As a rapidly developing new concept, the Metaverse has received extensive attention. The existing literature believes that the Metaverse has an important impact on the economy, society and industrial structure and promotes business model innovation, but it basically makes a general overview of the Metaverse business model as a whole, and has not yet thoroughly analyzed the elements, content and value activities of Metaverse business model innovation. Therefore, based on the mainstream analysis framework of business model innovation research, this paper takes four representative enterprises as the research object, and uses the inductive multi-case study method to conduct in-depth research on the elements and contents of business model innovation in the Metaverse.
The research shows that: First, thanks to the development of the token economy, the construction of platform infrastructure, and the need for Metaverse platform collaboration, scene innovation has become the basis of Metaverse business model innovation. Its essence is collaborative innovation that breaks through the constraints of time and space, which is reflected in four aspects: electronic transactions, collaborative space, virtual production, and platform interoperability. Second, the scene interactivity caused by the integration of the virtual and real world penetrates into the value activities of Metaverse business model innovation, which is reflected in the enhancement of user experience in terms of value proposition elements, the reduction of user participation threshold in the way of supporting user creation, and the great efficiency improvement of user production and operation through the comprehensive application of multi-directional digital technology. Third, in terms of value creation elements, it emphasizes the dominant position of users and satisfies their comprehensive needs through scene expansion. The core is to achieve the matching of resource capacities based on the requirements of characteristic scenes, forming a new type of value creation method for the production creation community. Fourth, in terms of value acquisition elements, with the breaking of the one-way flow mode of traditional cyberspace, the value acquisition mode of the Metaverse business model is reconstructed, which is reflected in three aspects: tool realization, multilateral connection, and the provision of a scheme for the coexistence of virtual and real.
Based on the above analysis, this paper preliminarily puts forward the theoretical framework of Metaverse business model innovation, and further discusses the basic types of Metaverse business model innovation: service-based type, platform-based type, and infrastructure-based type. By combining the three basic types, a more complex Metaverse business model innovation form can be formed. In short, this paper contributes new content to the research of digital business model innovation, and also provides reference for enterprises to promote the construction of the Metaverse.