CSR in the Agri-Metaverse: Virtual Engagement, Sustainability Reporting, and Firm

Metaverse integration in the agribusiness CSR practices constitutes a radical change of practice in companies to involve stakeholders, report sustainability, and performance motivation. Using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI) as the examples of the immersiveness technologies can open up new chances of transparent disclosure of CSR, consumer involvement, and accountability throughout the agricultural supply chains. Virtual simulations allow firms to showcase green farming methods, trace their supply chain, and participate in sustainability promotions with the help of consumers. Moreover, virtual engagement can be taken into consideration so that firms can report CSR activities credibly and minimise risks of virtual greenwashing. The quantitative research design was used in the study. There were 350 questionnaires that were distributed among managers and financial, accounting, sustainability, and operations professionals in 30 agribusiness firms. When all the incomplete responses were eliminated, 287 valid questionnaires remained, which constituted an effective response rate of 82 percent. The finding of regression analysis proved that CSR-AM is a significant predictor of firm performance. The study concluded that agri-metaverse allows companies to run CSR practices beyond conventional ones to create interactive and verifiable experiences. It was recommended that CSR in the agri-metaverse should be the incubator of innovation, farmer empowerment, and soaring ambitions in the agricultural industry, rather than branding efforts.