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External Search: The Role of Consumer Beliefs
Abstract
A survey of 164 recent purchasers of color television sets shows that consumer beliefs about the marketplace and about their capabilities as consumers accounted for 50% of the variance in extent of external search. Also, the type of brand (domestic, foreign, or private) and the type of store (national, regional, or local) considered by a consumer are found to be significantly related to the beliefs held.
... A vast literature exists on the determinants of prepurchase information acquisition for decision making, which consti- tutes a major portion of the decision duration time in con- sumer purchases (e.g., Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Nelson 1970Nelson , 1974Punj and Staelin 1983;Srinivasan and Ratchford 1991;Stigler 1961). Researchers also have addressed a variety of additional issues related to information acquisi-tion.? Examples include the amount of search actually un- dertaken ( Dickson and Sawyer 1990;Katona and Muller 1954;Newman and Lockeman 1975;Newman and Staelin 1972;Punj and Staelin 1983), distributional assumptions on price (Rothschild 1974;Telser 1973), sources of informa- tion employed (Bennett and Mandell 1969;Katona and Muller 1954;Kiel and Layton 1981;Udell 1966), patterns of information acquisition (Furse, Punj and Stewart 1984;Westbrook and Fornell 1979), information acquisition be- havior during the categorization process for new products (Ozanne, Brucks, and Grewal 1992), models of search ac- tivity ( Hagerty and Aaker 1984;Meyer 1982;Ratchford 1980), the role of cognitive ability (Capon and Davis 1984), information acquisition activities ( Kiel and Layton 1981;Newman and Staelin 1971), and the returns to search (Punj and Staelin 1983;Ratchford and Srinivasan 1993).3 ...
... • Search difference (-)-Response to "Searching for au- tomobiles is difficult" on a 7-point agree/disagree scale (7 = agree). Previous work in marketing has suggested that a high score on this variable signals high cognitive costs for infor- mation collection ( Russo et al. 1987) and/or a lower perceived benefit to search activities ( Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Howard and Sheth 1969). Thus, a higher value for this variable is expected to increase delta v, thereby decreasing deliberation duration. ...
... • Process capability (-)-Response to "Information sources about cars are so numerous that it is impossible to know eve- rything at any time" on a 7-point agree/disagree scale (7 = agree). A high score on this variable should be related to low perceived benefits from search and, accordingly, a high value of delta v, thereby decreasing deliberation duration (Capon and Davis 1984;Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Kiel and Layton 1981;Miller 1956). ...
Newman and Staelin (1971) point to a lack of research addressing the important questions of “How long are buyers ‘in process’ on their purchasing decisions?” and “What factors are related to differences in decision time?” Unfortunately, very little attention has been paid to this important research area during the more than two decades following Newman and Staelin's work. Accordingly, the authors develop a theory of the evolution of choice decisions for consumer durable products. This theory addresses information acquisition behavior and the duration of the purchase deliberation process itself. From this general theory, hypotheses pertaining to the duration of the deliberation process are tested using new car purchase survey data.
... Empirically, consumers' ability is positively related to information search [40]. In purchasing, the perceived ability to judge products and brands positively affected consumers' information search [48]. ...
... This assertion is supported by Refs. [17,40,48]. It is purported by these authors that psychologically; the consumer is motivated to search for information about a product/service once the needs of the product/service arouse them. ...
This study ascertained the influence of political party campaign message information search on the behaviour of voters in Ghana. The researchers however conducted this study by applying the perspectives of consumer behaviour to voter behavior with an objective to examine how the behaviour of consumers (voters) is influenced by the search for information on election campaign messages in their decision-making process. The examination used quantitative research to determine the relationship between voting behaviour and political campaign with the cross-sectional survey deployed to collect data from 7203 voters in Accra. These voters were selected through random sampling and the data was collected with questionnaires. The study measured voter (consumer) behaviour from three dimensions namely psychological, social and personal behaviour. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) in Amos was used for the analysis to establish the relationship between the variables. The study revealed that significant positive relationship between campaign message information search and voter psychological behaviour. Likewise, information searches on campaign messages significantly influence voters' social and personal behaviour. The study concluded that the behaviour of voters is influenced by their search for content or details of political campaign messages. The study concludes that there are opportunities for political marketing and change in voter behaviour. Still, sufficient attention should be given to developing and deploying a consumer behaviour model that recognises the challenges and changes with political-marketing campaigning for vote in Ghana Political parties/candidates should make available adequate information on their campaign promises and manifestos to voters to influence their behaviour towards winning their votes. This study has contributed significantly to the knowledge of literature in the field of political marketing. Nonetheless, further studies should be conducted in other jurisdictions other than Ghana to validate the model or test the hypotheses.
... The theory suggests that by making some judgment of the rela- tive width of the price dispersion in the market (or the vari- ance in available prices), the consumer determines the like- ly financial return from search, which is then weighed against the expected incremental costs of search to deter- mine how many vendors to sample. Results regarding this classic hypothesis have been mixed (see Bucklin 1969;Claxton, Fry, and Portis 1974;Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Goldman and Johansson 1978), in part because consumers are likely to learn where low prices are offered as they learn that market prices are dispersed (Urbany 1986). In the gro- cery industry, however, there is evidence that PPD is related positively to search behavior (Bucklin 1969). ...
