Despite the prevalent use of the Web for consumer information searches, very little is known about this behavior or the influences that individual and contextual factors may have on it. Moreover, no methodology exists for comprehensively measuring the complex array of behaviors that occur during a consumer Web session. Accordingly, a lab experiment, a contrived online product search-and-purchase task, was used to determine how these factors influence search behavior and purchase outcomes. Purchase contexts were manipulated by variations in task instructions. A survey was used to measure individual traits. A newly proposed measurement schema, the Source Site Target codification model, was used to quantify session-wide Web behaviors—leading to a variety of original findings. Contrary to past research, education was a non-factor and women outperformed men across online search behaviors. Age was negatively associated with consumer Web searches. Contrastingly, Web experience and search skill were positively associated with consumer Web searches, whereas purchase experience was negatively associated with consumer Web searches. Individual and contextual derivations of involvement (motivation) influenced not only the extent of a given Web search, but the nature of the search as well. Surprisingly, although individual and situational factors significantly and sometimes dramatically impacted consumer Web behaviors, changes in behavior were not associated with purchase performance. While the Web is adaptable to a variety of users, it is not a “perfectly efficient” medium. Individuals were susceptible to making sub-optimal purchase decisions regardless of individual traits or contexts.
Key Words: Consumer Web Behavior, Web Research Methods, Online Consumer Searches, Online Purchases, Demographics, Involvement, and the Need for Cognition.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1 Defining Online Consumer Information Search Behavior
2.2 Understanding Online Consumer Information Search Behavior
2.3 The Decision to Use the Web as a Consumer Information Resource
2.4 Web Navigation and the Process of Online Information Searches
2.5 Consumer Search Behavior and Interdisciplinary Cognitive Foundations
2.6 Categorizing and Measuring Online Consumer Information Search Behavior: the SST Web Behavior Measurement Model
3. Hypotheses
3.1 The Web as an Information Environment and Consumer Search Behavior
3.2 Demographics and Consumer Web Searches
3.3 Individual Web Characteristics and Consumer Web Searches
3.4 Sources of Involvement and Consumer Web Searches
4. Experimental Method
4.1 Human Subjects Review Committees
4.2 Experimental Design
4.3 Experimental Procedure
4.4 Measurements
5. Analytical Methods and Results
5.1 Analytical Methods
5.2 Data Collection Procedure and Overview
5.3 Coding and Transcribing Consumer Web Behavior
5.4 Preliminary Data Analyses
5.5 Hypothesis Testing Methods
5.6 Results
6. Conclusion and Discussion
6.1 Demographics
6.2 Individual Web Attributes
6.3 Product Knowledge
6.4 Internal and External Sources of Involvement
6.5 Implications for Consumers and Society
6.6 Implications for Managers
6.7 Study Limitations and Drawbacks
6.8 Future Research
6.9 General Conclusions
Research Objectives and Topics
The primary research objective is to understand how individual demographic attributes, cognitive traits, and contextual factors influence consumer information search behavior and purchase outcomes in an online environment. The central research question examines whether differences in these variables lead to discernible variations in navigation, search effort, and final purchase performance.
- Impact of individual demographics (age, education, gender) on online search behavior.
- Influence of web characteristics (web experience, search skill) and cognitive predispositions on search navigation and efficiency.
- Effects of internal and external involvement (motivation) on consumer information search processes.
- Development of the Source Site Target (SST) model for measuring session-wide online consumer behavior.
- Evaluation of search outcomes, specifically focusing on task completion success, product quality selection, and purchase price performance.
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Categorizing and Measuring Online Consumer Information Search Behavior: the SST Web Behavior Measurement Model
The interplay between cognition, decision-making, search engine use, and virtual movement between Websites intermingles to create a hybrid information search-navigation process (Hodkinson et al., 2000). In practice, researchers have tended to only focus on a specific part(s) of this search-navigation process. Unfortunately, without a method to properly account for and classify the variety of activities that comprise consumer Web behavior, a consumer’s online session is nothing more than a chaotic mixture of hyper-mediated events and artifacts. In terms of scientific inquiry, observing only a few of these behaviors or pieces of the larger consumer search process as dependent variables may obviously not only limit the scope and extent of a Web study’s findings, but lead to erroneous findings as well. Although a sizable amount of micro-level Web research exists, there is a complete lack of global [session-wide] user activity research (Huang et al., 2007). Given this measurement deficit, the need for a means to comprehensively qualify and quantify observable consumer Web behavior becomes critically apparent.
