University of Sussex
Browse
1-s2.0-S0007681322000982-main.pdf (969.16 kB)

Embracing falsity through the metaverse: the case of synthetic customer experiences

Download (969.16 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 04:10 authored by Maja Golf PapezMaja Golf Papez, Jonas Heller, Tim Hilken, Mathew Chylinksi, Ko de Ruyter, Debbie KeelingDebbie Keeling, Dominik Mahr
The metaverse has been heralded as a next frontier for fuelling strategic business opportunities. At the same time, recent months have witnessed explosive volatility in the market potential of proposed metaverse offerings. As a result, businesses are struggling to set a meaningful strategic course through an unchartered landscape of fast-paced change. We argue that the success of developing and scaling the metaverse as a vibrant new business ecosystem is largely dependent on the understanding that it is a unified and immersive reality where the physical and synthetic customer experiences seamlessly converge. In turn, crucial to this understanding is the notion that businesses and their customers need to be able to suspend their disbelief that synthetic elements are inherently false. We, thus, advance the metaverse as a differentiated experience by exploring the promise and perils of falsity. We discuss how businesses can strategically embrace falsity by harnessing its intended, as well as mitigating unintended, consequences, while manoeuvring through major technological challenges in capturing customer value. We offer a diverse set of examples that illustrate how these strategies translate into managerial actions to competitively succeed in this new reality.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Business Horizons

ISSN

0007-6813

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

6

Volume

65

Page range

739-749

Department affiliated with

  • Strategy and Marketing Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2022-07-04

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2022-08-18

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2022-07-05

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC