EWOM Information Evaluation On Purchase Decisions Of Electronic Home Appliances: A Study In Chennai City

Abstract

The exponential rise in online reviews has made electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) a pivotal factor influencing decision-making in the electronic home appliance sector. With the increasing dependency on online platforms, consumers rely on eWOM before making high-involvement purchases.Despite the prominence of eWOM, there is limited understanding of how information usefulness, shaped by information quality, credibility, volume, and valence, impacts user behavior and final purchase decisions in an urban Indian context like Chennai.A quantitative survey-based study was conducted using structured questionnaires. A sample of 400 consumers from Chennai was analyzed using AMOS software.Findings reveal that information credibility are the predictors of usefulness, which significantly influences information adoption. This, in turn, drives purchase intention and actual decision-making. eWOM volume and valence play moderate roles. The model achieved high explanatory power with RMSEA = 0.041, CFI = 0.97, and R² = 0.68 for purchase decision.