Forming purchase intention from the metaverse to the real world: A mixed-method study on metaverse experiential consumption values in digital fashion

Abstract

The fashion industry is evolving rapidly, with numerous brand managers emphasizing user experience via the metaverse. The integration of these two realms to develop purchase intention from the metaverse to the physical world presents a considerable yet still underexplored challenge for brand managers. By examining how metaverse experiential consumption values (MECVs) affect virtual purchase intention for digital fashion products, this study aims to fill gaps in the literature and clarify how these values subsequently influence real-world purchase intention. This study offers relevant theoretical insights into the progression of knowledge in the fashion industry by utilizing a sequential mixed-methods approach. It is one of the first efforts to augment the theoretical framework by incorporating the theory of consumption values and experiential marketing. Using a qualitative methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 Generation Z participants to delineate five context-specific dimensions of MECVs within the fashion industry: utilitarian, symbolic, hedonic, immersive experience, and creator economy values. These insights guided the creation of a quantitative online survey targeting 404 Generation Z participants, with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) used for analysis. The results indicate that each of the five MECVs positively affects virtual purchase intention, which in turn strongly predicts real-world purchase intention. Moreover, virtual purchase intention serves as a mediator in the relationships between the five MECVs and real-world purchase intention. The managerial implications allow marketers, fashion brand managers, and developers of metaverse platforms better understand the experiential consumption values of Generation Z consumers in relation to the fashion industry's metaverse platforms, enabling them to base their marketing strategies on these values with developing varied activities to produce MECVs across five dimensions that influence purchase intentions in both the metaverse and the physical world. • This research set out into this unexplored area in an effort to fill a knowledge vacuum about the driving forces behind the new trend of purchase intention towards digital fashion products in the metaverse, which utilizing a sequential mixed-methods approach, and expanding the new knowledge by integrating the original of theory consumption values and experiential marketing within the context of digital fashion in the metaverse. • The qualitative study's findings identified five dimensions of metaverse experiential consumer values that play a crucial role in digital fashion, including utilitarian, symbolic, hedonic, immersive experience, and creator economy value. • The findings of the quantitative analysis demonstrate, that these five dimensions influence virtual buy intention and, subsequently, real-world purchase intention.