Working in the Metaverse: Does Telework in a Metaverse Office Have the Potential to Reduce Population Pressure in Megacities? Evidence from Young Adults in Seoul, South Korea

Despite the growing number of teleworkers and the unsustainable challenges (e.g., environmental pollution) facing megacities due to population pressure, few studies have investigated whether telework can reduce population pressure in megacities. This study conducts a scenario-based experiment and proposes that telework can reduce population pressure in megacities by enticing megacity residents to leave the megacity. Specifically, given the increasing number of companies that are adopting metaverse teleworking offices, this study classifies telework into metaverse telework and non-metaverse telework and empirically demonstrates that both types of telework positively influence an individual's intention to relocate from a megacity to a non-megacity. Additionally, this study further shows that metaverse telework has a greater impact on an individual's intention to relocate from a megacity to a non-megacity than non-metaverse telework. This study demonstrates how different types of telework can differentially reduce population pressure in megacities and provides practical recommendations for policymakers and strategy managers to support this practice.