Determinants of educational metaverse adoption intentions among business and management undergraduates: Motivations, individual differences, and barriers

The metaverse has emerged due to rapid technological advancements and is increasingly influencing business and management education. However, understanding undergraduate students' intentions to adopt the educational metaverse remains limited, especially during the formative adoption phase. To address this gap, the study examines factors influencing their adoption intentions, drawing on self-determination theory, transaction cost theory, and considerations of motivation, individual differences, and economic and physiological barriers. Data collected from 97 business and management undergraduates in Taiwan indicate that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation toward educational metaverse adoption significantly influence adoption intentions. In addition, conscientiousness and perceived physiological vulnerability to IT usage play key roles in shaping intrinsic motivation toward educational metaverse adoption, while personal innovativeness in the IT domain contributes to extrinsic motivation toward educational metaverse adoption. Unexpectedly, asset specificity has no influence on either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. These findings provide valuable insights for researchers, educators, and platform developers aiming to enhance metaverse-based learning in business and management education. • Examines how motivations, individual differences, and barriers affect educational metaverse adoption intention. • Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations influence educational metaverse adoption intention. • Conscientiousness and perceived physiological vulnerability to IT usage influence intrinsic motivation. • Personal innovativeness in the IT domain influences extrinsic motivation.