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@article{199808,
        author = {Rajat Pradhan and Arjun Sharma and Archi Gogia and Parag Holey},
        title = {Impact of Online Reviews on Consumer Buying Behavior in E-Commerce Platforms},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {14905-14923},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=199808},
        abstract = {The appearance of the user oriented content as the key decision making tool has radically changed the design of consumer trust in the online markets. Within the context of e-commerce, online reviews, both in the form of textual accounts, star ratings, verified purchase badges, photographic and video testimonials, have now replaced the traditional advertising as the primary informational input to the consumer in the process of making purchase decisions. In this research paper, a detailed, theoretical, empirically proven exploration of the influence of online reviews on consumer purchasing behavior in e-commerce sites is done based on the primary survey results of 100 participants who were based on different age and purchasing frequency groups in India. The research methodically evaluates ten behavioral and attitudinal measures of the effect of reviews on purchasing such as the frequency of reading reviews, the perceived strength of the influence, the preference of the review format, the depth of reading, the reaction to negative reviews, the trust to review genuineness, the occurrence of decision change, platform trust hierarchies, review contribution conduct, and the overall significance ascribed to the reviews throughout the buying process. The empirical evidence supports all five research hypotheses that are connected with online reviews and purchase intent, product abandonment, formation of trust, platform selection, and digital word-of-mouth behavior. The results are based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model theory, the Information Adoption Models and the Social Proof theory and they reveal that 79 percent of consumers value reviews as being extremely or very influential, 81 percent of them report some type of purchase decision change as a result of reviews, and 46 percent regard reviews as absolutely necessary to their buying process online. The paper ends with the strategic implications on e-commerce platforms, brand managers and the digital marketing practitioners.},
        keywords = {Online Reviews, Consumer Buying Behavior, E-Commerce, User-Generated Content, Trust, Social Proof, Review Credibility, Purchase Intent, Digital Word-of-Mouth, Indian E-Commerce},
        month = {April},
        }