From Metaverse to the Real World: The Role of Avatar Identification in Consumer’s Virtual Purchasing Behavior
Jinsu Park, Naeun Lauren Kim · Innovate to Elevate · 2022
Metaverse has drawn much attention in both industrial and academic fields. Based on “extended theory”, this study explores whether consumer behavior in the Metaverse can influence that of the real world and the role of avatar identification in this process. As a quantitative study, 164 samples were collected, and PLS-SEM was used in the analysis. This study found that appearance similarity has a significant positive influence on avatar identification, and avatar identification significantly influenced virtual product purchase intention. In addition, we also found avatar identification fully mediates the relationship between appearance similarity with avatar and virtual product purchase intention. Lastly, this study also found the significant effect of virtual product purchase intention on real product purchasing intention.