2025, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part H

author(s)
Shahnawaz Ahmad Khan

abstract

Introduction & Background: Young Indians aged 18-25 represent a significant and influential consumer segment, whose purchasing behaviour is shaped by evolving marketplace engagement, information access, and social influence.

Prior research suggests that gender may influence how young consumers discover products, evaluate options, and make purchase decisions; however, these findings are scattered across individual studies.

Objective: To synthesize published evidence on gender differences in digital marketing behaviour among Indian youth aged 18-25 years.

Methods: This study adopts a structured narrative review with quantitative aggregation of findings from 15 peer-reviewed studies published between 2022 and 2024. The reviewed studies collectively included approximately 8,500 participants. Reported outcomes related to platform use, purchase decision timelines, product preferences, and influence sources were systematically extracted and summarized to identify dominant behavioural patterns.

Results: Across studies, male respondents were more frequently associated with relatively rapid purchase decisions and greater emphasis on technical specifications, particularly for electronic products. Female respondents more commonly described longer decision-making processes, greater reliance on social networks, and higher engagement with detailed, experience-oriented content such as tutorials and peer reviews. Urban participants demonstrated higher overall engagement with digital shopping platforms than rural counterparts.

Conclusion: The review identifies consistent gender-linked patterns in digital shopping behaviour among young Indian consumers. These findings may assist marketers, educators, and policymakers in designing context-sensitive engagement strategies. However, causal claims regarding marketing effectiveness should be interpreted cautiously and require experimental validation.