Personality, loneliness and the metaverse: exploring their interaction for higher education in marketing
Journal of International Education in Business
ISSN: 2046-469X
Article publication date: 12 November 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Given the scarce research on the intention to use the metaverse by higher education students in the marketing field and since the introduction of the metaverse brings a new dimension to consumer interaction, the purpose of this study aims to understand what psychological and contextual factors such as the feeling of loneliness or perceived social risk of young people affect the incorporation of immersive reality tools in the teaching-learning process.
Design/methodology/approach
Currently, the use of the metaverse in university education has captured the interest of teachers and researchers. The adoption of immersive virtual platforms where students experience different forms of interaction through customized avatars appears as a promising opportunity in the field of marketing, while concerns arise about the social and psychological risks that may affect its main adopters, youth. The proposed relationships were evaluated using PLS-SEM (symmetric) and QCA (asymmetric) approaches.
Findings
The results revealed that the feeling of loneliness, as well as personality traits of openness to experience and conscientiousness, in relation to hedonic motivations, are significant for the intention to use the metaverse.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides useful implications from an educational perspective, as well as applications in the commercial management of immersive platforms, taking into account their social impact, allowing for effective exploration and development of the metaverse’s potential in educational environments.
Originality/value
This research analyzes the relationship between the experience of feelings of loneliness and perceived social risk in the educational environment, along with the psychological and motivational factors affecting the intention to use the metaverse by higher education students which have not been investigated in the scientific literature so far.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the funding obtained for the translation and proofreading of this article through the Department of Business Administration and Marketing of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Seville.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Maldonado-López, B., Ledesma-Chaves, P. and Gil-Cordero, E. (2024), "Personality, loneliness and the metaverse: exploring their interaction for higher education in marketing", Journal of International Education in Business, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-07-2024-0085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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