Fashion Psychology｜Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory in Metaverse
To explain why people engage in the metaverse and digital clothing
This article is a study note of a research topic ‘Psychological Personality Evaluation of Millennials and Generation Z Who Explore the Metaverse and Purchase Digital Clothing.’ In this article, we’ll look at how to apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory in the metaverse to answer the following questions:
1. Why do people explore metaverse?
2. Why do people purchase digital clothing for their avatars?
Before we get started, here are some basic definitions of the related subjects.
- What is metaverse? Metaverse is a completely immersive, three-dimensional digital environment that encompasses the entirety of shared online space in all dimensions of representation (Dionisio et al., 2013).
- What is digital clothing? Digital clothes refer to garments that have been designed using computer technologies and 3D software instead of real materials. Individuals can choose to purchase digital clothes for themselves or for an avatar (Stephenson Law, 2022).
- Why concentrate on Millennials and Generation Z? Due to the fact that they both grew up in the digital age and enjoy experimenting with new technology and trends (Bergman et al., 2011). In terms of the age range, Millennials were born between 1982 and 1995, while Generation Z was born between 1996 and 2009 (Sladek & Grabinger, 2014).
Notes: This study is secondary research, meaning all the findings are based on existing papers instead of first-hand information. Therefore, all the findings may be seen as hypotheses. In future studies, researchers may conduct primary research to verify our hypothesis.
▍Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow presents a hierarchy of five innate needs that motivate and regulate human behaviour: physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualization (D’Souza et al., 2015).
Below, we will focus on three factors (belonging and love, esteem, and self-actualization) to identify the motivators behind Millennials and Gen Z’s metaverse immersion and digital clothing purchase intentions.
▍Belonging and Love Needs
According to Maslow (1954), once physiological needs (food, water, and shelter) are met, love and belonging occur; and it’s worth noting that these needs can only be met interpersonally, which answers our question:
Why do belonging and love needs motivate players to explore metaverse?
Barnes (2007) states that the metaverse is a socially oriented world, and its constant availability may have facilitated the family bonding and friendship that occur through computer gaming (Brown, 2012). Similar findings show that couples who share the same interest in games contributed to the development of their relationship (Brown, 2012).
Based on the literature review, we may assume that the metaverse provides a virtual environment for families and friends to meet their needs for belonging and love, which explains why they explore it.
▍Esteem Needs
According to Maslow (1981), the fulfilment of self-esteem needs results in feelings of self-confidence, worth, power, and capability, which can be classified into two subsidiary sets: self-esteem and esteem from others. After having a basic understanding of esteem needs, let’s answer the following questions:
1. Why do esteem needs motivate players to explore metaverse?
2. Why do esteem needs motivate players to purchase digital clothing for their avatars?
Applying Maslow’s esteem needs to the metaverse, we may find that players will fulfil their needs by completing challenges, solving puzzles, assisting others, and earning game assets to win bragging rights in the virtual world (Brown, 2012), which explains the motivation for exploring the metaverse.
On the basis of this comprehension, we can respond to the second question. That is, in order to satisfy their esteem needs, users may purchase fashionable digital clothing to boost their self-esteem and acquire bragging rights. Below, we take a closer look at these two subsidiary sets in terms of buying digital clothing.
- Self-esteem: ‘…we can know much about a woman’s self-esteem in general simply from her choice of clothes’ (Maslow, 1954, p. 306). In other words, a woman’s clothing choices reflect her self-esteem. Applying the theory to a virtual place. A digital suit with substantial shoulder pads, for instance, might give players a sense of strength.
- Esteem from others: to satisfy esteem from others, people may desire reputation, prestige, status, fame, and glory (Maslow, 1981). The same needs may exist in a virtual world. For example, players who wear digital luxury goods may be perceived as having a high social status by other users.
▍Self-actualization-the role of aesthetic needs
Self-actualization focuses on maximising talents and discovering meaning in life to achieve inner peace (Maltby et al., 2017). According to Maslow (1954), self-actualizers strive for perfection in their style. Later adjustments have divided self-actualization into four distinct categories: cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence (D’Souza et al., 2015). In this section, we will specifically look into ‘aesthetic needs’ to answer the questions below:
1. Why do aesthetic needs motivate players to explore metaverse?
2. Why do aesthetic needs motivate players to purchase digital clothing for their avatars??
‘They get sick (in special ways) from ugliness, and are cured by beautiful surroundings; they crave actively, and their cravings can be satisfied only by beauty.’ — Maslow, 1981 (p. 51)
‘…the superiority of arts as an expression of unique personality.’ — Maslow, 1954 (p. 148)
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the desire for creativity is a basic aesthetic need for some people, who may view aesthetics as a way to express their personalities. For instance, Benti et al. (2021) indicate that players’ customization of a personal island is an ongoing pursuit of beauty and a means of self-expression (Barnes, 2007); players have the freedom to express themselves through body design, skins, and clothing (Barnes, 2007; Barnes & Pressey, 2011). As a result, we may assume that the metaverse provides a space for users to meet their aesthetic needs.
More specifically addressing appearance to answer the second question, Maslow (1954) indicates that a person’s character is revealed through their tastes and style of dress. In other words, people build their personalities based on the meanings encoded in their clothing choices.
