Purpose

Through the theoretical lenses of media richness, perceived realism and customer engagement, this study aims to investigate the mechanisms that promote customer engagement in metaverse-mediated environments in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) context, as well as the impact of customer engagement on customers’ metaverse usage intensity and future visit intention.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of customers who have experience with metaverse-mediated MICE activities was conducted. Data from 267 respondents were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to test our research framework.

Findings

Media richness dimensions, including multiple cues, immediate feedback and personal focus, were found to enhance perceived metaverse realism, which in turn affects the dimensions of customer engagement, leading to customers’ metaverse usage intensity and future visit intention. The fsQCA analysis identifies three configurations that lead to high event visit intention.

Practical implications

This research helps developers and marketers better understand how rich media contents create realistic experiences in the metaverse, aiding them to devise strategies for customer engagement and improve resource allocation.

Originality/value

Despite its potentially revolutionary impacts, empirical studies on the mechanisms driving customer engagement in the metaverse and its effects are scarce. This study contributes by revealing the multiple-phase mechanism of the customer engagement journey in the metaverse-mediated MICE context. By expanding the media richness theory into this area, our study provides new insights by illustrating how media richness dimensions create multisensory experiences and real-time interactions, enhancing perceived metaverse realism and customer engagement. It also addresses the debate on whether metaverse-mediated events substitute or complement real-life events.

中文翻译：

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沉浸在虚拟宇宙中并参观现实世界：为什么不能两者兼而有之呢？全面的客户参与框架

 目的

通过媒体丰富性、感知现实性和客户参与度的理论视角，本研究旨在研究在会议、激励、大会和展览 (MICE) 环境中促进客户参与的机制，以及促进客户参与的影响客户参与度对客户元宇宙使用强度和未来访问意图的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

我们对有过元界介导的 MICE 活动经验的客户进行了调查。使用偏最小二乘结构方程模型和模糊集定性比较分析 (fsQCA) 对 267 名受访者的数据进行了分析，以测试我们的研究框架。

 发现

研究发现，媒体丰富度维度，包括多重线索、即时反馈和个人关注，可以增强感知的虚拟现实感，进而影响客户参与度的维度，从而影响客户的虚拟现实使用强度和未来访问意向。 fsQCA 分析确定了导致高事件访问意向的三种配置。

 实际影响

这项研究帮助开发人员和营销人员更好地了解富媒体内容如何在虚拟世界中创造真实的体验，帮助他们制定客户参与策略并改善资源分配。

 原创性/价值

尽管它具有潜在的革命性影响，但对虚拟宇宙中推动客户参与的机制及其影响的实证研究却很少。这项研究揭示了元宇宙介导的 MICE 背景下客户参与旅程的多阶段机制。通过将媒体丰富性理论扩展到这一领域，我们的研究通过说明媒体丰富性维度如何创造多感官体验和实时交互、增强感知的元宇宙现实性和客户参与度，提供了新的见解。它还解决了关于虚拟宇宙介导的事件是否替代或补充现实生活事件的争论。