Marketing communication in the metaverse: a systematic review and future research agenda

Purpose Academic interest in metaverse marketing communication has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite this emerging focus, a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge remains limited. This study conducts a framework-based systematic review of 120 scholarly articles to map and integrate how communication processes unfold in immersive environments. Design/methodology/approach A framework-based systematic review of 120 articles was conducted, employing both the Antecedents–Decisions–Outcomes and Theories–Contexts–Methods frameworks. This dual approach enables a structured mapping of the literature and highlights interconnections across theoretical foundations, contextual applications, and methodological approaches. Findings The review reveals that existing research is heavily anchored in consumer-centric theories, concentrated in a narrow set of industries and geographic contexts, and dominated by quantitative survey-based methods. Building on the ADO–TCM synthesis, this study identifies key gaps and outlines directions for advancing marketing theory and practice in the metaverse. Originality/value Unlike prior theme-based reviews, this study provides an integrative synthesis that contributes a more coherent knowledge base and proposes a future research agenda.