Impact of Online Review on Consumers' Online Purchasing Intention: An Empirical Study on University Students in Bangladesh

AbstractResearch purpose: This study examines how online reviews influence consumers’ online purchasingintention in Bangladesh, a rapidly growing e-commerce market where trust, product qualityverification, and delivery delays remain salient barriers.Design/methodology/approach: Primary survey data were collected via a Google Formsquestionnaire from Bangladeshi online shoppers. The relationships between online reviewattributes—review credibility, review valence, review contemplation, and review endorsement—andpurchasing intention were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression.Findings: All four review attributes exhibit statistically significant associations with consumers’online purchasing intention. Collectively, the results indicate that online reviews play a decisive rolein shaping purchase intentions within the Bangladeshi context.Originality/value: The study provides context-specific evidence from Bangladesh and differentiatesthe effects of distinct review attributes (credibility, valence, contemplation, endorsement), offeringa nuanced understanding of how reviews translate into purchasing intention in an emerging ecommerceenvironment.Practical implications: E-commerce platforms and sellers should strengthen review systems bypromoting credible, informative, and well-endorsed reviews; facilitating thoughtful review content;and implementing mechanisms that enhance trust (e.g., verified-purchase badges, anti-fraudchecks). Such actions can mitigate perceived risks, build consumer confidence, and increaseconversion rates.Research limitations: The use of self-reported, cross-sectional survey data collected online may limitcausal inference and generalizability beyond the sampled population. Future research could employlongitudinal designs, incorporate behavioral purchase data, and test moderating factors (e.g.,product type, platform trust) to validate and extend these findings.