Metaverse Marketing Stimuli and Consumer-Based Brand Equity: The Mediating Role of Virtual Brand Experience among Indian Extended Reality Users

Abstract

Purpose: The primary purpose of the study is to ascertain how metaverse marketing stimuli - specifically immersive advertising, avatar-centric brand interaction, gamified brand experiences, and virtual try-on - shape virtual brand experience and, consequently, the four dimensions of brand equity among young Indian consumers engaged in extended reality environments.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were collected from 387 Indian metro consumers (18-40) who had used at least one metaverse or extended reality platform in the six months before the survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used in SmartPLS 4.0 with 5,000-subsample bootstrapping based on Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Brand Equity Theory (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993) and the Technology Acceptance Model.
Findings: All twelve hypothesised paths were supported. Virtual brand experience (VBE) fully mediates the relationship between each of the four metaverse stimuli and the brand equity dimensions. Brand loyalty (β = 0.389) exerts the strongest effect of any stimulus on VBE, and brand loyalty also contributes most strongly to overall brand equity (β = 0.358). The structural model explains 62.3% of variance in VBE and 58.1% in brand equity. For model fit indices (SRMR = 0.061, NFI = 0.912) fit is good.
Practical Implications: Brand managers should focus on improving engagement rather than user exposure when they are in or already in metaverse-like platforms. Gamification and other avatar-engagement methods elicit more response than standard advertising. In order to maintain brand equity with users, developers should make the sensory aspects of the platform more engaging and customizable.
Originality/Value: This is among the first empirical studies to test a full S-O-R-based chain from metaverse marketing stimuli through VBE to decomposed brand equity dimensions in an emerging market context. The study contributes validated measurement instruments and a theoretically grounded model for metaverse brand research.