International Journal of Marketing & Financial Management

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN RESPONSE TO ONLINE REVIEWS

Japjee Kaur Khanuja, Prof. (Dr.) Sukhvir Singh

Japjee Kaur Khanuja, Department of Commerce, SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110007

Prof. (Dr.) Sukhvir Singh, Department of Commerce, SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110007

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21882107 Page No : 32-42

Published Online : 2026-08-11

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ABSTRACT

In the present digital era, online shopping has become a common practice among consumers, and reviews have emerged as one of the most critical components of purchase decisions. Consumers today prefer to read the experiences of other individuals who have already purchased a product or service, and this reliance on peer opinion has transformed the traditional buying process. The present study examines consumer behaviour in response to online reviews and how such reviews influence purchase decisions among young consumers in Delhi. The study is structured around five research objectives and five corresponding hypotheses, examining review usage frequency, review quality and format, review valence, review volume and electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) as independent variables, and purchase intention as the dependent variable. A descriptive quantitative research design was adopted, and primary data were collected from 201 valid respondents through a structured, close-ended questionnaire administered via Google Forms using a five-point Likert scale, and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics through nine statistical tests. The multiple regression model was statistically significant and explained 83.3% of the variance in purchase intention (R² = 0.833), with E-WOM and Review Quality & Format emerging as the strongest and most consistent predictors. Three of the five hypotheses were supported at the 0.05 level of significance.

Keywords: Consumer behaviour, Online reviews, Purchase intention, Electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM), Review valence, Review volume, E-commerce, Young consumers.

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Cite this Article as: Japjee K.K. & Sukhvir S (2026), “an empirical study of consumer behaviour in response to online reviews”, International Journal of Marketing & Financial Management, Volume 14, Issue2, 2026, pp 32-42, DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21882107

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