Since March, Forrester has published six reports about the metaverse, with more on the way. We started with our most-read The State Of The Metaverse report, followed by best practices on Designing The Metaverse and Marketing In The Metaverse. We’ve examined the evolution of commerce in the metaverse as well as the future of consumer experiences. Our latest report tackles The State Of The Metaverse In China.

New data from Forrester’s Media And Marketing Benchmark Recontact Survey, 2022 — a sizeable sample of 24,712 global online adults — reveals new insights about consumer readiness for the metaverse. And while more and more brands throw open their virtual doors, consumers, en masse, aren’t waiting on the other side.

Fewer Than One-Fourth Of US Online Adults Are Familiar With The Metaverse

Ten months ago, we blogged that consumers weren’t ready for the metaverse yet. Well, the needle still hasn’t moved. Just 23% percent of US online adults indicate that they’re familiar with the metaverse. Elsewhere in the world, the numbers are just as low, if not lower. For instance, a mere 14% of online adults in Germany signal familiarity with the metaverse — ranking them at the lowest of the countries we surveyed.

Metaverse Familiarity Is Even Low For Early Tech Adopters

Forrester’s Empowered Customer Segmentation measures digital readiness, willingness to embrace new technology, self-efficacy, and device usage. Fewer than half (44%) of the most tech-savvy survey respondents (Progressive Pioneers and Savvy Seekers in our Empowered Customer Segmentation of US online adults) were familiar with the metaverse. The fact that metaverse familiarity is low even among the earliest adopters of technology means that there’s ample work to be done at the top of the funnel to build out a viable market.

Marketers: Temper Your Metaverse Expectations And Investments

Forrester believes that the metaverse has the disruptive potential to transform the customer experience. As such, we’re bullish that brands should use this time of metaverse nascency to experiment with extended reality and, while doing so, be strategic, creative, and realistic about their metaverse ambitions. Brands should be sure to:

    • Ask “why?”.
    • Know the audience.
    • Respect the community.
    • Create a value exchange.
    • Iterate for future use cases.

Ultimately, your customer journey is your most helpful tool in designing for utility in the metaverse. Scrutinize your customers’ key friction points and discern the ones that extended reality can uniquely solve.

Be on the lookout for our upcoming data overview report, where we’ll do a deep dive on the full set of global consumer insights about the metaverse from our latest Media And Marketing Benchmark Recontact Survey. Tweet me your thoughts at @McProulx. Forrester clients: Let’s chat more about the data via a Forrester guidance session.

Special thanks to my colleague Katie Barry for her data analysis and write-up.