PEER REVIEW DYNAMICS AND THEIR EFFECT ON CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING ACROSS E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IN CHENNAI METROPOLITAN AREA

The proliferation of digital marketplaces has transformed how urban shoppers evaluate products prior to purchase, with peer-generated reviews
emerging as a decisive informational resource. This paper investigates how different dimensions of online reviews—specifically review
helpfulness, reviewer credibility, review volume, sentiment polarity, and the presence of visual content—shape the purchase decisions of e-
commerce consumers residing in the Chennai metropolitan region. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey design, primary data were gathered
from 384 active online shoppers selected through stratified random sampling across four zones of the city. The questionnaire was built around
a five-point Likert scale and tested for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha, yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.826. Data were
examined using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Findings reveal that reviewer
credibility and review helpfulness exert the strongest influence on purchase intention, followed by sentiment polarity and visual evidence such
as photographs or unboxing videos attached to a review. Interestingly, sheer review volume showed a weaker direct effect once credibility was
controlled for, indicating that Chennai shoppers prioritise review quality over quantity. A moderation analysis additionally demonstrated that
product category (search versus experience goods) alters the weight consumers assign to each dimension. The study contributes to consumer
behaviour literature by extending the Information Adoption Model to a regional Indian context and offers practical guidance for e-commerce
platforms, sellers, and digital marketers operating in tier-one Indian cities.