The Impact of Trust-Building Mechanisms on Purchase Intention towards Metaverse Shopping: The Moderating Role of Age

Given the uncertainty of online transactions in metaverse shopping, the digital economy encourages building a trustworthy virtual environment. Based on media richness theory, this article examines how the perceived media richness of the metaverse helps engender multidimensional trust (i.e., cognitive trust and affective trust) and leads to purchase intention in the context of metaverse shopping. The proposed model is tested based on survey data from 332 consumers on an online scenario-based platform pertaining to metaverse initiatives. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the proposed research model. The empirical research findings show that the perceived media richness of the metaverse builds cognitive trust and affective trust, which in turn affects purchase intention towards metaverse shopping. Furthermore, we classify consumers into digital natives (DNs) and digital immigrants (DIs) based on chronological age and examine the different influences of the two dimensions of trust on purchase intention towards metaverse shopping between the two groups. We identify and address several knowledge gaps in the extant trust literature. We also discuss the theoretical and managerial implications and propose several suggestions for future research.