Published 18 July 2022

Author
Estella Shardlow
18 min read

The metaverse could transform practically every aspect of consumer lifestyle, such as work, education, wellness and dating. But ensuring the 'next web' is inclusive, equitable and appealing will be a major challenge. We delve into different cohorts' attitudes towards these virtual worlds and forecast the sociocultural and behavioural shifts to come.

Emerging Metaverse Mindsets

Learning & Earning Go Virtual

Building Ethics & Empathy

Metaverse Morphologies

Confused, curious, suspicious – consumers have mixed emotions towards the metaverse, with Gen Zers unsurprisingly more inclined to explore. To entice a wider audience, brands must both demystify the metaverse's meaning and demonstrate where it can add real utility to people's lives, such as enhancing how we communicate with faraway loved ones.

Confused, curious, suspicious – consumers have mixed emotions towards the metaverse, with Gen Zers unsurprisingly more inclined to explore. To entice a wider audience, brands must both demystify the metaverse's meaning and demonstrate where it can add real utility to people's lives, such as enhancing how we communicate with faraway loved ones.

Summary

Emerging Metaverse Mindsets

Confused, curious, suspicious – consumers have mixed emotions towards the metaverse, with Gen Zers unsurprisingly more inclined to explore. To entice a wider audience, brands must both demystify the metaverse's meaning and demonstrate where it can add real utility to people's lives, such as enhancing how we communicate with faraway loved ones.

Learning & Earning Go Virtual

Over half of global internet users say work is a key reason why they'd join the metaverse (Statista, 2022), with remote teams keen for more intuitive collaboration platforms. Education similarly stands to benefit from immersive, interactive extended reality (XR) concepts. Meanwhile, early adopters are tapping entirely new revenue streams in virtual worlds.

Building Ethics & Empathy

An expanding metaverse raises a host of social and ethical dilemmas, including individual accountability within virtual realms. With abuse and crime already tainting social gaming platforms, implementing fit-for-purpose moderation to protect users is paramount, as is overcoming digital exclusion. More encouragingly, some new concepts highlight VR's potential to increase empathy.

Metaverse Morphologies

As more consumers create their own avatars, how might the metaverse make its mark on their minds and bodies in turn? The expressive appeal of bespoke (potentially multiple) online identities – who can date or even marry in the metaverse – meets concerns over platforms' potentially damaging effects on mental wellbeing, including digital addiction.

Living in the Metaverse

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Topics

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Offering access to over 350 consumer and cross-industry reports annually, Stylus Membership is your window to tomorrow’s most exciting opportunities.

We already arm more than 500 of the world’s most forward-thinking brands and agencies with the creative insights they need to make transformative business decisions.

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