When to enter the metaverse: business leaders offer perspectives


Purpose
Once Facebook transformed into Meta, a race to enter the metaverse began in all sectors of the economy. Being first has financial, technical and strategic costs, even if it can allow creating barriers to prevent others entering and establishing one’s brand as innovative. Being late, however, enables companies to benefit from more mature infrastructure and learning opportunities, but they risk being followers rather than leaders and missing opportunities. This study aims to discuss when organizations should consider entering the metaverse first, or whether they should come to it later.


Design/methodology/approach
To identify these conditions, 15 business strategy experts ranked 25 statements against each other about the metaverse and first- and late-entrant strategies.


Findings
When comparing the points of view of the 15 experts, four perspectives emerged. Three perspectives state that being a first mover can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage when organizations have strong capabilities regarding research and development, change management, learning and managing knowledge. The fourth perspective is skeptical that entering first can lead to a competitive advantage, given the high level of uncertainty surrounding the development of the metaverse.


Practical implications
A list of considerations when deciding to enter the metaverse is provided to managers.


Originality/value
This paper shifts the discourse on the metaverse from a technology-driven discussion to a strategic-asset-and-capabilities discussion.
