Innovation in immersive services: motivational drivers of continued metaverse use through VR headsets

Metaverse platforms accessed through VR headsets represent a new form of digital service innovation; however, many users stopped using them after initial trials. Based on self-determination theory and the theory of planned behaviour, this study examines why people continue to use the metaverse and which motivational factors matter most. Survey data from 324 VR-headset users in the United States and the United Kingdom are used to test how different types of motivation are associated with attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and ultimately, continuance intention. The integrated model explains 83.4% of the variance in continuance intention. The results showed that autonomous motivation, intrinsic motivation, and identified regulation are associated with more positive attitudes and, to a lesser extent, stronger subjective norms and higher perceived behavioural control, which, in turn, increased continuance intention. Introjected regulation had a negative effect on attitude and no meaningful links with subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, suggesting that obligation-based motives do not support continued use. External regulation had a strong positive effect on subjective norms, but this normative pathway was not associated with continuance intention, as subjective norms played no significant role once users gained direct experience. Attitude and perceived behavioural control were key proximal predictors of continuance intention, whereas subjective norms did not have a significant role once users gained experience. This study is one of the first to focus specifically on users with recent metaverse experience through a VR headset and test an integrated SDT-TPB framework in a fully immersive setting. It contributes to studies on innovation in immersive services by showing how motivational and belief-based factors are associated with the long-term success of metaverse-based services and providing actionable knowledge for firms that experiment with these innovative channels. Since our sample consisted of early adopters in the United Kingdom/United States, both relatively individualistic cultures, the findings primarily reflected motivational and belief-based dynamics in Western immersive service contexts. Future studies should test whether the same SDT-TPB mechanisms generalise to more collectivist cultural settings.