... The Appendix presents measurement information for the in- dependent variables and provides the specific items used, the means and standard deviations, and coefficient alpha for multi-item scales. Feick and Price's (1987) items were used for the MM scale, whereas items generated for other scales were similar to those used in other studies (e.g., Beatty and Smith 1987;Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Goldman and Johansson 1978). The newest construct, IS, was measured by three items that specifically focused respondents on previ- ous behavior in shopping at several stores to identify a pri- mary store (e.g., "I shopped back and forth between several different stores before choosing where I now do most of my grocery shopping"). ...
The literature has produced an incomplete understanding of factors explaining the variance in price search in markets in which search is a regularly occurring activity. The authors develop a model of price search in the retail grocery industry by expanding the classic cost-benefit model and integrating psychosocial returns and concepts from human capital theory. The results indicate that prior investment search and market mavenism explain significant amounts of variance in price- and specials-related search, respectively, beyond that accounted for by economic costs and returns. The authors further explore the habitual nature of price search in this industry, consider the implications of the social value of price-specials information, and discuss the indirect impact of demographic characteristics. They consider implications for pricing strategy and competition, including reasons why previous research has found that executives overestimate consumer price search.
... Ainda com relação ao comportamento do consumidor, o uso da heurística em processos de decisões simplificadas pode gerar crenças de mercado para a realização de escolhas (DUNCAN; OLSHAVSKY, 1982;JOHN et al,1986;DUNCAN, 1990). Para Sherman e Corty (1984), os consumidores usam as crenças de mercado porque elas proveem foco e encorajam o indivíduo a selecionar e prestar atenção em aspectos específicos, podendo reduzir a complexidade da decisão e permitir ao comprador fazer julgamentos mais rápidos e com menor esforço cognitivo. ...
... Mesmo (3) antes mesmo da degustação, é possível que estejam remetendo-se às suas experiências anteriores com sucos prontos, reforçando a evidência da decisão pela marca. Esse comportamento relaciona-se às crenças de mercado ligadas à marca, tais como "compre a melhor e mais conhecida marca" (HOYER; BROWN, 1990apud LEONG, 1993, ou "firmas que fazem mais propagandas vendem os melhores produtos" (DUNCAN; OLSHAVSKY, 1982;DUNCAN, 1990 (SCIOTVSKY, 1945apud DUNCAN,1990WOLINSKY, 1983), no caso, sucos do grupo II. Desta forma, combinando crenças de mercado (DUNCAN, 1990) e relacionando preço com qualidade do produto (ENIS; STAFFORD, 1969;GARDNER, 1970;MONROE, 1976;OLSON, 1977), muitos respondentes tenderam a escolher marcas líderes que ofereciam a melhor relação custo/benefício, comportando-se conforme a crença de mercado "compre a melhor e mais conhecida marca" (HOYER; BROWN, 1990apud LEONG, 1993. ...
Esta pesquisa objetiva verificar a influência da heurística e das crenças de mercado nas escolhas consumeristas de baixo envolvimento que apresentam inovações. Foram entrevistados jovens consumidores, buscando-se compreender o processo de escolha de sucos prontos. Por meio da análise de conteúdo, percebeu-se como principais atributos no processo de escolha e identificação das inovações: sabor, marca, embalagem e preço. Também se verificou que os jovens pesquisados consideram crenças de mercado como “compre a melhor e mais conhecida marca”, bem como tendem a utilizar a heurística para desconsiderar as informações disponíveis, decidindo de maneira rápida e pouco reflexiva. Com o aumento de envolvimento com a decisão, os respondentes diminuíram a influência da heurística e analisaram as inovações de maneira mais racional.
... Older consumers will choose the appropriate style of a building according to their experience. Besides, more educated consumers search more, perhaps because of their greater confidence in their ability to undertake the search and use the information gathered effectively (Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982). For certain types of degrees, consumers care more about a style of building in accordance with the level of education they have. ...
... It also supports theories about several demographic characteristics such as age and education (Gibler & Nelson, 1998). Age has a special role in people's experience; education helps people to search more, and use the information gathered effectively (Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982). ...
The high demand for residential housing encourages Citraland Residential Surabaya, Indonesia to provide many types of houses. The houses are of several sizes, on different size plots, in different densities and varying building styles. This paper studies ten types of house in seven sizes of cluster. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors homebuyers consider when selecting their houses in a middle-up estate in Surabaya, Indonesia. This study proposes a theory that social factors (family weekend activities, guest visit frequency), psychological factors (psychological needs, expectations from new environment, renovation needs), and demographic factors (age group, type of degree) may affect the physical characteristics (building sizes, plot sizes, cluster sizes and building styles) of the houses homebuyers choose to buy. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 41 respondents randomly chosen. The collected data was further analyzed by chi square test to verify the seven hypotheses proposed. The statistical results show that the building size of the houses homebuyers choose are influenced by family weekend activities such as eating/dining out, sightseeing and gathering at home. The cluster size of the houses homebuyers choose are influenced by psychological needs such as comfort, security and self-actualization. Finally, the building style of the houses homebuyers choose are influenced by age in three groups from 20-35 years old, 36-45 years old and more than 45 years old. In conclusion, based on the lowest chi square test result p value 0.00287, the most important consideration is psychological factors, which is psychology needs namely comfort, security and self-actualization.
