Abstract
Over the next decade, virtual and augmented worlds are expected to significantly impact global markets. Often called “the metaverse” by industry players, these technologies will significantly impact how consumers engage their digital life, shifting mainstream computing from an ecosystem of mostly flat media to one that largely employs immersive media. This shift into the metaverse will impact marketing professionals and their industry in profound ways, transforming basic tools and methods from flat images and videos to fully immersive content experienced in the 1st person. These tactics will likely include widespread use of Virtual Spokespeople (VSPs) and Virtual Product Placements (VPPs). These emerging methods have the potential to be extremely persuasive vehicles, for they target users through organic, intuitive, and deeply personal interactions. At the same time, these methods pose real dangers, for they can be misused on consumers in highly manipulative ways. This paper reviews the immersive marketing techniques expected to be employed in the metaverse, outlines their potential risks to consumers, and makes recommendations for regulating immersive marketing tactics in largescale platforms.
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Rosenberg, L. (2023). Marketing in the Metaverse: Emerging Risks. In: Arai, K. (eds) Advances in Information and Communication. FICC 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 651. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28076-4_5
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