Online Review Influence on the Retail Industry

The research undertaken investigates the effect of online reviews on purchase emotions of young consumers with reference to National Capital Region of India. Quantitative aspects of online reviews, like reviewer quality, reviewer exposure, product attributes, and temporal effects have been considered. Based on literature review, the S-O-R model has been further built on and constructs of A.I.S.A.S. model, i.e., attention and trust, action and share have been incorporated to evaluate buying pattern and behaviour they follow related to online review. Interestingly, when consumers read online reviews, they concentrate not only on review scores but also refer to other textual information like a reviewer's trust and the content associated with it such as various pictures and videos. It is also seen that the market responds more favourably to reviews written by reviewers with better reputations and better exposure, i.e., the influencers. The study also aims to explore the strength of the relationship between the identified independent constructs of online reviews and buying behaviour of an individual.