... Discounting will also facilitate the demand of the partitioned pricing scheme to a greater extent than that of the combined pricing scheme. Secondly, as consumers' motivation to process information becomes higher, information seeking will be obviously more extensive (Duncan & Olshavsky, 1982;Punj & Staelin, 1983). Most consumers tend to have a strong belief that favourable information can be found during the search process, and a positive outcome can be reached at the end. ...
... This finding supported my second hypothesis, which was accepted. The results are in agreement with those from different studies regarding consumers' motivation (e.g., Duncan & Olshavsky, 1982;Punj & Staelin, 1983). Highly motivated consumers are more likely to become involved with and engage in information searching. ...
Pricing is one of the most sophisticated and critical issues which managers have to face. It is obvious that managers have been undervaluing the behavioural and psychological perspective of pricing for many years. With a clear understanding of behavioural pricing, managers are able to make extra profit for their firms. In the current study, it was interesting to investigating exactly how manipulation of discounts in the combined pricing scheme and partitioned pricing scheme affects the purchase decisions of consumers, such as consumers’ purchase intentions, value perceptions and motivation to purchase. In the experiment of this paper, the four scenarios were based on different pricing schemes and price discount framing, namely Combined/Non-discounted condition, Combined/Discounted condition, Partitioned/Non-discounted condition and Partitioned/Discounted condition. The ultimate goal of this study is to provide further insight for managers so as they can identify and understand consumers’ reactions from psychological and behavioural perspectives under different pricing schemes, as well as how consumers frame price discount in order to ethically capture additional profit from their businesses.
... Slama and Tashchian (1985) suggest that understanding the information search efforts made by different segments of consumers is of great relevance for marketing managers to frame appropriate marketing strategy for appropriate segment. So far, a large number of studies have examined the information search behaviour of consumers for the consumer durables (Newmann and Staelin, 1973; Kiel and Layton, 1981; Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982 and Beatty and Smith, 1987). This study concentrates on examining the information search behaviour of Indian consumers for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). ...
... Slama and Tashchian (1985) suggest that understanding the information search efforts made by different segments of consumers is of great relevance for marketing managers to frame appropriate marketing strategy for appropriate segment. So far, a large number of studies have examined the information search behaviour of consumers for the consumer durables (Newmann and Staelin, 1973; Kiel and Layton, 1981; Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982 and Beatty and Smith, 1987). This study concentrates on examining the information search behaviour of Indian consumers for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). ...
This study uses regression analysis to determine the effect of demographic characteristics on information search behaviour of FMCG consumers so as to extract the most influential demographic element influencing the information search behaviour. Further correlation matrix is used to analyse the interdependence of demographic variables. Finally marketing implications are suggested.
... The construct is closely related to purchase involvement but directed towards the process of purchasing rather than the product class. They [6] based their view on previous findings about the strong positive relationship between attitudes towards pre-purchase search and actual search behavior,[17], [26], [16], [45]. Duncan and Olshavsky [16] demonstrated a strong relationship between attitudes toward shopping and regret avoidance: " when important purchase are made quickly, they are usually regretted " . ...
... They [6] based their view on previous findings about the strong positive relationship between attitudes towards pre-purchase search and actual search behavior,[17], [26], [16], [45]. Duncan and Olshavsky [16] demonstrated a strong relationship between attitudes toward shopping and regret avoidance: " when important purchase are made quickly, they are usually regretted " . More recent research has also highlighted the impact of attitudes on the search effort: Schmidt and Spreng [48] propose that motivation to search is affected by shopping enthusiasm [3]. ...
Consumers frequently engage in pre-purchase search to extract up-to-date information for their purchase decisions. Search is an essential part of online comparison-shopping and decision-making process as it reduces purchase related uncertainty and increases the likelihood of purchase satisfaction.
In this paper, we study how determinants of pre-purchase search, purchase related uncertainty and the type of the search process, influence consumers’ perceived satisfaction with the online purchase.
Our analysis of 351 consumers show that the classic determinants such as product class knowledge, time availability, attitudes toward shopping, and search effort do not significantly affect perceived purchase satisfaction. Instead, we find that involvement and purchase related uncertainties have stronger effect on satisfaction. However, the type of the search process turned out to be the most important factor behind perceived purchase satisfaction.
... 233). In addition, Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) in 1999 indicated the data obtained from phones was their favorite source to obtain information on mortgages and followed by personal contact (Duncan, 1982). According to the poll, the most often reported personal contact source of information was friends and family. ...
The paper attempts to investigate how consumers search information for bank loans and endeavors to provide insight into the different sources of information that entrepreneurs mostly used to grab detailed information regarding loan services. Based on data collection through structured questionnaires using correlation and regression analysis, results reveal that entrepreneurs mostly use bank sources as a source of information. Though Nepalese Entrepreneurs are aware of sources of information due to the non-availability of the required information as well as the trustworthiness of the obtained information they believe bank sources as trusted and reliable sources rather than other sources. The sample comprising of 130 employees in the Information Technology (IT) industry which were selected by non-probability sampling. It is concluded that Interest rate was found to be the most important criterion followed by the duration of the loan, monthly installment, payment flexibility, and processing fee by Nepalese entrepreneurs to decide the choice of bank.
