Risking it all in the metaverse ecosystem: forecasting resistance towards the enterprise metaverse

Purpose - This study investigates organizations' non-adoption intention towards the enterprise metaverse. The innovation resistance theory (IRT) is used as an underpinning theory to examine the impact of various risks on non-adoption intention towards the enterprise metaverse. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 294 responses were collected to examine the proposed hypotheses. A structural equation modelling technique was used to investigate the hypotheses using SPSS AMOS and PROCESS MACRO. Findings - The results of this study reveal that performance, security and psychological risks are significantly associated with non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse. Further, distrust significantly meditates the association between performance risk, social risk, technological dependence risk, security risk and psychological risk and non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse. Moreover, the results of moderated-mediation hypotheses indicate that the mediating effect of distrust on the association among performance risk, social risk, psychological risk and non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse is higher for individuals having high technostress compared to individuals having low technostress. Originality/value - The study's findings will enrich the metaverse literature. Further, it provides a deeper understanding of enterprise metaverse adoption from a B2B perspective using the underpinnings of IRT. The study helps organizations understand the risks associated with the adoption of the enterprise metaverse.