The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the Consumer movements to their homes due to which consumers have to be reliant on e-commerce to manage their day-to-day chores. This study investigates how Socio-Behavioural Approach affects the online purchase behaviour of women belonging to Generation Z (born ~1997-2012) in both urban and rural settings. As Gen Z is the first true “digital native” generation, their online shopping habits are distinct in terms of preferences, risk perceptions and technology usage. Specially in the case of Women Consumers the scenario becomes very vigilant as there is huge amount of difference in them in the following manners: The thought process of rural and urban women consumers is very different, their risk handling capacity also does vary, their level of education varies, there is huge difference of social background in them.
Previous literature has explored Gen Z’s online purchasing behaviour and separately Socio-Behavioural Approach across generations, but little work has addressed how Socio-Behavioural Approach mediates or moderates online purchase decisions for Gen Z women in diverse geographies (urban vs rural) Using Secondary data techniques the study finds that higher Socio-Behavioural Approach— operationalised via knowledge of online risks, safe practices, and trust in website/transaction security — will be positively associated with higher frequency of online purchases and higher willingness to transact. However, the strength of the effect differs between urban and rural women: urban women show stronger impact of Socio-Behavioural Approach on purchase behaviour, while rural women’s behaviour is more strongly influenced by other factors such as perceived convenience and social influence. The findings suggest that enhancing cybersecurity education and awareness among rural Gen Z women can help reduce risk perceptions, thereby increasing online shopping participation and bridging the urban-rural digital commerce divide.