... Prior product knowledge can be described in two different ways, what knowledge the individual has stored in memory (objective knowledge), and what people perceive they know about a product (subjective knowledge) [19], [20]. Knowledgeable consumers are more likely to search for new information before making a decision [21], [22], [23], while less knowledgeable consumers are more likely to rely on attributes such as brand name, price [24] or opinions of others [19], [25]. ...
Laundering clothes by consumers is paramount for maintaining health and hygiene. Drying of clothes is a crucial part of laundry, and in most developing countries this means spreading clothes on lines to be dried by the sun, or passive outdoor drying (POD). However, due to urbanisation and the proliferation of condos, there is little room for sun drying clothes. Additionally, electric washing machines and clothes dryers have become commonplace in many modern homes, however, they consume enormous amounts of energy when drying clothes. Moreover, most families in under-served countries often cannot afford exorbitant electricity bills making these methods to domestic laundry not sustainable. With the continued drive for sustainable living, there is a need for energy conservation alternatives. In other related research work solar energy has been applied in agriculture for drying and preserving food, in electricity and lighting using Photovoltaic (PV) cells, and for heating via radiation. This article explores an alternative for domestic laundry with solar energy, harnessed heat and related technologies. This work does not rely solely on PV cells to generate electrical energy to power heaters,
rather we borrow from the food drying process used in agriculture. This entails combining solar concentrators, which focus the sun’s energy into a chamber, with a system that channels household heat sources into the same chamber. Within this chamber clothes are hung using smart clothes pegs, which hold the clothes in place. The pegs also measure the moisture level of each garment, then use the telemetry data to control the heat within the chamber. Using these combined systems, enormous amounts of grid electricity and carbon-dioxide
emissions can be saved. Actor Network Theory (ANT) and relevant adoption models and theories will investigate consumer adoption and how this technological design is shaped by encompassing socio-cultural factors and physical realities.
... focusing on product design, such as aesthetic and functional elements, given they are deemed to strengthen consumers' cognitive recognition (Bloch et al., 2009); simulating consumers' enthusiasm towards products and brand, driving strong and positive affection (Bloch et al., 2009), by facilitating consumer-product interactions and offering customised products; frequent updating of online product catalogues, boosting consumers' intention to gather information about and experience new products, strengthening their intention to search for product category and brand information (Bloch et al., 2009;Richard et al., 2010;Schmidt and Spreng, 1996); encouraging consumers' ongoing search behaviour (at the category level), to stimulate online CBE behaviour. For example, participation in technology forums and offering regular product and brand updates on online and other media Exploring consumerbrand engagement platforms (Stevens and Rosenberger, 2012), could help strengthen consumers' brand attitude and CBE; and strengthening consumers' perceived benefits from enduring engagement through ongoing search, including the provision of communications about their brands and products (Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982), addressing perceived risk issues in using the products in various media channels (Beatty and Smith, 1987), as well as increasing product diversity and related information, increasing the size of the brand-related evoked set, hence enhancing the perceived usefulness and benefits of ongoing search (Srinivasan and Ratchford, 1991). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the causal relationships between constructs related to consumer–brand engagement (CBE), including consumers’ enduring involvement, ongoing information search behaviour, online engagement behaviour and brand attitude in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework is tested using data from 302 customers of a durable technology product, a smartphone, in Hong Kong, collected using a self-administered online survey. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results reveal that consumers’ enduring involvement and ongoing information search behaviour are key drivers of CBE, ultimately enhancing customers’ brand attitude. The importance of enduring involvement in strengthening ongoing search behaviour, online engagement behaviour and CBE is confirmed, together with the importance of ongoing search behaviour in strengthening CBE. Further analysis demonstrated the full mediating role of ongoing search behaviour in the relationship between enduring involvement and online engagement behaviour, such that CBE fully mediates the impact of ongoing search behaviour on brand attitude.
Research limitations/implications
The research contributes to the extant literature by providing an understanding of how to strengthen CBE for durable technology products, such as smartphones. However, this study is cross-sectional in nature, focusing on smartphones in Hong Kong only. Thus, future research should consider comparisons between countries with diverse cultures as well as other industries, such as the service sector, to enhance the generalisability of the study’s findings.
Practical implications
Marketers should seek to heighten customers’ involvement levels by encouraging customer–brand interactions, which is not only useful in encouraging customers’ ongoing search and online engagement behaviour but also critical in strengthening CBE. Additionally, marketers are recommended to encourage customers’ ongoing search behaviour (at the category level), which is useful in encouraging consumers’ online engagement behaviour as well as strengthening CBE.
Originality/value
The role of ongoing search behaviour in brand building has received little attention in the branding literature. This paper makes a noteworthy contribution to CBE research by empirically testing a holistic framework, confirming that enduring involvement and ongoing search behaviour are critical drivers in the process of strengthening CBE. This paper also demonstrates the mediation roles of ongoing search behaviour and CBE in the holistic framework.
... For decades, researchers have studied how consumers use internal sources which represent consumers' knowledge gained through prior use, research, or trial to arrive at a purchase decision (e.g., Duncan & Olshavsky, 1982). However, there is little research on how offline knowledge influences online store perceptions. ...
