Research Shows Consumers Believe Metaverse Will Be Mainstream in 5 Years

Brands that are expected to lead the charge in building out a truly interconnected metaverse estimate that it will not be completed for at least a decade. However, consumers’ expectations appear to be several years ahead, according to San Francisco-based Talkdesk’s “Connecting in the Metaverse” report that surveyed 1,500 U.S. consumers ages 16 and older. More than one-third of those surveyed (34%) believe the metaverse will be mainstream within the next five years. 

Already, nearly half of consumers (47%) who are dabbling in the metaverse are buying virtual items or finding inspiration for purchasing a physical product. Consumer expectations around these digital worlds are high though:

• More than half (51%) of consumers expect customer service to be better in the metaverse. 
• Nearly a third (32%) believe these immersive environments will provide less frustration and anxiety than calling and talking to a contract center agent.
• More than one in four consumers envision the metaverse as making it easier to access product or brand information (27%), and that it will be more effective and interactive to seek assistance from an omni-agent’s metaverse avatar than to engage with a chatbot online (27%).

While the majority of consumers have visited a metaverse-like platform recently, it’s the digital natives who tend to participate most.

• Men (73%) are more likely than women (62%) to visit these destinations.
• Millennials (75%) and Gen Z (64%) are heading there more often than baby boomers (45%).
• Once they arrive, women are more likely to use these platforms as a virtual showroom, browsing products digitally before returning to the physical world to make purchases (25% vs.18% for men).
• Men are slightly more likely than women to make actual purchases in the metaverse and tend to spend on virtual items/products, like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) (15% men vs. 12% women) or clothing for a virtual avatar (17% men vs. 16% women).

Gaming

Gaming, one of the most widely available activities in the metaverse, is the preferred activity of choice for Gen Z, which at 38% is the only cohort to select this as the top activity. Nearly half (44%) of all Gen Z men play games there — the highest response of any group.  

Social Well-being

In addition to browsing, shopping and gaming, consumers are embracing proto-metaverses as an opportunity to connect with friends and family away from the worries of today’s complicated real world. 

• More than half (54%) of consumers feel separated from family and friends due to the pandemic.
• Nearly half (49%) of consumers view a fully-built, unified metaverse as a fertile landscape for growing relationships and deepening connections.
• For baby boomers, virtual travel plans to the metaverse environment center primarily around socializing with friends (39%).
• Close to one-third of consumers (32%) are drawn by the possibility of finding new and more thrilling experiences.

“While the reality of a sophisticated, intuitive and seamless metaverse is still on the horizon, consumers are dipping their toes into metaverse-like platforms to shop, share, play games and taste the novelty,” said Shannon Flanagan, vice president of retail and consumer goods, Talkdesk, in a release. “Some are even dating in these digital environments. For consumers, the metaverse holds promise for near-limitless, out-of-this-world experiences and connecting in new and different ways.”