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'Metaverse' is one of the most popular keywords in 2021 and is a topic of discussion in various fields (Kozinets, 2022). Metaverse is a compound word of the word 'meta', meaning 'processed' or 'transcendence', and the word 'universe', meaning the real world(Hirsch, 2022). This concept first appeared together with the concept of 'Avatar', meaning an alter ego, in <Snow Crash> by Neal Stephenson, an American science fiction (Sci-Fi) writer, in 1992. It is widely used in various fields such as entertainment, corporate work, and the military (Hollensen et al., 2022). Recently, there are cases where the metaverse is directly connected to the real economy(Kraus et al., 2022). The US military introduced metaverse training early(Upadhyay & Khandelwal, 2022). Nvidia has unveiled 'Omnibus', a platform that can easily implement the metaverse. As such, the metaverse is being applied to various fields. But at this point, the real heart of the metaverse is in the game. The Nintendo game 'Gather, Animal Crossing', released in March 2020, is a prime example. In 'Dongsop', which flows at the same speed as reality, avatars can engage in various activities such as fishing, collecting insects, and decorating houses. United States (US) President-elect Biden also held an election campaign at Dongsup, and fashion companies Marc Jacobs and Valentino showed off avatar outfits. And BTS' 'Dynamite' choreography music video was released for the first time at 'Fortnite'. bought a lot. 'Roblox' and 'ZEPETO' can be cited as the most popular platforms. Roblox overtook YouTube to become the most used application among teenagers in the United States, and was listed directly on the New York Stock Exchange in March. ZEPETO, which combines elements such as Augmented Reality (AR), games, and Social Network Service (SNS) created by Naver's subsidiary Naver Z, has also emerged as a global metaverse platform with more than 200 million users.
However, despite the rapid spread and use of the metaverse service, studies on users’ continuous use intention have hardly been conducted. The existing researches on metaverse are currently in its infancy. Therefore, most of them are research on the metaverse concept and type definition (Zhao et al., 2022). Considering the above, metaverse platforms such as ZEPETO, Roblox, Fortnite, and Animal Crossing are new forms of media. It is necessary to identify the characteristics of the behavior of users in the metaverse. Especially emotions are our internal compass: not only do they influence a wide range of cognitive processes, including perception, attention, learning, and reasoning, but they also play a fundamental role in shaping people’s behavior. Thanks to recent advances in software and hardware platforms, virtual and augmented reality systems provide emotion researchers unprecedented opportunities to investigate affective experiences. Virtual technologies simulate real-life situations and contexts that encourage participants to act naturally, thus optimizing the trade-off between ecological validity and experimental control.
Furthermore, integrating wearable biotechnology and motion sensors in virtual reality systems allows for measuring physiological and behavioral correlates of emotional responses elicited in the metaverse and implementing closed-loop interactive systems. Metaverse also holds significant potential for implementing novel interventions that promote emotional well-being and personal change. Examples include the use of metaverse for eliciting positive affective states (i.e., amusement, inspiration, interest, hope), fostering self-transcendent emotions (i.e., compassion, gratitude, and awe), and enhancing emotion regulation (i.e., the ability to influence one's emotional experiences). Improving our understanding of emotions in virtual environments can have important implications for designing metaverse applications. With the emergence of the metaverse economy, there will be an increasing need to provide metaverse designers with theory-driven, evidence-based guidelines for creating applications that can elicit specific emotions or assess their impact.