In today’s multichannel retail environment, consumers’ experiences in one channel influence their perceptions of another channel. Specifically, consumer evaluations of a firm’s online store have been found to be influenced by consumer interactions with the firm’s in‐store personnel. This paper is among the first to address this assumption and test it empirically. Drawing upon the analogical transfer paradigm, we propose hypotheses and accordingly model in‐store personnel’s competence and friendliness as determinants of online store usefulness, online store enjoyment, and online store value. Using consumer data collected from two Dutch multichannel retailers, we test this model with partial least squares modeling. The results provide clear support for the model and confirm that consumers may use characteristics of in‐store personnel as analogies when evaluating a firm’s online store. Implications for research and retail managers are discussed.
... Overconfidence is a common finding m Judgment and decision research (Einhorn and Hogarth 1978;Lichtenstein, Fischhoff, and Phillips 1982) and in ce~ain cases is more pronounced when people have or thmk they have expertise (Arkes, Dawes, and Christensen 1986;Bradley 1981). Limited external in- formation search, even for expensive durable goods for w~ich "perceived risk" is supposedly high, may result m part because consumers underestimate what more there is to learn (Duncan and Olshavsky 1982). ...
The authors argue that what consumers learn from the experience of using products is not a simple matter of discovering objective truth. They frame the problem of learning from experience as a four-stage process (hypothesizing—exposure—encoding—integration) with three moderating factors (familiarity with the domain, motivation to learn, and the ambiguity of the information environment). The framework is used to identify where learning from product consumption experience is most open to managerial influence. The authors discuss strategic tools for managing experiential learning and consider applications to the simulation of learning in concept and pre-test-market product testing.
... Cognitive beliefs (e.g., beliefs about the quality of mobile online stores) are naturally acquired through experiences (Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982). Information integration theory informs about this process of combining available information with beliefs about unknown objects (Anderson, 1991). ...
This research aims to study the origins of consumers' usefulness perceptions through the example of mobile online shopping adoption in Europe. The results of an empirical study, which is grounded in technology acceptance theory, reveal the pivotal role of consumers' beliefs about the quality of mobile online stores in the formation of usefulness perceptions prior to adoption. While this study identifies that consumers form their usefulness evaluations depending on the respective shopping tasks, the results of a moderation analysis yield usefulness predictors that differ in relevance across product categories and shopping touchpoints. This contextual perspective has implications for both adoption and (online) channel research. It also helps managers to identify starting points on how to promote (mobile) online shopping adoption.
... However, it should be noted that when due to their confidence and ability in the information search acquisition, perceived risk is reduced; the consumers are more likely to search for information. This finding is consistent with prior research studies (Duncan and Olshavsky, 1982;Putrevu and Ratchford, 1998;Schmidt and Spreng, 1996;Mourali, Laroche, and Pons, 2005;Loibl et al., 2009;Rose and Samouel, 2009). Since this relation was never tested in the context of services, this study adds to the existing knowledge by finding that consumers high in self-confidence search for more information. ...
The study examines the role of individual differences in the information search behaviour of consumers for experience services. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the quantitative data obtained from the 268 consumers selected for a cross-sectional survey in a major northern city of India. Results revealed that consumers’ optimum stimulation levels are positively related to their self-confidence and motivation to search and subsequently have a significant indirect effect on their information search efforts. Consumer self-confidence and motivation to search mediate the relationship between the optimum stimulation level and search effort. The study offers insights into the role of consumers’ individual differences in information search. Consumers engaged in variety-seeking behaviour are more confident in their decision making and search for abundant information before buying a service. Thus, marketers should attempt to provide extensive and varying information to such consumers.
... Perceived benefits of search increase utility or provide value by enabling attainment of higher-level goals (Bettman 1979;Gutman 1982). Perceived benefits of search are strongly and positively related to information search activity (Duncan and Olshavsky 1982;Srinivasan and Ratchford 1991). In the context of expiration dates, perceived risk in purchasing and consuming expired products, as well as a consumer's health consciousness provide value by facilitating a higher-level goal of informed decision making. ...
When consumers search for and check expiration dates, the risk of purchasing
and consuming a stale and denigrated quality product reduces.
Since checking expiration dates has a significant impact on consumers’
purchase and consumption decision making, the authors investigate
whatmotivates consumers to search for expiration dates while shopping
for and before consuming perishable grocery products. This research
adapts and extends the information search model (Schmidt and Spreng
1996) by providing new insight on information search as not only a prepurchase
but also a consumption stage activity. Findings suggest that
expiration date search effort is influenced by perceived risk, time pressure
while grocery shopping, and the motivation of checking expiration
dates. These findings provide several implications for consumers and
policymakers.
... Today's internet-driven prescription medication information searches [34,35] call for policymakers to better understand the social and demographic antecedents of patient information seeking behavior. Akin to Schmidt and Spreng's study on external factors affecting consumer pre-purchase information search [36], we argue that perceived ability to search and perceived benefits of searching online are directly linked to prescription medication information seeking behavior [37][38][39][40]. Information processing abilities and motivation to process information are prerequisites for actual information seeking behav- ior [36]. ...
... Thus, review summaries and review ranking should reflect consistent profiles on the distributions of opinions to improve potential consumers' confidence about their choices (Biswas et al. 2011, Smith 2010) and further increase their satisfaction (Oliver 1980, Spreng and Page 2001). Otherwise, potential consumers would either be confused with the inconsistent information or have to spend more time and effort searching for additional concrete reviews (Baker and Anderson 1982, Duncan and Olshavsky 1982). More specifically, for any product, let R be the set of all reviews on the product, with F R being the corresponding set of commented features (e.g., price, quality, etc.), and let S be the set of reviews provided by the review ranking, with F S being the corresponding set of commented features where S ⊆ R and F S ⊆ F R . ...
