Assessing the Social Performance of Emerging Business Models of the Metaverse

This article presents a taxonomy for business models in the rapidly evolving metaverse, identifying unique patterns for innovation. Integrating two conceptual frameworks, it combines the evolutionary and positioning views of business model innovation (Gavetti & Rivkin, 2007) with market and innovation orientations (Kohli et al., 1993; Siguaw et al., 2006). This approach yields four main metaverse strategy categories: market-driven, market-driving, market-shaping, and market-creating, each divided into two distinct archetypes, resulting in eight overall. The study categorizes various companies into these archetypes, offering insights into business model innovation in the metaverse. Additionally, it incorporates a framework on social sustainability, extending the analysis beyond market dynamics to include social performance considerations in the metaverse business models.