Consumers nowadays purchase a variety of products in online shops for different reasons. Certain products involve high involvement decision-making with low purchase frequencies in general. At the same time, virtual shelf space is unlimited and consumers face a variety of products, which exceeds their rational capabilities. This condition requires online shop operators to implement search tools in their web sites that allow consumers to structure and reduce complexity, both on a catalogue and a product level. Consumers in general do not always possess product expertise, especially in the case of low frequency purchases such as digital cameras. Virtual product advisors intend to fill this gap.
The primary objective of the thesis is to investigate the interaction effect between different levels of consumer knowledge and a chosen product search approach. A special focus is put on a virtual product advisor and a facet search as a structuring tool. Based on theoretical work in marketing, psychology, information system management a set of hypotheses was developed pertaining to the interaction effect and how it affects the perceived quality of the online feature of
a product search interface from a consumer perspective.
A randomized experiment with a control group design in a live Online Shop was conducted to test the hypotheses. In sum, the findings suggest a contingency between the consumer
knowledge and a product search interface in regard of the impact on antecedents of esatisfaction. The results provide two different angles from a marketing perspective in terms of
usefulness and from an information system management point of view in terms of usability.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2. The Net Economy
2.1. The Concept of an Online Shop
2.2. Electronic Sale of Products
2.3. Search Quality of a Camera
3. Definitions
3.1. General Terms
3.2. Complexity
3.2.1. Catalogue Complexity
3.2.2. Product Complexity
3.3. Product Search Approaches
4. Consumer Behavior
4.1. Information Processing Strategies
4.2. Expertise Knowledge
4.3. Online Shopping Strategies
5. Consumer E-Satisfaction
5.1. Understanding of E-satisfaction
5.2. Web Site Quality from a Marketing Perspective
5.3. Usability from an Information System Perspective
5.4. Application of the Two Perspectives
6. Problem Statement
6.1. Research Questions
6.2. Hypotheses
6.2.1. Usefulness:
6.2.2. Usability (Ease of Use)
II. EMPIRICAL PART
7. Research Methodology
7.1. Experimental Design
7.2. Questionnaire
7.3. Key Items of the Questionnaire
7.3.1. Usefulness
7.3.2. Usability (Ease of Use)
7.3.3. Manipulation Check
7.3.4. Control Variable
7.4. Socio-Demographic Data
7.5. Distribution
8. Preliminary Data Analysis
8.1. Data Screening
8.2. Assessment of Normality
9. Preparation of Data
9.1. Outliers
9.2. Transformation of variables for further analysis
9.3. Reliability
10. Data Analysis
10.1. Chosen statistical methods
10.2. Review of Assumptions for the ANOVA
11. Test Results
11.1. Test Results for Usefulness of the Product Search Approach
11.2. Test Results for Usability of the Product Search Approach
11.3. Hypotheses Validity
III. DISCUSSION
12. Managerial Implications
12.1. Limitations of the Study
12.2. Future Research
Objectives and Research Themes
This thesis examines the interaction between consumer knowledge levels and specific product search interfaces (virtual product advisors vs. facet search) in online shops. The primary research objective is to determine how these search approaches influence the perceived quality and e-satisfaction of consumers, focusing on their ability to structure and reduce complexity during the decision-making process.
- Interaction effects between consumer expertise and product search methods
- Perceived usefulness and usability of online product search interfaces
- Application of the WebQual framework in an e-commerce context
- Impact of search tools on consumer e-satisfaction and decision-making
- Empirical verification through a randomized experiment in a live online shop
Excerpt from the Book
3.3. PRODUCT SEARCH APPROACHES
Basically four different search interface possibilities exist. In the course of the paper, the search interfaces are termed product search approaches (PSA). In practice, the use of only one type is hardly found, because the combination of the various approaches offer a more natural costumer experience regarding the search process as well as better or more effective product search results. This is referred to as a hybrid search serves as a triangulation to a search task by combining different advantages of the various methods. Nevertheless, in order to understand hybrid search, the pure archetypes of product search tools shall now be defined. Excentos’ Whitepaper on Guided Selling (2011) offered a good overview of the various search methods existent in the online marketplace.
