• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.189-217
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• 2023

The metaverse is a virtual world where individuals engage in social, economic, and cultural activities using avatars, which represent an alternate version of oneself within the virtual realm. While the metaverse has garnered global attention recently, research exploring the identity manifested through avatars within the metaverse remains limited. This study investigates the influence of four IT artifact characteristics related to avatar usage in the metaverse-avatar representation, avatar copresence, avatar profiling, and avatar-space interaction-on perceived avatar identity verification. A survey was conducted with 196 experienced users of the Zepeto platform, and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The analysis results indicate that the use of IT artifacts enabling avatar representation, avatar copresence, and avatar-space interaction has a positive impact on perceived avatar identity verification. This achieved self-verification indirectly influences the satisfaction and subsequent intention to continue using the metaverse. This study contributes to the academic field by empirically verifying the metaverse technological factors that influence the projected identity onto avatars within the metaverse. Furthermore, it is expected to provide effective guidelines for metaverse platform companies in designing and implementing the metaverse.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2024

This study aims to empirically analyze the usage behavior of metaverses, which have recently attracted attention in various fields. To date, research on metaverses has focused on the concept, direction of utilization, development prospects, and technical aspects. However, there is a lack of research on the characteristics of metaverses and the behavior of users. As the metaverse develops with new content, there is a need to understand user behavior and content characteristics. In this study, we surveyed 375 adult males and females who experienced metaverse, and analyzed the impact of metaverse usage behavior on brand loyalty and item purchase intention based on 350 samples after excluding non-responses. The collected data were cleaned and statistically analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and SmartPLS 4.0. The results showed that the usage behavior factors such as immersion, vicarious satisfaction, and avatar identification have a positive effect on brand loyalty and intention to purchase branded items. These findings help to understand the concept and development direction of metaverse, and are expected to make important contributions to the field of brand marketing strategy formulation and metaverse-related user behavior research.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.185-190
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• 2022

Since COVID-19, digital transformation has been taking place in the entire industry, and Metaverse is attracting attention as an untect service. Therefore, this study aims to find out about brand experience marketing cases using metaverse targeting beauty brands. This study reviewed previous studies related to metaverse marketing and beauty brand marketing. SK-II, Christian Dior used VR technology to provide users with contents and experience of brand products, and L'Oreal, Sephora, Laneige used AR technology to provide virtual makeup applications. It's believed that this experience marketing will have a positive effect on customers' purchase intention and its importance will increase further to target Z Generation. It's expected that this study can be used as related data in the metaverse and experience marketing of beauty brands, and research on metaverse marketing should be continued in the beauty field.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.82-93
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• 2024

This study confirms how brand experiences perceived by consumers in the metaverse affect their pleasure and behavioral intentions (intention to use the platform, and purchase the virtual product). The results of this study are as follows. First, consumers have sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual experiences while interacting with fashion brands in the virtual space of the metaverse. Second, in the metaverse, consumers experience pleasure when they have various brand experiences including those mentioned above. Third, the pleasure gained through consumers' brand experiences has a positive effect on their behavioral intentions, including their intentions to use the platform and purchase the virtual product in the metaverse. This study is academically meaningful in strengthening brand experience-related research and expanding into the metaverse context through empirically verifying the influence of consumers' brand experiences on pleasure in the metaverse. Also, related fashion companies will be able to use the results of this study to strategically create consumers' sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual experiences to elicit pleasant emotions from consumers in the virtual space of the metaverse.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.149-172
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• 2023

With the development of information technology, new technologies to be introduced in each industry are continuously increasing. This study aims to verify the influence of ambivalent emotions experienced when encountering new technologies, the coping strategies they induce, and their impact on the decision-making process of technology adoption Specifically, this research investigates the emotions and responses to new technologies in the situational context where service providers must deliver services based on new technology in environments where no such services have been developed previously. Furthermore, it seeks to verify the influence of coping responses on the intention to use services based on new technologies. To this end, this study investigated the ambivalent emotions and coping responses of financial sector workers to new financial services based on metaverse technology. As a result of the analysis ambivalance had a significant effect on all four coping responses (disengagement-oriented coping, denial, indecision and compromise). Among them, denial, which is an inflexible response, and compromise, which is a flexible response, had a significant positive effect on the intention to use, and disengagement-oriented coping and indecision had a significant negative effect on the intention to use. The results of this study confirm the user's metaverse acceptance factor and user-centered influence, and are expected to provide guidelines for the introduction of services to practical workers with academic significance.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.704-714
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• 2023

