The virtual economy has rapidly evolved alongside advances in digital technologies, including the integration of blockchain and interactive media that enable novel experiences and business opportunities. A notable development is the trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where users participate as buyers, owners, sellers, and investors. This multi-role context, coupled with individual differences, adds complexity to understanding consumer motivations for trading and recommending NFTs. Focusing on NFT art as a representative type of NFTs, this study identifies 14 value dimensions from NFT technology-related, art-related, and product-related perspectives. Based on a large-scale international survey, the research examines how these value perceptions influence purchase and recommendation intention, and how these relationships are moderated by cultural factors (uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation) and prior purchase experience. The findings indicated that product-related values exerted the strongest influence on consumer behavior, while technology-related values played a lesser role. Cultural and experiential factors showed limited moderating effects.
Adrian Micu, Alexandru Căpățînă, Mihaela Muntean, Mihaela Muntean · 6 authors
This paper explores the matchmaking between augmented reality (AR) and Web3 technologies within the context of ecotourism, providing a bibliometric analysis of the research landscape to understand how these digital innovations are empowering sustainable tourism practices.Using data from the Web of Science Core Collection, we conducted a targeted search that provided the key themes and clusters for the research.The findings reveal four primary clusters: AR and Metaverse in immersive tourism experiences, decentralization and security in community-driven tourism management, AI-enhanced AR for ecotourists' engagement, and blockchain outcomes for ecotourism initiatives.This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the roles of AR and Web3 in promoting responsible tourism, fostering trust, and empowering local communities through decentralized models.
During the pandemic, the new culture of working from home ignited new interests and hobbies to help entertain people from the monotony of lockdown. Horticultural activity has seen a surge in popularity over the past year. Unsurprisingly, horticultural activity has indeed helped people to stay physically and mentally well. The wave of new horticulturalists has led to a growth in sales of house plants, especially succulents. Unfortunately, many plants died due to a struggle in finding proper care. Therefore, it is necessary to provide education and guidance on succulent plant cultivation through the Succupedia book. Succupedia is an augmented reality-driven (AR) book that aims to provide knowledge about succulents for beginners. In parallel, the pandemic has left the creative industry devastated to seek new sources of income, as many projects and events are cancelled, and the discovery of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is becoming popular. Conceptually, this article extends how AR objects inspired by horticultural activity could potentially become an NFT object inside of the Metaverse as meta-species.