Local Keyword Search or Full Text Search is an interface, that offers a possibility to directly type in strings. The search engine matches the search query with hits in the full text contents as well as in the online shop taxonomy such as product tags, categories and datasheets. Usually the result list is indexed through a ranking logarithm and the best matching results are presented on top of the list, whereby the ranking depends on different variables such as keyword counts, average space between keywords etc. A ranking logarithm can be comprised of a multitude of variables and the relative importance of the variables can be determined idiosyncratically, thus it represents a domain of proprietary technology. A very popular plugin or widget is the Google Custom Search for Websites which offers webpage operators the possibility to integrate Google’s search engine to ‘crawl’ local content.
Hierarchical Category Search “hierarchically organizes individual (..) categories and characteristics, starting with general main categories and moving down into sub-categories that branch off from the main categories. The list of results is filtered according to the sub-category that is selected.” A Hierarchical Category Search can be regarded as a decision tree with varying degrees of detail among its branches or respectively the amount of subcategories.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Discusses the structural changes in the retail industry due to ICT and the necessity of effective product search tools to manage increased catalogue complexity.
2. The Net Economy: Provides a framework for understanding the online economy, defining online shops, and the search quality specific to complex products like cameras.
3. Definitions: Establishes clear definitions for key terms including virtual communication, complexity (catalogue vs. product), and various product search approaches.
4. Consumer Behavior: Reviews concepts such as information processing, expertise knowledge, and online shopping strategies to link behavior to product search utility.
5. Consumer E-Satisfaction: Examines e-satisfaction through marketing and information system perspectives, establishing the framework for measuring search tool quality.
6. Problem Statement: Outlines the research questions and specific hypotheses regarding the contingent relationship between consumer knowledge and the effectiveness of search tools.
7. Research Methodology: Details the experimental design, questionnaire structure, and the empirical process used to test the established hypotheses.
8. Preliminary Data Analysis: Describes the data cleaning, screening, and normality assessment of the collected sample.
9. Preparation of Data: Explains the transformation of raw survey items into superordinate variables for statistical testing and the verification of their reliability.
10. Data Analysis: Outlines the statistical methods used, primarily two-way ANOVA, to assess interaction effects between independent variables.
11. Test Results: Presents the empirical findings and analyzes the validity of each hypothesis based on the gathered data.
12. Managerial Implications: Discusses the practical findings, study limitations, and suggests future research directions for optimizing online product search tools.
Keywords
Complexity, Electronic Commerce, E-Satisfaction, Expertise Knowledge, Means-End Chain, Product Search Interfaces, Usability, Virtual Product Advisors, WebQual, Web Site Quality, Informational Fit-to-Task, Tailored Communications, ANOVA, Consumer Behavior
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research focuses on the impact of different product search interfaces, specifically virtual product advisors and facet search, on consumer satisfaction and usability in online shops, depending on the consumer's level of expertise.
What are the central thematic areas?
The work integrates theories from marketing, psychology, and information systems management to understand the contingency between consumer knowledge and the perceived quality of search interfaces.
What is the primary research objective?
The primary goal is to investigate whether expert and novice users perceive the usefulness and usability of search tools differently and how this interaction affects overall e-satisfaction.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The study employs a quantitative approach using a randomized experiment with a control group design in a live online shop, followed by a two-way between-groups ANOVA analysis to test the hypotheses.
What aspects are covered in the main section?
The main part covers the theoretical framework of the Net Economy, consumer behavior, the definition of search interfaces, and an extensive empirical section covering the experiment setup, data analysis, and results.
How is consumer expertise categorized in this study?
Consumer expertise is treated as a dichotomous control variable, classifying participants into experts and novices based on a specific knowledge test regarding digital photography.
How does the study conclude regarding expert versus novice preferences?
The findings suggest a contingency: expert users generally report better results with attribute-oriented tools like facet search, while novices tend to benefit more from needs-oriented tools like virtual product advisors.
Why are digital cameras used as the focus product?
Digital cameras serve as an ideal example of a complex technical product that requires a high degree of information and specific knowledge to interpret attributes correctly, making them suitable for evaluating search tool performance.
- Quote paper
- Michael Grundstein (Author), 2013, Virtual Product Advice and its impact on customer satisfaction in an online environment, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/308032