Another point to consider is that there are no limits in a virtual environment. Brown (2012) states that aesthetic needs could be met in a video game because it’s a mainly visual form, which means that digital clothing won’t be restricted by aesthetic or functional needs. For example, digital clothing could be made with non-conventional materials such as water, light, or steel (Hoekstra, 2021). Overall, based on these considerations, players may desire to buy digital clothing in the metaverse to meet their aesthetic needs.
▍Maslow’s Hierarchy theory- nature or nurture?
Maslow asserts that the Hierarchy theory’s needs are instinctual. However, the behaviours that satisfy these needs are learned and vary from person to person, which depends on the individual and situation.
In other words, personality is shaped by the interaction of nature and nurture, along with personal and contextual factors (Schultz et al., 2016). For example, if teachers and parents fail to meet a child’s cognitive needs, which may restrict his/her curiosity in the future (Schultz et al., 2016).
▍Findings
Based on the research we discovered in the virtual environment, we hypothesise that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory provides a conceptual framework to explain user (Millennials and Gen Z) motivation in Metaverse.
The findings of this examination showed that Metaverse could satisfy the needs for love and belonging, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs of users, causing them immersed in the virtual environment. Additionally, the pursuit of aesthetic and esteem needs may result in the purchase of digital clothing (Brown, 2012).
As the phenomena of the metaverse and digital clothing are relatively new, there is a lack of academic research analyzing the creation of avatars and the consumption of digital clothing from a psychological perspective.
However, digitalization will be a key trend in the future (Forbes, 2022), which is why researchers should give more consideration to applying psychological theories, study this phenomenon and provide more support for the future development of digital fashion.
▍Limitation
- Lack of supporting findings: In Barnes and Pressey (2011), Maslow’s theory confirms that people could satisfy their needs through participation in virtual worlds, particularly in the areas of belonging and love, self-esteem, and self-actualisation needs. However, this study lacks generalisability as it is based on a single virtual world platform (Second Life). In other words, because the concept of the metaverse is still relatively new, no direct proof could be found to connect Maslow’s theory and the virtual world. Therefore, future research should consider this paper as a springboard for future approaches instead of a definitive answer.
- Missing gender variable in research: Much of the paper excludes the ‘gender’ factor as an influential variable. For instance, whether women have a higher Hierarchy of Needs when it comes to buying digital clothing.
- Subjective in research: Maslow’s theory has drawn criticism for its lack of experimentally generated supporting data and its methodological approaches (Vitz, 1994, p. 39). For example, the character traits of self-actualizationer are based on the data of clinical interpretations, which could be affected by Maslow’s personal values (Schultz et al., 2016).
- Discussion of an individual: Kahle et al. (1988) suggest that Maslow’s theory does not fully reflect individual differences. Although most people’s needs develop with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as people age, their values are influenced by nurture, which leads to differences in values and needs.
- About the national level: Maslow’s theory has been applied to the national level (Yalch & Brunel, 1996). However, the research background of the theory is based on the Western and focuses on individualism, which does not exclude political and cultural differences. Therefore, the applicability of this theory to oriental countries is open to debate.
▍References
Barnes, S. (2007). Virtual worlds as a medium for advertising. ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 38(4), 45–55.
Barnes, S. J., & Pressey, A. D. (2011). Who needs cyberspace? Examining drivers of needs in Second Life. Internet Research.
Benti, B. S., & Stadtmann, G. (2021). Animal Crossing: New Horizons meets “Maslow’s pyramid”. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3(5), 1172–1179.
Bergman, S. M., Fearrington, M. E., Davenport, S. W., & Bergman, J. Z. (2011). Millennials, narcissism, and social networking: What narcissists do on social networking sites and why. Personality and individual differences, 50(5), 706–711.
Brown, P. (2012). The Legend of Zelda and Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Needs: A Social-Psychological Study of the Computer Game and its Players. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom).
D’Souza, J. F., Adams, C. K., & Fuss, B. (2015). A pilot study of self-actualization activity measurement. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 41(3), 28.
Dionisio, J. D. N., III, W. G. B., & Gilbert, R. (2013). 3D virtual worlds and the metaverse: Current status and future possibilities. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 45(3), 1–38.
Hoekstra, C. (2021). Digital fashion for sustainable change: A strategy for digital fashion at Tommy Hilfiger.
Kahle,L., Bousch,D., & Homer, P. (1988). Broken Rungs in Abraham’s Ladder: Is Maslow’s Hierarchy Hierarchical? Proceedings of the Society for Consumer Psychology.
Maltby, J., Day, L., & Macaskill, A. (2017). Personality, individual differences and intelligence. Pearson Education, Limited.
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Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2016). Theories of personality. Cengage Learning.
Sladek, S., & Grabinger, A. (2014). Gen Z: The first generation of the 21st Century has arrived. Retrieved May, 5, 2016.
Stephenson Law. (2022). Digital Fashion: What is it? And Where is it Going?. https://www.stephenson.law/blog/digital-fashion-what-is-it-where-did-it-come-from-and-where-is-it-going
Vitz, P. C. (1994). Psychology as religion: The cult of self-worship. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Yalch, R., & Brunel, F. (1996). Need Hierarchies in Consumer Judgments of Product Designs: Is It Time to Reconsider Maslow’s Theory?. ACR North American Advances. 23, 405–410.
