Halal servicescape in the metaverse

Purpose With increasing advances in emerging technologies including the metaverse and a continued rise in Muslim-friendly tourism, hospitality providers need to understand the opportunities and challenges involved in capitalizing on the metaverse phenomenon to design new service environments or servicescapes for their Muslim customers. This paper aims to develop a conceptual model of a servicescape in the metaverse that caters to the needs of Muslims and to advance a research agenda in this field. Design/methodology/approach The main methodology for this conceptual study is a multidisciplinary literature review. Accordingly, this study synthesized relevant literature on service environments and halal markets from the services marketing, Islamic marketing and computer science fields to advance a logical framework built on seminal servicescape models and the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. Findings This paper provides several contributions. First, this study identifies the experienscape as a suitable foundational servicescape model for halal markets in the metaverse. Second, the authors introduce the “5 Ps halal metaverse component,” which elaborates on the associated opportunities and challenges in catering to the needs of Muslim metaverse travelers. Third, this study develops the halal metaverse servicescape model, which factors the relevant media metaverse components. Finally, the authors propose key managerial implications around four strategic areas and provide a comprehensive research agenda in the concluding section. Research limitations/implications Given the conceptual nature of this study, further empirical research is required to ascertain the variables and key relationships proposed in the conceptual model. Practical implications The findings of this study highlight the multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary approaches needed to create a metaverse for halal markets. In addition, the insights help developers and managers to better understand the implications of the metaverse for halal markets and provide them with strategic considerations to better design service landscapes for Muslims in the metaverse. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first conceptual paper that develops a servicescape model in the metaverse in the context of Muslim consumers and comprehensively discusses its challenges and opportunities, thereby advancing the literature on servicescapes for the metaverse as well as service environments optimized for Muslim markets.