Table 2 Studies on virtual luxury... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Studies on virtual luxury fashion within virtual worlds

Study	Aim	Framework/Theory	Methods	Virtual worlds	Samples	Key findings
Park and Kim (2023)	Investigate how appearance similarity between users and characters influences consumer purchase intention of virtual fashion products, with a focus on the mediation role of self-congruence and flow	Self-congruence and flow theories	Quantitative, PLS-SEM	ZEPETO	South Korean	Appearance similarity impacts consumer virtual product purchase intention, which is mediated by character-self congruence and flow
Kim et al. (2023)	Explore the moderating effect of luxury and sports brands in online games on product attributes, consumption value, customer equity, and purchase intention	Co-creation theory	Quantitative, SEM	League of Legends	South Korean	Luxury brand and virtual world collaboration product attributes impact consumption value, and customer equity can increase consumer purchase intention of collaboration products
Park et al. (2023)	Investigate the impact of virtual world characteristics on users’ purchase intention of digital fashion by focusing on the mediating roles of user flow experience and perceived value of products	Characteristics of the Metaverse platform; flow experience; perceived value	Quantitative, SEM	ZEPETO	South Korean	The flow experience has an impact on consumption values, and perceived pleasure value and economic value of digital fashion products positively impact consumer purchase intention
Sung et al. (2023)	Investigate consumer purchase intention of the digital assets (e.g. luxury skins) on virtual world platforms	Game theory prospect theory	Quantitative PLS-SEM	Fortnite, Roblox, Horizon, ZEPETO	South Korean American	Character appearance in virtual worlds and the social value consumers place on luxury brands impact consumers’ ideal self-image congruence and, in turn, impact purchase intention
Rodrigues et al. (2024)	Understand how the brand credibility of luxury brands in-game advertising influences the brand equity of a luxury brand and explore the mediator role of brand coolness between brand credibility and brand equity	Signalling theory	Quantitative; SEM	League of Legends	Not provided	Luxury brand credibility enhances perceived coolness. In-game advertising boosts this coolness, which in turn influences brand equity (awareness, quality, loyalty) and mediates the relationship between brand credibility and equity
Current study	Determine consumers’ motivations for purchasing virtual luxury fashion in virtual worlds, building on the theory of consumption values, luxury fashion, and virtual consumption studies	A theory of consumption values	Qualitative, semi-structured interviews; thematic analysis	Honor of Kings League of Legends, ZEPETO	Chinese	Consumers purchase virtual luxury for nine reasons: conspicuous consumption needs, self-expression, perceived enjoyment, emotional connection, visual aesthetics, novelty, continual usage intention, brand awareness, and perceived exclusivity

Study	Aim	Framework/Theory	Methods	Virtual worlds	Samples	Key findings
Park and Kim (2023)	Investigate how appearance similarity between users and characters influences consumer purchase intention of virtual fashion products, with a focus on the mediation role of self-congruence and flow	Self-congruence and flow theories	Quantitative, PLS-SEM	ZEPETO	South Korean	Appearance similarity impacts consumer virtual product purchase intention, which is mediated by character-self congruence and flow
Kim et al. (2023)	Explore the moderating effect of luxury and sports brands in online games on product attributes, consumption value, customer equity, and purchase intention	Co-creation theory	Quantitative, SEM	League of Legends	South Korean	Luxury brand and virtual world collaboration product attributes impact consumption value, and customer equity can increase consumer purchase intention of collaboration products
Park et al. (2023)	Investigate the impact of virtual world characteristics on users’ purchase intention of digital fashion by focusing on the mediating roles of user flow experience and perceived value of products	Characteristics of the Metaverse platform; flow experience; perceived value	Quantitative, SEM	ZEPETO	South Korean	The flow experience has an impact on consumption values, and perceived pleasure value and economic value of digital fashion products positively impact consumer purchase intention
Sung et al. (2023)	Investigate consumer purchase intention of the digital assets (e.g. luxury skins) on virtual world platforms	Game theoryprospect theory	QuantitativePLS-SEM	Fortnite, Roblox, Horizon, ZEPETO	South KoreanAmerican	Character appearance in virtual worlds and the social value consumers place on luxury brands impact consumers’ ideal self-image congruence and, in turn, impact purchase intention
Rodrigues et al. (2024)	Understand how the brand credibility of luxury brands in-game advertising influences the brand equity of a luxury brand and explore the mediator role of brand coolness between brand credibility and brand equity	Signalling theory	Quantitative; SEM	League of Legends	Not provided	Luxury brand credibility enhances perceived coolness. In-game advertising boosts this coolness, which in turn influences brand equity (awareness, quality, loyalty) and mediates the relationship between brand credibility and equity
Current study	Determine consumers’ motivations for purchasing virtual luxury fashion in virtual worlds, building on the theory of consumption values, luxury fashion, and virtual consumption studies	A theory of consumption values	Qualitative, semi-structured interviews; thematic analysis	Honor of Kings League of Legends, ZEPETO	Chinese	Consumers purchase virtual luxury for nine reasons: conspicuous consumption needs, self-expression, perceived enjoyment, emotional connection, visual aesthetics, novelty, continual usage intention, brand awareness, and perceived exclusivity

Source(s): Authors’ own work