Drivers and Impediments of Consumer Online Information Search: Self-controlled versus Agent-assisted Search

Abstract

This research investigates drivers of consumer's online search activity. Traditional constructs relevant in offline information search (including perceived product risk, purchase involvement and product knowledge) are tested for an online environment on the basis of a structural equation model. In addition, new constructs impacting online search, namely privacy concerns and flow, are analysed. A major contribution of this research is the explicit distinction of consumers' preference for agent-assisted search versus self-controlled search forms.The analysis is based on 116 subjects that were observed in their search behaviour during a 'real-world' shopping trip for cameras.

An ordinal ranking criterion for the subjective evaluation of alternatives and exchange reliability

“…This type of information structure applies also to online search environments, where consumers are presented with a set of product characteristics displayed within several links when browsing through different websites [10]. (b) A second area of application follows from online search environments and concentrates on the agent recommendations provided to the DMs based on their purchasing history [35,40,43]. These recommendations involve the description of a series of product characteristics by unknown third parties to the DM.…”

A history of internet purchasing: suggestions for web‐based entrepreneurs and SMEs

“…The argument here is that in the past internet shopping was done in the conative sphere in that the experience is merely facilitated by the technology in that by shopping online, the internet is enabling the process and by definition making it easier. The act of online shopping becoming more convenient than offline shopping (Spiekermann et al , 2001; Ventakesh, 1998) the browse/buy argument (Citrin, 2000) and the way in which mundane tasks such as conducting bank transactions through automated teller machines, making reservations and purchasing tickets through kiosks, checking out of hotel rooms through interactive television, and using self‐scanning systems of retail stores (Bobbit and Dabholkar, 2001) became more the norm than the exception. In short, the internet of the past has merely taken the “leg‐work” out of shopping enabling search transactions and payments and to a certain extent helped to create databases and e‐mailing lists of past and potential customers.…”

Implementing Privacy Negotiations in E-Commerce

“…[1] identified three types: the 'privacy fundamentalists', the 'pragmatics', and the 'marginally concerned' users. [15] distinguishes the pragmatic majority into 'profiling averse' and 'identity concerned' users, hence establishing four user clusters. Table 1 summarizes the four types whose distribution is assumed to be common knowledge;…”