T he consistency between review summaries and review ranking lists is important for consumers so they can utilize online reviews effectively and efficiently in their purchase decisions. This paper examines this consistency issue and formulates it as an optimization problem. Based on consumers' reading behaviors, all possible sets of reviews that consumers would read from ranking lists are considered; the objective is to maximize the expected consistency. Because of the NP-hardness of the problem, exact methods that search for the optimal ranking lists are generally not acceptable in practice. Hence, a heuristic approach (the enhanced stepwise optimization procedure) is proposed. This approach is an effective and efficient approximation that selects reviews iteratively to add to the ranking lists in light of expected consistency value, superiority, and execution time. Intensive experiments on both synthetic and real data are conducted, with various environments and settings, along with a relevant user study, revealing that the proposed approach outperforms other related methods.
... In the latter case, the uncertainty associated with a purchase decision depends on the consumer's perceived ability to make an appropriate choice. Duncan and Olshavsky (1982) tested this proposition and found that the extent of information search was negatively correlated with consumers' perceptions of their ability to judge product quality. The decision whether to see a new movie is generally coloured by uncertainty, because in most situations the movie will not have been seen previously. ...
... The theory of consumer preference formation also assumes a rational sequence where beliefs form attitudes and attitudes form intent to act (MacKenzie & Lutz's, 1989). Beliefs are information that consumers have about an object (Duncan & Olshavsky, 1982;Petty & Cacioppo, 1981) while attitudes are evaluative (like/dislike) and are based on this information. The beliefs can be true or otherwise, based on fact or opinion. ...
This article attempts to identify dimensions of online shopping skills, which operate in respondents positive on need for cognition (NFC). Both EFA and CFA suggests six factors; preference for being advance user, confident user of latest in information technology, using IT as tool for knowledge exploration, ability to assess behaviour of program, efficient end user and knowledge of hardware. Respondent under 'confident users of latest in information technology' has shown significant difference in online shopping behaviour.
... Daha önceden sahip olunan bilgiler, bilgi arayışı faaliyeti içerisinde değerlendirilmezler (Punj ve Staelin, 1983). Bilgi arayışı için tüketiciler arkadaşlara, aileye danışma, gazeteler, dergiler, kataloglar, satıcılara danışma, broşürler gibi birçok kaynağa başvururlar (Bennet ve Mandell, 1969; Duncan ve Olshavsky, 1982 ). İnternetin yaygınlaşması ve sınırsız bilgi erişimi sunması sayesinde de tüketiciler istedikleri bilgilere istedikleri an, yer ve zamanda kolaylıkla ulaşabilmektedir. ...
Daily deal sites that offer various kinds of good and services have become a rising trend in online retailing and widespread in Turkey. Both consumers and retailers/wholesalers are attracted with the concept of these sites which is basically to offer numerous deals to the members. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors of consumers’ e-loyalty on daily deal sites. During the research, the evaluations of consumers for daily deal sites were obtained and the factors which influence customers’ e-loyalty the most were investigated. Discriminant analysis was used to understand whether the consumers’ evaluations can be the predictor of consumers’ e-loyalty. The results of the study reveal that according to the discriminant function, the most important factors to distinguish consumers between two groups named low e-loyalty and high e-loyalty are customization, choices and character of the web site.
The purpose of the study was to determine the key drivers which influence the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store. In today’s competitive world with increasing number of retail stores, the retailers need to be more customer oriented. Retail has changed and expanded in all lines of business, be it apparel, jewelry, footwear, groceries.etc. The modern consumer is posing a challenging task for the Indian retailer. More aware, more confident and much more demanding, therefore the retailers are looking for ways to deliver better consumer value and to increase consumer purchase intention. Retailers tend to differentiate themselves by making their service easier to consumers. The study aims to study the key drivers that can influence shopping behavior in retail store. A survey (store intercept) method was employed to elicit primary information from 300 shoppers in different formats of retail stores of Lucknow. The findings reveal the factors that play a greater role in influencing the shopping behavior of customers in retail store. As such, a survey of retail store customer’s attitude towards reduced price, sales promotion, quality of the products, proximity to the home, customer service, store atmospherics were analyzed to identify the key drivers influencing shopping behavior in retail store. A questionnaire based on a five-item Likert scale, as well as random sampling, was employed for data collection. Data analysis was accomplished using SPSS software. The paper has found shopping experience, store image and value for money as three important variable out of which shopping experience emerged as a dominant factor which influences the consumer’s shopping behavior in the retail store. Since the research has established empirical evidences in determining the key drivers which influences the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store, it serves as a foundation for a deeper probe into the shopping behavior of the customers in the retail store research domain in the Indian context
To improve consumers’ financial decisions, many policy makers support financial education programs. However, some eligible consumers do not participate, limiting program effectiveness. The authors examine a home-buying and mortgage education website offered to more than 6,000 prospective home buyers, documenting differences in take-up (i.e., who decides to participate) and duration of use by consumers’ demographic characteristics, objective knowledge, and subjective knowledge. These analyses rely on a unique data match between surveys measuring consumers’ characteristics and clickstream data tracking website use. The results show that older participants and first-time home buyers are more likely to take up the website, but otherwise there is little relationship between observable demographics and take-up. Consistent with enrichment theory, consumers who are more objectively knowledgeable have higher take-up. However, consistent with “feeling of knowing” research, a one-standard-deviation increase in subjective knowledge is associated with approximately a ten-percentage-point decrease in take-up (controlling for other factors). Subjectively knowledgeable consumers also use educational materials for a shorter duration. The findings add to literature on consumer information search and inform policy makers about consumers’ use of online financial education.
