Entrepreneurship orientation toward adoption of Metaverse: An MSME entrepreneur perspective

Metaverse will be a game-changer for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the coming years. Despite its benefits, the entrepreneur's orientation and perception of its usefulness play an essential role in determining its adoption and usage. This study examines the behavioral factors influencing MSMEs’ decisions to integrate Metaverse into their businesses. Additionally, this study investigates MSME entrepreneurs’ perceptions of this new technology and determines the influence of these perceptions on Metaverse adoption. Using the five-dimensional entrepreneurship orientation scale (FDEOS) and parts of the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) as the primary constructs, a survey was conducted among 384 MSMEs. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the direct effects of FDEOS and the mediating relationship between perceived usefulness and ease of use on the intention to adopt the Metaverse by these MSMEs. Findings reveal the critical dimensions of entrepreneurship orientation that would determine the adoption of the Metaverse. The mediating effects also have significant and interesting results. This study helps segment MSMEs based on their entrepreneur's orientation toward the Metaverse. Platform developers, strategists, and marketers would highly benefit from this study, which provides empirical evidence for MSME user adoption of Metaverse services.