The family roles, socialization, aspiration, perception of risk, the digital market places that are in rapid change influence the way Indian households make purchase decisions. This work summarizes the evidence regarding the consumer decision making patterns within the Indian households through a scoping review of 40 core peer-reviewed articles (20002025) in (a) household role structures and family influence, (b) consumer socialization (children/adolescents), (c) decision psychology and limited rationality, (d) adoption of technology and online shopping, and (e) sustainability-oriented consumption. This review has been informed by the well-known theories of decision making Theory of Planned Behavior, Technology Acceptance Model, and UTAUT/UTAUT2 in mapping the progression of Indian households in the need recognition to post-purchase evaluation process, and the role of various factors in influencing decision making and the question of who decides and how choices are made across product categories. The evidence shows that household choices are regularly made as a negotiated result, not individual decision: the influence dynamics depend on the product involvement, perceived risk, and decision phase; the digital channels are increasing the information search at the cost of intensifying worries of trust, safety of delivery, and safety of payment. There is also some evidence that there is rising joint decision-making of households living in cities and greater adolescent control in given categories, and sustainability decisions are limited by price sensitivity, availability, and assertion believability. The paper adds (1) India-specific decision journey model of household (2) role stage influence matrix to understand decision making in the family and (3) future research agenda that relates digital adoption, household bargaining, and after sales experiences. The implications concerning the transparency, grievance redressal, and inclusive policies on digital consumer protection are provided to the marketers, consumer educators, and policymakers.
Rodricks et al. (Thu,) studied this question.