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The metaverse is emerging as a novel research frontier and a breakthrough technology across numerous markets and industries. Yet, due to its novelty, we know little about the users' behavioral responses toward such a disruptive innovation. Through the theoretical perspective of the extended model of occupational stress, this study empirically examines the effects of technostressors on techno-eustress and techno-distress, with the locus of control as a moderator in the context of the metaverse. Data were collected on 134 participants from multiple business schools in France who participated in the e-survey. The authors prefer to approach the metaverse from a user's (consumer's) perspective rather an employee's. Consequently, big tech companies can better understand how their innovative products or services are perceived by their customers, which leads to further enhancements and upgrades.

Through the theoretical lens of perceived characteristics of innovations (PCI) framework, the main purpose of this research was to examine whether perceived characteristics of interactive technologies—interactivity, hypertextuality, modality, connectivity, and virtuality were related to user involvement, which in turn were related to the intention to continue using interactive mixed reality platforms. An e-survey questionnaire was administered to active mixed reality technology users (n = 268) across the US. Findings revealed that interactivity, modality, connectivity, and virtuality were positively related to user involvement, whereas, hypertextuality showed no significant impact. Furthermore, the hypothesized relationships between perceived characteristics of interactive technologies and user involvement and between user involvement and continuous usage intention were greater for mixed reality platform users with high digital literacy than for those with low levels.

Drawing on the knowledge-based perspective, this research developed and tested a model consisting of five technological innovation characteristics (relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, observability, and triability) as antecedents, green innovation as a mediator, sustainable competitive advantage as an outcome, and government environmental support as a moderator. A survey was administered to 305 participants from the Middle Eastern healthcare sector and 305 participants from the North African healthcare sector. The findings were antagonistic to what was hypothesized by revealing heterogeneity rather than homogeneity in technological and green innovation perceptions. This research calls for the implementation of newly developed rather than adopted green innovation strategies across the Middle East and North Africa.

The 2017 cryptocurrency parabolic craze drew significant attention, pushing blockchain projects to differentiate themselves from competitors. Within this scope, the present study employs the personality trait model to theoretically and empirically explore brand personality within the context of digital currencies, investigating its impact on its brand identity through the moderating effect of consumers’ personality traits. The analysed data (n=237) were collected from Consensus 2019, which is the world’s leading blockchain forum. Results revealed that within the context of cryptocurrencies, brand personality positively relates to brand identification, whereas the five personality traits (openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, and neuroticism) relate differently as moderators. This study is the first to explore brand personality and brand identification within the context of digital currencies. The findings indicate that crypto users link brand personality with brand identification differently depending on certain personality traits.