversely, social and incentive factors exhibit a significant negative effect. The remaining factors—brand interaction and engagement and perceived value and experience—were not found to have a significant impact. These findings offer valuable insights into how meta-brand interactions shape consumer decision-making in virtual environments, providing actionable implications for marketers aiming to refine branding strategies within the Metaverse and deepen their understanding of virtual consumer behavior.

https://doi.org/10.51325/ejbti.v3i3.200
PDF

References

Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. Free Press.

Ball, M. (2022). The metaverse: And how it will revolutionize everything. Liveright Publishing.

Bousba, Y., & Arya, V. (2022). Let's connect in metaverse. Brand's new destination to increase consumers' affective brand engagement & their satisfaction and advocacy. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 15(8), 276-293. https://doi.org/10.31620/JCCC.06.22/19

Carrión, C. (2024). Research streams and open challenges in the metaverse. The Journal of Supercomputing, 80(2), 1598-1639. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-023-05544-1

Chen, H., Duan, H., Abdallah, M., Zhu, Y., Wen, Y., Saddik, A. E., & Cai, W. (2023). Web3 metaverse: State-of-the-art and vision. ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1145/3630258

Chen, Z., Gan, W., Sun, J., Wu, J., & Yu, P. S. (2024, May). Open metaverse: Issues, evolution, and future. In Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2024 (pp. 1351-1360). https://doi.org/10.1145/3589335.3651898

Chris, B. (2022). The Impact of Metaverse on Branding and Marketing. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4144628

Dash, P., & Nirbhavane, S. (2024). Emergence of consumer brand engagement into the Metaverse: A thematic analysis. Journal of Informatics Education and Research, 4(2).

Dwivedi, Y. K., Hughes, L., Baabdullah, A. M., Ribeiro-Navarrete, S., Giannakis, M., Al-Debei, M. M., & Wamba, S. F. (2022). Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy. International Journal of Information Management, 66, 102542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102542

Hameed, F., Malik, I. A., Hadi, N. U., & Raza, M. A. (2023). Brand awareness and purchase intention in the age of digital communication: A moderated mediation model of celebrity endorsement and consumer attitude. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 13(2), e202309. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/12876

Hudson, S. (2017). Marketing for tourism, hospitality & events: A global & digital approach. SAGE.

Huang, T. L., & Chung, H. F. (2024). Impact of delightful somatosensory augmented reality experience on online consumer stickiness intention. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 6-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-07-2022-0213

Joshi, R., Garg, P., & Kamboj, S. (2023). Examining the effects of brand authenticity and brand identification on consumers' willingness to pay premium. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 19(1-2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJIMA.2023.132717

Koohang, A., Nord, J. H., Ooi, K. B., Tan, G. W. H., Al-Emran, M., Aw, E. C. X., ... & Wong, L. W. (2023). Shaping the metaverse into reality: A holistic multidisciplinary understanding of opportunities, challenges, and avenues for future investigation. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 63(3), 735-765. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2023.2165197

Leeflang, P. S., Verhoef, P. C., Dahlström, P., & Freundt, T. (2014). Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era. European Management Journal, 32(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2013.12.001

Lee, C. T., Ho, T. Y., & Xie, H. H. (2023). Building brand engagement in metaverse commerce: The role of branded non-fungible tokens (BNFTs). Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 58, 101248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2023.101248

Lee, L. H., Braud, T., Zhou, P., Wang, L., Xu, D., Lin, Z., ... & Hui, P. (2021). All one needs to know about metaverse: A complete survey on technological singularity, virtual ecosystem, and research agenda. arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.05352.

Lu, S., & Mintz, O. (2023). Marketing on the metaverse: Research opportunities and challenges. AMS Review, 13, 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-023-00255-5

Marxer, T. R. (2023). The effect of brand image on willingness to pay for hedonic and utilitarian water brands. (Doctoral dissertation; full university info needed.)

