Infographic via Forrester Research
The well-reputed tech analyst Forrester Research just published this extensive report on the Metaverse, "The State Of The Metaverse: Look Beyond The Hype To Uncover The Real Opportunities". As the title might suggest, I was one of the many SMEs they interviewed for it, and it's nice how much it aligns with my enthusiastic-but-allergic-to-hype perspective. You can see that in the chart above, suggesting that less than half of all Internet users (Digital Immersives and Digital Socialites) are prime early adopter targets for Metaverse platforms. Personally I'd estimate that Digital Immersives will always remain metaverse platforms' core user base. (Which is still quite a lot of people!)
As part of the report, Forrester conducted a consumer/business survey which brought out some surprising (occasionally vexing!) findings. For instance:
- Marketing executives are way more excited about branded campaigns in metaverse campaigns than actual consumers.
- Only a third of all US consumers who understand the concept are excited about the Metaverse and consider it a positive technology.
- Nearly half of all consumers who understand the Metaverse concept associate it with Facebook/Meta (!!!).
Details below:
Yes, metaverse FOMO is real — for VCs, media and tech companies, and marketers. Seventy-seven percent of US B2C marketing executives are eager for their brand to explore what’s possible within the metaverse, and 76% plan to invest some of their marketing budget toward metaverse-related activities in 2022, according to Forrester’s Q1 B2C Marketing CMO Pulse Survey, 2022. Yet the opposite is true for consumers: Among online adults who understand what the metaverse is, just 34% in the US and 28% in the UK are excited for the metaverse, and only 29% in the US and 25% in the UK feel that the metaverse will be good for society, according to Forrester’s December 2021 Consumer Energy Index And Retail Pulse Survey.
Forty-seven percent of US online adults who understand what the metaverse is (and 37% in the UK) associate Meta (previously Facebook, Inc.) with the metaverse — more than any other company we asked about, including Roblox and Fortnite — according to Forrester’s December 2021 Consumer Energy Index And Retail Pulse Survey.
That 47% figure illustrates just how much an Internet giant can stake claim on a whole concept, even when many other companies working far longer in the space have metaverse platforms with far larger user bases.
Then again, at least consumers don't see Facebook/Meta as the leader in the space:
In February, we asked Forrester’s ConsumerVoices Market Research Online Community (MROC) to describe the “metaverse”. Responses reveal how Facebook disproportionately shows up — a credit to Facebook’s October 2021 name change to Meta. In fact, nearly half (47%) of US online adults (and 37% of UK online adults) who indicate they know what the metaverse is, associate Meta with the metaverse — more than any other company we surveyed in our December 2021 Consumer Energy Index And Retail Pulse Survey. However, far fewer (22% US and 17% UK) think that Meta is the leader in building the metaverse.
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