How Could Entertainment Content Marketing Affect Intention to Use the Metaverse? Empirical Findings

Abstract

The development of the metaverse as an immersive virtual environment presents new opportunities for the implementation of digital marketing strategies, particularly through the concept of entertainment content marketing. Interactive, engaging, and immersive entertainment content is believed to increase user participation and influence their tendency to utilize metaverse platforms. This study aims to examine the influence of entertainment content marketing on the intention to use the metaverse among Roblox users by combining the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework with the concept of IT affordance. The research adopts a quantitative approach using a survey method targeting active Roblox users selected through a snowball sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using path analysis to examine the relationships among variables, including visibility, metavoicing, guidance shopping, triggered attending, virtual commerce, immersion, perceived presence, interactivity, and intention to use the metaverse. The findings are expected to contribute theoretically to the development of entertainment-based digital marketing studies within the metaverse ecosystem and provide practical insights for industry practitioners in designing effective entertainment content strategies to enhance user experience and encourage sustained intention to use metaverse platforms.