메타버스 대체인가 공존인가? : 성향점수매칭(PSM)과 이중차분법(DID)을 활용한 디지털 미디어 이용 시간 변화 분석

This study empirically analyzed the impact of the proliferation of the metaverse on the usage patterns of existing digital media (OTT, SNS, and games) using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and the Difference-in-Differences (DiD) method. The metaverse is a new digital environment characterized by immersion, interactivity, and persistence. It can share resources (time, attention) with existing media and form a relationship of substitution or coexistence. To investigate this, this study used data from the Korea Media Panel Survey (2022-2023) to examine changes in media usage time depending on whether the metaverse was used. Our analysis found that metaverse use significantly decreased OTT usage time, suggesting a potential substitutional relationship between the two media. Conversely, no statistically significant effect was found with SNS, which is interpreted as the metaverse forming an independent relationship with SNS. Notably, in the case of games, usage time initially decreased but then increased over time, confirming a transition to a complementary relationship between the metaverse and games. These results indicate that the metaverse does not compete uniformly with existing media but rather establishes different types of relationships depending on the characteristics of each medium. This study makes a theoretical contribution by analyzing the change in the competitive relationship between new media centered on the metaverse and existing media within a temporal context, and practically provides important implications for media strategy formulation and setting the direction for inter-platform cooperation.