Usage Motivations and User Categorizations of Metaverse: Their Impacts on Offline Activities

This study was conducted to identify users' motivations for using the metaverse from a uses and gratification perspective and to identify users' categories based on their motives. In addition, this research investigated whether the degree of flow differs according to a user's motivation and segment. This study also examined the relationship between flow and the frequency of offline activity. Five motives (seeking advantages, extended social interactions, extended entertainment, virtual experience, and transfer consciousness) were identified. Among these, seeking advantage, extended social interactions, extended entertainment, and transfer consciousness positively influenced the degree of flow when using metaverse. Furthermore, among three distinct groups of metaverse users (goalless drift, pursuing a new world, and ego-boosting) the segment of pursuing a new world had the highest degree of flow. In addition, we confirmed that flow was negatively correlated with the amount of offline activity.