Three Essays on Embracing Metaverse

Abstract

This dissertation deals with Metaverse acceptance, consisting of three papers comparing how Metaverse characteristics are applied to each of the three acceptance models (Technology Acceptance Model, Value-based Adoption Model, and Expectation Confirmation Model). In the first essay, an extended technology acceptance model was applied to analyze the factors affecting users' intention to use the metaverse. In other words, the factors affecting users' intention to use the Metaverse were defined as technical characteristics (telepresence, interoperability, seamlessness, concurrence, and economy flow) and personal characteristics (social influence and perceived enjoyment) from the perspective of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model. The results showed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which are antecedents of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model, influence the intention to use Metaverse, and perceived ease of use influences perceived usefulness. Telepresence, interoperability and economy flow were found to have a positive effect on perceived usefulness, and interoperability, seamlessness and concurrence were found to have a positive effect on perceived ease of use. In addition, social influence and perceived enjoyment had a positive effect on intention to use the Metaverse. The second essay used an extended Value-based Adoption Model to analyze the determinants affecting the intention to use Metaverse users. The determinants impacting users' intention to adopt the Metaverse were identified as technical attributes (seamlessness, concurrence, telepresence, interoperability and economy flow) and personal characteristics (self-efficacy and social influence). The results showed that perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment were found to have a positive influence on perceived value. Meanwhile, technicality and perceived fee did not have a statistically significant negative effect on perceived value. Among the Metaverse characteristics, telepresence, interoperability, concurrence and economy flow were found to have a positive influence on perceived usefulness, and telepresence, interoperability and concurrence were found to have a positive influence on perceived enjoyment. Meanwhile, the NCA results indicate that telepresence, interoperability, and concurrence are necessary conditions for perceived usefulness, while concurrence is the only necessary condition for perceived enjoyment. In addition, we found that social influence and self-efficacy had a positive influence on intention to use the Metaverse. The third essay empirically analyzed various acceptance factors affecting the intention to use the metaverse by applying the combination model of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the expectation confirmation model (ECM). The characteristics of the metaverse were described in telepresence, interoperability, seamlessness, concurrence, and economy flow. The results showed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were positively associated with intention to use. However, perceived ease of use was not positively related to perceived usefulness. On the other hand, expectation confirmation of Metaverse was found to have a positive impact on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and satisfaction with the Metaverse. In addition, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were positively associated with satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction was positively related to intention to use. In addition, this study aims to show how the analysis of net and combinatory effects of Metaverse features can improve the understanding of perceived usefulness and confirmation. The net effects from the SEM show that telepresence, interoperability and economy flow positively relate to perceived usefulness and that the effect of interoperability is stronger. The fsQCA results provide a more nuanced understanding of how these five antecedent conditions affect perceived usefulness and expectation confirmation. The contributions of this study are as follows. First, because Metaverse research is currently in its infancy, much of the research on Metaverse is conceptual and typological; however, this study provides a foundation for empirical Metaverse research by examining its impact on Metaverse acceptance through actual Metaverse users. Second, this study aims to investigate the determinants of intention to adopt Metaverse among current users, considering the current stage of Metaverse technology development. The factors influencing adoption intention are analyzed by categorizing them into two main dimensions: technology characteristics (telepresence, interoperability, seamlessness, concurrence, and economy flow) and personal characteristics (social influence, perceived enjoyment and self-efficacy). Third, while there have been studies on user acceptance of telepresence, interoperability, etc. in existing AR-VR studies, there have been no studies on Metaverse user acceptance of the five Metaverse characteristics used in this study. Fourth, various acceptance models (TAM(Technology, Acceptance Model), VAM(Value-based Adoption Model), ECM(Expectation Confirmation Model)) were used to examine the effect of metaverse characteristics on user acceptance. Fifth, PLS-SEM, a quantitative analysis, was used as a basic analysis methodology, and qualitative methodologies (NCA(Necessary Condition Analysis), QCA(Qualitative Comparative Analysis)) were used to compensate for this. Finally, Based on research results on the impact of Metaverse characteristics (telepresence, interoperability, seamlessness, concurrence, and economy flow) on user intentions, these results are utilized to provide management implications for enterprises to enhance Metaverse services and improve user satisfaction.