Business Models and Virtual Worlds: The Second Life Lesson

Virtual Worlds seem to offer firms new opportunities for managing the convergence among technology, organization and business. The complex relation between people and their avatars and the capability to engage users into active participation yielded relevant insights in marketing and business model literature. At the same time, firms may find it difficult to manage and operate in a digital space, in which rules and behaviors may differ from the real world. This article emphasizes the issues and insights suggested in business literature. Special attention is given to the role of Virtual Worlds in innovating firms\u2019 business models, focusing on the evidences obtained by Second Life. A framework is proposed to explain why value extraction should be carefully evaluated when firms intend to integrate Virtual Worlds into their business models