Why do metaverse government services fail? Understanding the influences of different failure types on citizens’ satisfaction with meta-government services in China

The metaverse is still in its early stages, and most prototype metaverse platforms fail to fulfill their potential and meet users’ demands. Numerous studies have focused on the success of metaverse applications. However, there has been limited research on the failure of the metaverse services. Based on digital service failure model (DSFM), uses and gratification theory (U&G), and organizational failure diagnosis model (OFDM), an integrated model to investigate the influences of different failure types on citizens’ satisfaction with meta-government services is developed. The model was tested using a survey of 402 responses in China, which were analyzed using a hybrid structural equation modeling artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) approach. The findings indicated that organizational failure exerts the most powerful effect on citizens’ satisfaction. Moreover, information, service, system, and psychological needs failure, negatively influence citizens’ satisfaction. In addition, technology anxiety can weaken the influences of information, system, psychological needs, and organizational failures on citizens’ satisfaction while enhancing the relationship between service failure and citizens’ satisfaction. This research contributes initial and original insights into the failure types of meta-government services and their impacts, addressing a significant gap in the literature.