Analyzing the Impact of Electronic lectronic Word -of- Mouth (eWOM) on Generation Z`s Smartphone Purchase Decisions :- A Study in Amravati City

Consumers’ exposure to online reviews influences their online retail shopping behavior. They search for reviews while evaluating products for purchase decisions. Past studies have indicated that online views affect the credibility and trust of the sellers and the products they sell on online platforms. Keeping this in view, the current paper aims to develop and validate a scale to understand the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions. Data were collected from 131 online shoppers for this research. The initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results helped identify four factors, viz. source credibility, volume, language and comprehension, and relevance constitute the scale. The scale was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study’s findings fill the gap of having a standardized scale that online retailers can use as indicators to assist consumers in their online decision-making. The discussions and implications support consumers’ susceptibility to online reviews, an essential source of product and brand information in facilitating online consumer’s purchase decisions.