The Metaverse can be a help or a hindrance. Understanding behavior science is the key to success!
THE METAVERSE
How to help users thrive in uncharted virtual territory
The Metaverse
The metaverse will likely have sweeping consequences for human behavior. With the right approach, it can create new opportunities for improving consumer interaction.
Madary, M., & Metzinger, T. K. (2016). Real virtuality: A code of ethical conduct. Recommendations for good scientific practice and the consumers of VR-technology. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3, 3.
Human-facing technology requires human-centred design. We can learn from behavioral economics to build a positive experience for users.
Let's take a look at some of the potential pitfalls and benefits of the Metaverse, and how you can design smarter virtual reality spaces.
The brain is plastic
The human brain is said to have “plasticity” meaning it can evolve and change dramatically within a lifetime. These changes occur in response to external factors and can be either beneficial OR detrimental.
Bill recalls how his new exercise regimen changed his brain for the better, by improving his short-term memory.
Behavioral science can be misused to create harmful spaces for users
Heading online to try out a new virtual reality, Bill is faced with constant stimulation and unlimited novel experiences. These factors are known to rewire the brain in unhelpful ways.
This misuse of behavioral principles is threatening his experience of the Metaverse. Bill is overstimulated and dissatisfied.
Overstimulated brains shut down
Important consumer messaging gets lost in this hyper-stimulating environment. Bill is present but unreachable.
Instead of actively participating, Bill feels a burning desire to restore his mental clarity. Removing himself from the Metaverse is more attractive to him than staying and trying to balance all the competing signals.
In a nutshell, this is one of the ways that badly designed virtual reality spaces can negatively impact consumer interaction.
The Study
Barbot, B., & Kaufman, J. C. (2020). What makes immersive virtual reality the ultimate empathy machine? Discerning the underlying mechanisms of change. Computers in Human Behavior, 111, 106431.
Sixty-five young adults participated in weekly virtual reality programs designed to work together with human behavior, not against it.
Following each session, participants were tested on their levels of engagement and levels of empathy. After several weeks of virtual reality sessions, both engagement and empathy increased!
This study shows that virtual reality spaces can have a positive impact on human behavior. Tailoring your Metaverse strategy to consider human science can help you achieve that.
Why would you want to drive empathy and engagement in your Metaverse spaces? There's a whole bunch of research that tells us!
Let’s take a look!
Radzvilavicius, Arunas L., Alexander J. Stewart, and Joshua B. Plotkin. "Evolution of empathetic moral evaluation." Elife 8 (2019): e44269.
Empathy is an important driver of employee outcomes such as innovation, engagement, and inclusion—think what a difference a well-defined Metaverse training program could do for your organization.
Ohm, J., Travis, D. J., Pasquarella Daley, L., Sattari, N., Shaffer, E., Van Bommel, T., & Foust-Cummings, H. (2020). Covid-19: Women, equity, and inclusion in the future of work. Catalyst.
When empathy is introduced into decision making, it increases cooperation. That’s a great help if you’re opening a negotiation or trying to close a deal!