Examples of limited research perspectives are evidenced by information science, marketing and advertising, Internet, and human-computer researchers (Huang et al., 2007; Cho and Khang, 2006; Sanchez-Franco and Rey, 2004; Hargittai, 2002; Jansen and Pooch, 2001; Hodkinson et al., 2000), who in chorus note that most Web-based information search and retrieval research is too divergent, does not focus on the larger research picture, and/or does not employ rigorous research methods.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter highlights the rapid adoption of the Web and the fundamental role of information searches in connecting consumers with markets, while identifying research gaps in existing consumer behavior studies.
Literature Review: This section reviews existing theories on consumer decision processes, web navigation, and cognitive foundations, culminating in the proposal of the SST measurement model.
Hypotheses: This chapter outlines original hypotheses regarding how individual and contextual factors, such as demographics, web proficiency, and motivation, impact consumer search behavior.
Experimental Method: The chapter details the computer lab experiment design, including participant recruitment, the use of screen-monitoring software, and the procedure for measuring online consumer behavior.
Analytical Methods and Results: This chapter describes the statistical techniques, including regression analysis and cross-tabular testing, used to analyze the collected data and present the findings.
Conclusion and Discussion: The final chapter summarizes the empirical findings, discusses the implications for consumers, society, and managers, and acknowledges study limitations while suggesting future research directions.
Keywords
Consumer Web Behavior, Web Research Methods, Online Consumer Searches, Online Purchases, Demographics, Involvement, Need for Cognition, Web Navigation, Search Engine Usage, SST Model, Information Search Effort, Decision-making, Web Experience, Search Skill, Purchase Outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research focuses on understanding online consumer information search behavior, specifically examining how individual demographic traits, web usage attributes, and contextual involvement levels influence how consumers search for information and make purchase decisions online.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The study covers three main thematic areas: the influence of demographic characteristics (age, education, gender), the impact of individual web-related traits (experience, search skill, purchase history), and the role of internal and external sources of involvement (motivation and task context).
What is the primary research goal?
The primary goal is to empirically test how individual differences and contextual factors drive specific online consumer behaviors and search outcomes, thereby filling a significant gap in the literature regarding comprehensive, session-wide web user activity.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The study utilizes a lab-based computer experiment. Subjects performed a contrived product search-and-purchase task, and their behaviors were recorded using "screen-cam" monitoring software. This data was then transcribed and analyzed using the author-proposed Source Site Target (SST) codification model, alongside statistical techniques like multiple regression and cross-tabular analysis.
What is addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body includes an extensive literature review, the derivation of original hypotheses based on behavioral theories, a detailed account of the experimental design, and a rigorous analytical section documenting the results of the hypothesis testing across various dependent behavioral variables.
Which keywords characterize this study?
The study is characterized by keywords such as Consumer Web Behavior, Web Research Methods, Online Consumer Searches, Involvement, Need for Cognition, Web Navigation, and SST Model.
What is the "SST Web Behavior Measurement Model"?
The SST (Source, Site, Target) measurement model is an original framework proposed by the author to comprehensively categorize and quantify session-wide online consumer behavior, allowing observable web interactions to be converted into testable dependent variables.
How does the research challenge existing stereotypes regarding gender and web usage?
Contrary to older stereotypes that suggested men were more skilled or dominant online, this study found that women significantly outpaced men in search effort, web reach, and search efficiency, suggesting that the gender gap in web proficiency has effectively disappeared.
- Quote paper
- Steven Sowma (Author), 2009, Online Consumer Information Search Behavior and the Source Site Target Codification Model, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/180613
