Dogmatism and Online Consumption: Examining the Moderating Role of Trust and Value of Exchange Outcome

Abstract

Internet use in the market place has become increasingly ubiquitous in the last decade. With increasingly more companies and individuals using Internet for consumption of products and services (Reisenwitz and Cutler 2001), the online consumption is expected to continue to grow to $105 billion worldwide within five years and the U.S. online shopping population is estimated to double from 66 million people in 2002 to 132 million by 2011 (Jupiter 2006). This surge in online consumption is particularly spurred by younger American adults, who prefer more e-tailing compared to traditional retailing (Crabtree 2004). Recent research indicates that 31percent of the population between 15–39 years prefers to consume online, whereas, only 16percent of the population over 65 years prefers to engage in online consumption (Raugust 1999).