In this paper, we developed conceptual frameworks for studying consumer adoption of Wi-Fi network and its security measures. We collected data from users of Wi-Fi network in a large insurance firm and universities in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that security knowledge is a significant mediator of attitude effect on Wi-Fi adoption. Furthermore, consumer adoption of security measures is influenced by security knowledge and perceived threat.
Retailers have installed self-service technologies such as self-checkout that aim to improve the efficiency of checkout operations and minimize customers’ waiting experiences that reduce customer satisfaction. Customers’ expectation for self-checkout should influence their evaluation of checkout operations for existing checkout options when the new service is installed at the checkout. This study investigates how expectations about self-checkout affects perceptions of waiting in terms of social injustice, unattractiveness, and undistraction as well as customer satisfaction when retailers change checkout operations through installing self-service technologies. The results from an online survey in Japan revealed that social injustice has a stronger negative impact on satisfaction when customers have low expectations for self-checkout. In contrast, unattractiveness and undistraction tend to affect satisfaction negatively when expectation is high. This study clarifies the mechanism of how installing self-service technologies influences customer satisfaction with pre-existing services in terms of the psychological factor of waiting.
This paper reviews the development of computer driven, interactive data collection techniques in laboratory studies of consumer information acquisition and processing behavior. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed. An interactive methodology employed by the authors is presented along with reactions of respondents involved in studies employing the methodology.
Chapter 2 provides the conceptual framework for Uniform Across the Board Promotions and offers a definition of traditional price promotions and UABPs, while also classifying the UABP vis à vis other price promotions and pricing strategies and pointing out some of the unique characteristics of UABPs. The chapter further summarizes the theoretical background by introducing some relevant concepts and theories such as the adaption-level theory, Prospect theory, Reference Price concept, price search and information economics as well as Behavioral Learning and Attribution theory. Moreover the relevant promotion literature around the short- mid and long-term impact of promotions will be reviewed to build the theoretical foundation for the later research carried out in this thesis. Last this chapter summarizes the findings and discusses the relevance and applicability of the different research results and theoretical concepts for the Uniform Across the Board Promotions.
Die Ausführungen zur Risikotheorie haben gezeigt, daß die Theorie des wahrgenommenen Risikos wesentliche Erklärungsbeiträge zur Nutzung und Beurteilung von Informationsquellen durch Konsumenten liefern kann. Ebenso bestimmt sie in signifikanter Weise die sich zwischen der Beurteilung und der Nutzung von Informationsquellen ergebenden Divergenzen und Kongruenzen. Dennoch macht schon der partial-analytische Charakter der Risikotheorie deutlich, daß zu einer möglichst umfassenden Erklärung dieser Teilbereiche des Informationsverhaltens weitere Theorieansätze herangezogen werden müssen.
This study aims to shed light on college choice satisfaction by examining the role information satisfaction may play when evaluating the relationship of college attributes with choice satisfaction. Previous research has successfully demonstrated the direct relationship between college attributes, information satisfaction and choice satisfaction; however, study on the possibility of variables having a mediating role on choice satisfaction has yet to be investigated. This study attempts to address this knowledge gap and seeks to serve a provocative role in explaining international students' college choice satisfaction. This study was conducted on 149 international students from a private university in Malaysia. Results suggested that college attributes and information satisfaction were essential predictors of students' choice satisfaction. However, more importantly the findings also highlighted that information satisfaction has a partial mediating effect in enhancing the relationship between college attributes and students' choice satisfaction. Hence this significant finding implied that the challenges of educational institutions are not only to focus on the vital attributes that are influencing students' college choice but also strategies on how information regarding the attributes should be disseminated appropriately. This is logical since students' satisfaction with their college choice is dependent on their satisfaction of the information they have acquired with regards to the college attributes.
