Cognitive Biases in the Metaverse and Their Impact on the Effectiveness of Market Research: Toward a New Integrative Framework

Abstract

This study explores how cognitive biases interact with market research effectiveness in the metaverse. It proposes an integrative framework that identifies key biases in immersive environments—confirmation bias, anchoring bias, social proof bias, and presence bias—examines their impact on research outcomes, and suggests practical mitigation strategies. Using a mixed methods approach blending theoretical insights with a case study of Thamer Travel and Tourism Agency, the findings reveal that biases emerging in the metaverse meaningfully shape consumer behavior, influence data collection, and affect research findings. Notably, presence bias has a pronounced impact on the accuracy of immersive survey results. The framework equips researchers to systematically detect, measure, and counter biases in metaverse based studies, thereby strengthening insights from these platforms. This work advances both theoretical knowledge and practical tools for managing cognitive biases in immersive market research.