The role of Metaverse richness in building user experiences and satisfaction: an experience economy and media-richness theory perspective

Although many tech companies pointed out the benefits of using Metaverse for helping tourism recovery, the effectiveness of Metaverse in creating positive user experiences and satisfaction is unknown (S. H. Lee et al., 2022). Prior literature argued that a feature-enriched media (e.g., a website) effectively deliver messages to users, creating satisfactory experiences and encouraging purchase intention (D. K. L. Lee & Borah, 2020). However, how tourists perceive the level of the media richness in Metaverse is absent in the existing literature, not to mention how the perceived media richness towards Metaverse affect tourists’ emotional and behavioral responses (L.-H. Lee et al., 2021). According to media richness theory, different types of communication media vary from one another in terms of information richness, which is the capacity of information delivery and information exchange among users (Daft & Lengel, 1984). A communication media with high information richness should include four criteria: 1) real-time feedback; 2) number of cues and signals; 3) a sense of personal focus; and 4) language variety. In this regard, this study aims to evaluate the richness level of Metaverse based on media richness theory. In addition, previous virtual reality studies only focused on one single dimension of tourists’ experience such as authentic experience (M. J. Kim et al., 2020) or flow experience (D. Kim & Ko, 2019). Little studies have applied a comprehensive perspective to investigate multiple customer experience. According to consumer behavior literature, consumer experience is a multidimensional construct, capturing absorption and immersion experience with different participation levels (Oh et al., 2007). This research, thus, employs a theoretical framework, called experience economy framework, which classifies customer experience into four realms, namely esthetic, educational, escapism, and entertainment, to reflect different tourists’ experience in Metaverse (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Overall, an integrated research model is developed to examine the impacts of perceived media richness on four types of experiences, which in turn to affect tourists’ satisfaction and their behavioral intentions (e.g., visit intention and Metaverse stickiness).