IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/metjou/v22y2023i2p133-145.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gen Z’s Engagement with the Metaverse: Mediated Role of Symbolic Gratification and Desired Enhancement of Reality and Moderated Role of Gender

Author

Listed:
  • Vinish Kathuria

Abstract

The avatar-driven metaverse represents the convergence of the physical and digital realms using real-time 3D software. We leverage the uses, gratifications, and customer engagement (CE) theories to study factors impacting Generation Z’s (Gen Z) engagement with the multisensory immersive metaverse environment. Our research on 204 Gen Z participants from the USA (46% female) indicates that Gen Z’s hedonic needs for engaging with the metaverse are higher than their cognitive needs. Self-expression (symbolic gratification) and the desired enhancement of reality mediate the relationship between hedonic needs and CE. Using a moderated serial mediation model, we show that the effects of serial mediation are moderated by gender. This research enhances the behavioural science research on new-age technology usage amongst Gen Z.

Suggested Citation

  • Vinish Kathuria, 2023. "Gen Z’s Engagement with the Metaverse: Mediated Role of Symbolic Gratification and Desired Enhancement of Reality and Moderated Role of Gender," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 22(2), pages 133-145, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:metjou:v:22:y:2023:i:2:p:133-145
    DOI: 10.1177/09726225231218055
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09726225231218055
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09726225231218055?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harrigan, Paul & Evers, Uwana & Miles, Morgan P. & Daly, Tim, 2018. "Customer engagement and the relationship between involvement, engagement, self-brand connection and brand usage intent," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 388-396.
    2. Rauschnabel, Philipp A. & He, Jun & Ro, Young K., 2018. "Antecedents to the adoption of augmented reality smart glasses: A closer look at privacy risks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 374-384.
    3. Hollebeek, Linda D. & Glynn, Mark S. & Brodie, Roderick J., 2014. "Consumer Brand Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization, Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 149-165.
    4. Pichler, Shaun & Kohli, Chiranjeev & Granitz, Neil, 2021. "DITTO for Gen Z: A framework for leveraging the uniqueness of the new generation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 599-610.
    5. Linda D. Hollebeek & Rajendra K. Srivastava & Tom Chen, 2019. "S-D logic–informed customer engagement: integrative framework, revised fundamental propositions, and application to CRM," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 161-185, January.
    6. Pillai, Rajasshrie & Sivathanu, Brijesh & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2020. "Shopping intention at AI-powered automated retail stores (AIPARS)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    7. Lara Stocchi & Naser Pourazad & Nina Michaelidou & Arry Tanusondjaja & Paul Harrigan, 2022. "Marketing research on Mobile apps: past, present and future," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 195-225, March.
    8. Vanja Vitezić & Marko Perić, 2021. "Artificial intelligence acceptance in services: connecting with Generation Z," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(13-14), pages 926-946, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bazi, Saleh & Filieri, Raffaele & Gorton, Matthew, 2020. "Customers’ motivation to engage with luxury brands on social media," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 223-235.
    2. Taylor, Alex & Carlson, Jamie & Liao, Yi-Chuan & Rahman, Mohammad M., 2023. "Customer engagement and sharing behaviors: Toward a contingent curvilinear perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Arghashi, Vahideh & Yuksel, Cenk Arsun, 2022. "Interactivity, Inspiration, and Perceived Usefulness! How retailers’ AR-apps improve consumer engagement through flow," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Hollebeek, Linda D. & Clark, Moira K. & Andreassen, Tor W. & Sigurdsson, Valdimar & Smith, Dale, 2020. "Virtual reality through the customer journey: Framework and propositions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Clark, Moira K. & Lages, Cristiana Raquel & Hollebeek, Linda D., 2020. "Friend or foe? Customer engagement’s value-based effects on fellow customers and the firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 549-556.
    6. Ndhlovu, Thinkwell & Maree, Tania, 2022. "Consumer brand engagement: Refined measurement scales for product and service contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 228-240.
    7. Hollebeek, Linda D. & Belk, Russell, 2021. "Consumers’ technology-facilitated brand engagement and wellbeing: Positivist TAM/PERMA- vs. Consumer Culture Theory perspectives," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 387-401.
    8. T. Ndhlovu & T. Maree, 2024. "The central role of consumer–brand engagement in product and service brand contexts," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(4), pages 944-961, December.
    9. Behnam, Mohsen & Hollebeek, Linda D. & Clark, Moira K. & Farabi, Reza, 2021. "Exploring customer engagement in the product vs. service context," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. McLean, Graeme & Osei-Frimpong, Kofi & Barhorst, Jennifer, 2021. "Alexa, do voice assistants influence consumer brand engagement? – Examining the role of AI powered voice assistants in influencing consumer brand engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 312-328.
    11. Wong, Amy & Lee, Marcus, 2022. "Building engagement in online brand communities: The effects of socially beneficial initiatives on collective social capital," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Xiao, Quan & Huang, Weiling & Qu, Lu & Li, Xia, 2025. "The impact of multimodal information features of short sales videos on consumer engagement behavior: A multi-method approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    13. Luo, Xi & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Hollebeek, Linda D. & Lim, Xin-Jean, 2024. "Boosting customers’ impulsive buying tendency in live-streaming commerce: The role of customer engagement and deal proneness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Dessart, Laurence & Pitardi, Valentina, 2019. "How stories generate consumer engagement: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 183-195.
    15. Qayyum, Abdul & Jamil, Raja Ahmed & Shah, Adnan Muhammad & Lee, KangYoon, 2023. "Inclusive advertising featuring disability on instagram: Effect on consumer well-being, brand engagement, and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Boisvert, Jean & Christodoulides, George & Sajid Khan, M., 2023. "Toward a better understanding of key determinants and consequences of masstige consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Aqib Habib & Muhammad Irfan & Mohsin Shahzad, 2022. "Modeling the enablers of online consumer engagement and platform preference in online food delivery platforms during COVID-19," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Hepola, Janne & Leppäniemi, Matti & Karjaluoto, Heikki, 2020. "Is it all about consumer engagement? Explaining continuance intention for utilitarian and hedonic service consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    19. Sohn, Stefanie, 2024. "Consumer perceived risk of using autonomous retail technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Lim, Weng Marc & Rasul, Tareq, 2022. "Customer engagement and social media: Revisiting the past to inform the future," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 325-342.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:metjou:v:22:y:2023:i:2:p:133-145. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.