From Experience to Engagement and Loyalty: Consumer-Brand Relationships in the Metaverse and the Role of Brand Equity
摘要
The metaverse is no longer a futuristic concept. In the metaverse context, people are experiencing new ways of interaction in terms of content and new possibilities for brand experiences. This study explores how branded experiences in the metaverse influence consumer loyalty and engagement. A quantitative methodology was conducted with Brazilian Fortnite users to examine how experience with brands like LEGO, Marvel, and Star Wars affects loyalty and engagement and how brand equity moderates these relations. The collected data were analysed using PLS-SEM. Positive impacts of brand experience in the metaverse were identified in terms of both consumer engagement and loyalty, and from engagement to consumer loyalty. Nevertheless, whether brand equity moderates the relationships between brand experience and consumer engagement on social networks or brand experience and brand loyalty was not confirmed, thus showing the relevance of consumer experience in the metaverse.