McKinsey & Company. (2022). Marketing in the metaverse: An opportunity for innovation and experimentation. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/marketing-in-the-metaverse-an-opportunity-for-innovation-and-experimentation

Melanthiou, Y., & Vasic, S. (2024). The metaverse in an era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). In Zarkada, A. (Ed.), Marketing solutions to the challenges of a VUCA environment (pp. xx-xx). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-58429-9_9

Naeem, M., & Ozuem, W. (2021). Customers' social interactions and panic buying behavior: Insights from social media practices. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(5), 1191-1203. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1925

Park, Y., Ko, E., & Do, B. (2023). The perceived value of digital fashion product and purchase intention: The mediating role of the flow experience in metaverse platforms. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35(11), 2645-2665. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-11-2022-0945

Peukert, C., Weinhardt, C., Hinz, O., & van der Aalst, W. M. P. (2022). Metaverse: How to approach its challenges from a BISE perspective. Business & Information Systems Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00765-9

Peng, X., Xing, Y., Tian, Y., Fei, M., & Wang, Q. (2023). Nonmonetary rewards of referral reward programs and recommendation intention: The role of reward-product congruity. Decision Support Systems, 173, 113999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2023.113999

Prabhu, J. J. (2020). A study and analysis of consumer behavior and factor influencing in marketing. International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, 2(4), 68-76.

Qazzafi, S. (2020). Factor affecting consumer buying behavior: A conceptual study. International Journal for Scientific Research & Development, 8(2), 1205-1208.

Rane, N. (2023). Metaverse marketing strategies: Enhancing customer experience and analysing consumer behaviour through leading-edge Metaverse technologies, platforms, and models. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4624199

Rasool, A., Shah, F. A., & Islam, J. U. (2020). Customer engagement in the digital age: A review and research agenda. Current Opinion in Psychology, 36, 96-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.05.003

Rathore, B. (2017). Virtual consumerism: An exploration of e-commerce in the Metaverse. Future, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.58972/eiprmj.v4i2y17.109

Ryan, D. (2016). Understanding digital marketing: Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation (4th ed.). Kogan Page.

Saha, S. K., Duarte, P., Silva, S. C., & Zhuang, G. (2023). The role of online experience in the relationship between service convenience and future purchase intentions. Journal of Internet Commerce, 22(2), 244-271. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332861.2022.2045767

Shah, S. (2022). Digital marketing in the Metaverse: Navigating the new frontier.

Shah, S. S., & Asghar, Z. (2023). Dynamics of social influence on consumption choices: A social network representation. Heliyon, 9(6), e17555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17146

Shahid, Z., Hussain, T., & Zafar, F. (2017). The impact of brand awareness on the consumers' purchase intention. Journal of Accounting & Marketing, 6(223). https://doi.org/10.4172/2168-9601.1000223

Shen, Z. (2025). Interactive or not? Enhancing the interactive effectiveness of virtual brand ambassadors on consumer behavior. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-09-2024-1221

Shiau, W. L., & Huang, L. C. (2023). Scale development for analyzing the fit of real and virtual world integration: An example of Pokémon Go. Information Technology & People, 36(2), 500-531. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-11-2020-0793

Shamim, N., Gupta, S., & Shin, M. M. (2024). Evaluating user engagement via Metaverse environment through immersive experience for travel and tourism websites. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2023-1590

Suh, A. (2024). How users cognitively appraise and emotionally experience the metaverse: Focusing on social virtual reality. Information Technology & People, 37(4), 1613-1641. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-06-2022-0461

Sung, E., Han, D. I. D., & Choi, Y. K. (2022). Augmented reality advertising via a mobile app. Psychology & Marketing, 39(3), 543-558. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21632

Sun, M., Gao, X., Jing, X., & Cheng, F. (2023). The influence of internal and external factors on the purchase intention of carbon-labeled products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 419, 138272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138272

Tariq, M., Abbas, T., Abrar, M., & Iqbal, A. (2017). EWOM and brand awareness impact on consumer purchase intention: Mediating role of brand image. Pakistan Administrative Review, 1(1), 84-102.

Weber, L. (2009). Marketing to the social web: How digital customer communities build your business. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118258125

Wu, Y., & Huang, H. (2023). Influence of perceived value on consumers' continuous purchase intention in live-streaming e-commerce-Mediated by consumer trust. Sustainability, 15(5), 4432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054432

Xue, L., Parker, C. J., & Hart, C. (2020). How to design fashion retail's virtual reality platforms. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 48(10), 1057-1076. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-11-2019-0382

You, Y., He, Y., Chen, Q., & Hu, M. (2021). The interplay between brand relationship norms and ease of sharing on electronic word-of-mouth and willingness to pay. Information & Management, 58(2), 103410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2020.103410

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2024 Array

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.