High fashion in virtual reality

: is there competitive advantage from early entry into the metaverse?

Abstract

Interest in the Metaverse has risen sharply in recent years, and fashion companies have taken heed, becoming among the first entities to embrace the phenomenon. This thesis aims to analyze the drivers for fashion companies entering the Metaverse and the potential advantages of early entry. A review of the literature addressing entry motivation, entry strategies, and first-mover advantage, along with material about the Metaverse, was conducted to gain secondary data. Furthermore, primary data was collected through interviewing experts and conducting a survey. Finally, secondary data and the two sources of primary data were triangulated, and scenarios, which lead to different advantages for early movers, were created. The study revealed that the learning experience on Metaverse platforms is the key driver and main advantage for companies entering in the market's early phase. Additional significant advantages are brand benefits, the chance to gain new customers, the possibility to create immersive customer experiences, and an expectation that the Metaverse will gain traction. Additionally, from the customer perspective, willingness to purchase digital fashion is low. Still, the Metaverse is considered innovative, and involvement in it increases perceived firm innovativeness. For developing future scenarios, customer-adoption behavior and technological development of the Metaverse were the main criteria found to determine the future and competitive advantage of early entry.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Peter V. Rajsingh (Supervisor)