This study explores how avatar customization influences the continuous intention to use the metaverse, mediated by self-expansion. The moderating effects of self-efficacy between avatar customization and self-expansion are also explored. Data were collected through an online survey using consumer panels. Participants were Zepeto users aged 18 or older who had used the platform within the previous six months. They were asked to recall a recent shopping experience of exploring the virtual fashion store via Zepeto. A total of 196 valid responses from participants were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 for descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and PROCESS procedure, and AMOS 23.0 for confirmatory factor analysis. Results demonstrate that avatar customization increases continuous intention to use the metaverse; this effect is mediated by self-expansion. The moderated mediation effect of self-efficacy in the indirect path was significant and mediated by self-expansion. Specifically, the interplay effect of avatar customization and self-efficacy on self-expansion was statistically significant. For participants with high self-efficacy, avatar customization increases self-expansion, and it mediates the relationship between avatar customization and the continuous intention to use the metaverse. Findings contribute to expanding the literature on metaverse usage by testing the impact of avatar customization on self-expansion.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.75-89
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• 2024

The demand for metaverse is increasing rapidly due to the development of 3D information technology and the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19. Small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) are also in increasing demand for metaverse in the community, meetings, and customer services of their employees. Based on the UTAUT model, this study investigated the acceptance of the Metaverse-type information system(IS) by employees of SMEs. Using the responses from 170 SMEs employees, we conducted the regression analyses SMEs employees' usage intention on Metaverse-type IS. The results of the research analyses were as follows. First, among the variables of the UTAUT model, performance expectations, social influence, and promotion conditions had a significant effect on the intention to use. Second, among the variables derived from the industrial specificity of Metaverse-type IS, only individual innovation had a significant influence on the intention to use. Last but not least, in the relationship between the intention to use Metaverse-type IS and the influencing factors, only individual innovation was significant in the moderating effect according to past metaverse use experience.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.93-100
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• 2024

This study empirically examined the influence of motivation for using the metaverse virtual community Ifland on satisfaction and intention to continue usage, as well as the moderating effect of innovativeness. Specifically, the study identified the motivations for using Ifland among its users and analyzed their relationships with satisfaction and intention to continue usage. For this purpose, a survey was conducted targeting 303 university students who had experience using Ifland.The results of the study are as follows: Firstly, the motivations for using Ifland were identified as entertainment and relaxation, information-seeking, social interaction, and self-expression motives. All of these motivations were found to have a significant impact on user satisfaction. Secondly, satisfaction with Ifland was found to influence intention to continue usage. Thirdly, innovativeness was found to moderate the relationship between entertainment and relaxation motives and satisfaction, and it was confirmed to play a moderating role between satisfaction and intention to continue usage.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.125-139
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• 2021

As the 4th industrial revolution progresses, new technologies and services are being born, growing, and maturing. Now, beyond the mobile era, the metaverse is being discussed as a new paradigm. Therefore, in this study, in preparation for the metaverse era, we tried to analyze what factors have an important influence when consumers want to use new technologies. In particular, the research was conducted focusing on how the context in which consumers use the technology changes depending on whether they are B2C or B2B. For this, augmented reality (AR) was selected in the B2C context by linking the research subject with the metaverse era, and the smart factory was selected in the B2B context. The research model for the analysis was established by deriving and setting common influence variables by reflecting the characteristics of the research target technology based on the modified extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. A survey was conducted for empirical analysis, and 150 AR and 150 smart factory subjects were analyzed. The empirical study results are as follows. The relationship between performance expectancy and intention to use, technology readiness and intention to use was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on both AR and smart factory. On the other hand, it was found that effort expectancy, social influence, and trust had a positive (+) effect on intention to use only in AR. Only in smart factory, facilitating conditions had a significant positive (+) effect on intention to use. It was also found that the perceived risk had a significant negative (-) effect on the intention to use only in the smart factory. The results of this study are academically significant in that we empirically test that influencing factors of technology use varies depending on the context in which it is used by consumers. In practice, it provided an implication of what to focus on first is being implemented.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.97-117
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the intention to continue using the metaverse platform service from the user's point of view. Methods: The study conducted a survey of experienced people using Zepeto, Ifland, Gather Town, Zep, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft, which are virtual world types among metaverse types, and valid 415 data were analyzed by SPSS (ver 22.0) and R (ver 4.1.0) program packages. Results: As a result of empirical analysis, it was found that interactivity and social presence among the characteristics of metaverse affected expectation confirmation, and sensory affordance and functional affordance affected expectation confirmation as affordance factors. In addition, all four characteristics of metaverse, reliability, playfulness, interactivity, and social presence, were found to have the greatest affect on perceived usefulness, and it was analyzed that playfulness, social presence, and reliability were influenced in order. The affordance factor was also found to have a positive effect on physical affordance, sensory affordance, and functional affordance. This study was found that it had a positive effect on the relationship between expectation confirmation and satisfaction and the relationship between perceived usefulness and satisfaction. satisfaction was analyzed to lead to continuance intention. Conclusion: This study is meaningful in that it examines the perspective of users who can be called customers of metaverse platform services. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to have a significant effect on the development of metaverse platform services not only on platform operators that provide metaverse platform services but also on providers who plan events and education using metaverse platform services.