Digital business model innovation in metaverse: How to approach virtual economy opportunities

In recent times, continuous evolutions in digital technologies are triggering new business models (BMs) within virtual environments. This phenomenon is defining a new economy staging in so-called metaverses. Here, physical-world BMs are modified, virtual-world BMs are implemented, and combinations of physical-world and virtual-world BMs are performed. As a result, new mechanisms of value creation and value capture at the crossroads of physical and virtual economies arise in the metaverse. This paper aims at understanding which are these value mechanisms and how organizations can develop them. To this aim, the paper analyzes the cases of four cross-industry incumbents (namely, Gucci, Samsung, Hyundai, and Nike), which are pivoting their BMs in the metaverse. A framework indicating how to innovate BMs in the metaverse is provided, by looking at both “phygital” transformations (i.e., transformations aimed at joining physical and digital worlds’ realities) and completely virtual immersions shaping firms’ internal processes and relationships with customers. In this way, the paper supports companies in turning the metaverse into value, while also extends the scant academic knowledge on the metaverse’ impact on innovation of BMs.