How experiential creation drives use experience in the metaverse: Focused on the interaction effect between item popularity and need for uniqueness

Despite considerable research on how social proof influences consumer decision-making in digital contexts, relying solely on popularity cues does not fully capture the evolving nature of metaverse-based consumer behavior. Drawing on the concept of experiential creation, this study investigates how perceived item popularity and hands-on creative engagement jointly affect purchase behavior for virtual fashion items in the Metaverse, as well as whether self-congruity mediates these effects. An experiment was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that item popularity positively influences purchase behavior when consumers exhibit a low need for uniqueness (NFU). In contrast, when NFU is high, the impact of popularity on purchase behavior is negligible. Furthermore, self-congruity mediates this interaction between item popularity and NFU, demonstrating that an alignment between personal identity and virtual products can either enhance or attenuate social proof effects. By synthesizing social proof and creativity-driven uniqueness motives, this study extends current knowledge of digital consumer engagement and shows how identity-based customization can modify the appeal of popular products. These insights offer strategic implications for virtual retailers, highlighting the value of flexible product offerings and user-oriented creative tools to better meet diverse consumer preferences in immersive digital environments.