Strategy Analytics

Exploring Business Drivers for Virtual Worlds and Emerging Media

Executive Summary

Strategy Analytics (SA) has explored the issues driving the exploration and adoption of Virtual Worlds (VWs) from the context of the user experiences that this new medium enables. While recognizing the early stage of evolution for VWs, SA has identified several key drivers for business development of applications in VWs that have the potential to improve the rate of return for business media expenditures:
VWs have the potential to produce experiences that are potentially more effective than alternatives in communicating, raising awareness, and changing perceptions among consumers. For B-B as well as internal business applications, VWs experiences immerse the user to enhance effectiveness.

VWs have the potential to produce experiences to which users devote extended time. This increased “stickiness” is created through integrating inherently attractive aspects of social interaction and entertainment through proper simulation design. By generating applications with increased stickiness, businesses have the potential for keeping the eyes and hearts of the user longer to inform, entertain, and transact with the user.

VWs produce an environment that enhances loyalty with the consumer by generating a personalized experience for the consumer at a level unmatched by other media. The loyalty generated through dynamic content focused on specific user needs as well as the ability of the user to apply creativity to the environment are attractive aspects enhancing business performance.

Through initial research with users in Second Life, the leading VW, SA has gained insights on user motivation, key benefits, and likely usage patterns for some participants. The benefits to business of the immersive environments of VWs have been highlighted through these qualitative insights.

Business benefits with VWs as with any media are dependent on the focus of the application, the skill of implementation, the nature of the technology at a point in time, and the expectations of the business. At this early stage application and usage of this medium, failure in any one of these steps in the development cycle will reduce the potential for achieving significant business benefits. This report focuses on some of the critical success factors and potential strengths of VWs in delivering experiences that have improved returns for business. Further work in exploring the nature of the consumer experience in VWs is underway at SA to resolve the requirements and potential benefits of VWs further.

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