What Remains When Novelty Wears Off? The Impact of Repeated Exposure to Metaverse Meetings on Creativity

Remote working via videoconferencing (VC) is frequently used for collaboration in product development. However, VC meetings often result in negative consequences like exhaustion and diminished creativity. To address these issues, companies are turning to metaverse meetings that can be accessed via Virtual Reality (VR) headsets or laptops. Extant research primarily focuses on the outcomes of pure VR meetings, while neglecting hybrid VR meetings (i.e., meetings accessed via VR headset and laptop), and primarily considers short-term effects by examining one-time meetings. However, the benefits of metaverse meeting formats relative to VC meetings may change as employees repeatedly engage in these novel meeting formats. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and flow theory, our study suggests that repeated exposure to metaverse meetings impacts creativity over time through two countervailing mechanisms: an increase in flow which enhances creativity over time and a decrease in psychological safety which impairs creativity in the long run.