Hey! This is GP Owada, who was the only one in the audience at the world cup public viewing the other day, wearing the uniform of the Japan national team and cheering for them.

Today, I would like to introduce one of our market research projects. The word “market research” gives an image of being conducted by the media or a thinktank, but in reality, various companies are actively conducting market research in order to study the world’s movements and needs as data. Of course, GP also conducts market research on a regular basis.

We have conducted a variety of surveys ranging from “internal communication surveys” to “effectiveness of real events”. Some of our market research has been published in this Journal, so maybe some of you have seen them.

Each market survey is a great learning experience with many discoveries. And for an event producer, there’s nothing more important than knowing what’s trending.

So, this time we conducted a survey on the Metaverse trend. The results were quite surprising, so I’d like to share them with you all!

1. Survey Outline

Title: Fact-finding Survey on the Interest in Internal Events in Metaverse
Method: Internet survey
Survey period: October 19, 2022 to October 20, 2022
Valid responses: 108 respondents from human resources, public relations, general affairs, corporate communications, or corporate planning departments of large companies (1,000 or more employees) that hold a large-scale anniversary event once a year or more, have experience planning such an event, and are familiar with the term Metaverse.

2. Survey Summary

48.1% of all respondents have experienced an in-house event held in Metaverse

When asked Q1: Has your company ever held an in-house event in Metaverse? (n=108), 28.7% answered “many times” and 19.4% answered “once”.

48.1% of all respondents have experienced an in-house event held in Metaverse

When asked Q1: Has your company ever held an in-house event in Metaverse? (n=108), 28.7% answered “many times” and 19.4% answered “once”.

Many times: 28.7%

Only once: 19.4%

Never: 46.3%

Don’t know/unable to answer: 5.6%

96.1% are willing to hold company events in Metaverse in the future

When those who answered “many times” or “once” in Q1 were asked Q2: Would you like to hold company events in Metaverse in the future? (n=52), 51.9% answered “strongly agree” and 44.2% answered “somewhat agree”.

Strongly agree: 51.9%

Somewhat agree: 44.2%

Not so much: 3.8%

Not at all: 0.0%

Around 60% of respondents who have never held an in-house event in Metaverse answered that they would like to hold an in-house event in Metaverse in the future

When those who answered “no” or “don’t know ” in Q1 were asked Q3: Would you like to hold an in-house event in the Metaverse in the future? (n=56), 10.7% answered “strongly agree” and 46.4% answered “somewhat agree”.

Strongly agree: 10.7%

Somewhat agree: 46.4%

Not so much: 37.5%

Not at all: 5.4%

Reasons for wanting to hold in-house events in the META-verse, 71.9% of respondents answered “Because it would be stimulating in a new event format” the most

To those who answered “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” in Q3, we asked Q4: Why do you want to hold in-house events in Metaverse? (Multiple answers) (n=32), 71.9% responded “Because it is a new and stimulating event format,” 37.5% responded “Because it allows for flexible creative production,” and 34.4% responded “Because it seems to facilitate interaction among participants”.

The new and stimulating event format: 71.9%.
Flexibility in creative production: 37.5%.
An easy for participants to interact with each other：34.4%
Flexibility in event design：21.9%
Others: 0.0%.
Nothing in particular: 3.1%
Don’t know/unable to answer: 0%

More than half of the respondents answered “I don’t know how to hold an internal event in Metaverse” as a hurdle

When those who answered “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” in Q3 were asked Q6: “What are some of the hurdles to organizing an in-house event in the Metaverse?” (Multiple answers) (n=32), 53.1% of the respondents answered, “I don’t know how to hos one,” 37.5% answered, “It is difficult to persuade internally,” and 37.5% answered, “I am concerned about infrastructure such as devices to be provided to employees.

Do not know how to host one: 53.1%

Difficult to persuade internally: 37.5%

Uncertainty about infrastructure such as devices to be provided to employees: 37.5%

Not knowing the needed budget: 34.4%

Lack of reliable partners: 25.0%

Risk of operational failure: 25.0%

Not sure if it will be an enjoyable experience for participants: 12.5%

Not sure where to set up an inquiry office: 3.1%

Other: 0.0%

No reason in particular: 6.2% 

Don’t know/unable to answer: 3.1%

Conclusion

What did you think?

About half of the company employees have held their company events in Metaverse. Moreover, we found that most of those who have held in-house events in Metaverse are willing to do so in the future.

Even if they have no experience in holding in-house events in the Metaverse, nearly 60% of the respondents are interested in holding in-house events in the Metaverse because of the “new and stimulating event format” and the “flexible creative and other production possibilities”. It seems that the demand for Metaverse events will continue to grow in the future!

On the other hand, we found that there are many people who feel hurdles in implementing in-house events in the Metaverse, such as lack of information on how to hold one. Regardless of their experience with events in the Metaverse, it may be necessary to provide services that enable them to hold events in the Metaverse with peace of mind.