This article reviews pertinent research related to the antecedents of search and discusses a research study involving teenagers. For the low-esteem group, "enjoyment of shopping" (intrinsic motivation) and "benefit of search" (extrinsic motivation) were the significant predictors of search effort and perceived product knowledge, whereas for the high self-esteem group, only enjoyment of shopping (intrinsic motivation) was a significant predictor. The results are explained in terms of an intrinsic-extrinsic motivation model. For the high-self-esteem group, the intrinsic enjoyment of shopping leads to search effort, which in turn leads to perceived product knowledge. In contrast, for the low-self-esteem group, the intrinsic enjoyment of shopping and the extrinsic benefit of search together lead to greater perceived product knowledge as a result of search effort. Thus, the intrinsic motivation model prevails for the high-self-esteem group, whereas a hybrid intrinsic-extrinsic motivation model prevails for the low-self-esteem group. The article concludes with directions for future research. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Along with the government's policy to convert from kerosene to LPG gas, LPG consumer demand is increasing. It requires the LPG distributors to be able to meet the needs of its customers. PT. Limas Raga Inti is an authorized distributor company PT. Pertamina LPG product devoted to distribute 12 kg. The company's main commitment is to provide the best service to the consumer. One of the efforts to improve the quality of service is to provide optimization of the distribution process. Optimization can be done by determining the distribution of the matrix saving method to obtain the optimal route. The purpose of the optimization of route determination is to provide effectiveness and efficiency of the distribution process. Effectiveness and efficiency can be seen with the speed of delivery time and can overcome the problems that exist in the company. In the process of determining the route to saving matrix, is done in the consumer sorting method which has produced the nearest neighbor and nearest the insert. Then do the repair method using 2-opt and or-opt in order to provide the best route to the selected proposal. Furthermore, the delivery time will be calculated based on the productivity of the proposal and indicating the optimal route. The results of this study are are 4 routes proposed by sorting nearest neighbor method with a total delivery time of 10 hours 30 minutes for 100 customers spread in the distribution area D14. The resulting productivity by 85.11%.
This study aimed to measure consumer information competency, which indicates consumers` general ability to search and utilize information. The model of this study was constructed in order to identify how consumer information competency influences the efficiency and the effectiveness of external information search. The model was verified with related prior knowledge as a moderator variable in order to understand holistic consumer information search activity. The result of the study is as follows. First, the concept of consumer information competency was constructed with four sub-abilities: define, search, extract, and synthesis & use. The ability of define was the highest, as opposed to the ability of extract, which was the lowest. Second, consumer information competency was lower for women as well as for low family income. The sub-abilities of search and synthesis & use were lower for aging consumers. Third, consumer information competency has positive effects on information search efficiency and effectiveness. Moreover, the efficiency influences the effectiveness positively. Fourth, prior knowledge moderates the effect of consumer information competency to the efficiency. Only for consumers with high knowledge the efficiency has the effect of mediating between consumer information competency and the effectiveness.
With concerns for consumers` return behaviors affecting internet shopping malls` profits and product management in the internet clothing market, this study is designed to investigate determinants affecting return and path models for return behaviors. For an empirical study, questionnaires are prepared and respondents in their 20s and 30s with internet clothing purchase experience are selected using the convenience sampling. A total of 517 questionnaires are used for the final analysis. Data are analyzed by using SPSS 12.0 software and descriptive statistics, x^2-test, discriminant analysis, regression analysis, and path analysis is conducted. The results are as follows. First, ones who have returned after purchasing clothing items in internet shopping reached 63.4% of the total consumers. Respondents returned items with price at 50 thousand won or less stood at 67.2%, and the most frequent return shopping malls are open markets with their return rate at 51.1%. Second, variables such as risk perception, information search, impulse buying, buying experience, and age have a positive effect on return experience. Impulse buying and buying experience turn out to have a significant effect on the degree of return, but risk perception, information search, age, and gender to have an insignificant effect. Return intention is significantly affected by risk perception, gender, and age. Third, the analysis of path model for return experience shows that perceived risk has a positively effect, and information search has a direct effect as well as an indirect effect through buying experience or impulse buying. The analysis of path model for the degree of return shows that risk perception does not have effect, but information search has indirect effect through buying experience or impulse buying. This study is thought to find consumers` return behavior characteristics in online shopping, and help businesses operating online shopping malls to efficiently manage returns and set up strategies against returns.
Price fairness is an important factor that influences online shopper drop-out rate in online shopping. This research attempts to understand the factors that influence online shoppers' perceived price fairness. Based on the equity theory, we argue that perceived promotion fairness plays an important role in influencing perceived price fairness. We further argue that perceived promotion fairness is in turn significantly influenced by the shopper's search efforts, contingent upon whether or not the promoted price is realized. A research model was developed that incorporates the equity theory, the motivation literature, and website design features. We developed a plan to conduct experiments to test the hypotheses.
Electronic markets are expected to facilitate consumer information search and product comparison to the extent that consumers are able to accumulate nearly perfect information. The authors present an analysis of search patterns based on a laboratory experiment on product search processes. They identified three types of search patterns in the experiment: sequential, agent search, and iterative search. They studied the factors affecting the choice and the outcome of agent search pattern compared to the other search patterns. The results show that the employed search pattern has an impact on search cost and the efficiency of search measured with purchase price and the time used for searching. Agent search seems to combine low search costs with high efficiency. Sequential search still emerged as the dominant search pattern even though it leads to the most expensive purchase. Iterative search pattern search pattern.
This research considers whether new, unknown brands may be able to signal high quality to consumers via an advertising spending signal. Signaling theory suggests that heavy advertising spending for an unknown brand may be ineffective in signaling quality because the brand has no reputation at stake. More recent theorizing, however, holds that advertising spending may itself serve as a bond and, therefore, influence quality judgments even for unknown brands. The results of a laboratory experiment are consistent with the latter position as we observe strong signaling effects on perceived quality for a new, unknown brand. Interestingly, though, this effect is moderated by subjects' prior perceptions of brand differentiation, such that a negative effect of very high ad spending occurs when differences between brands in a product category are perceived as small. The results suggest that new brands, as well as established reputable.brands, may be able to successfully signal quality by strong spending on advertising. However, the results also indicate the potential for a backlash effect of high ad spending on new brand evaluations when the brand competes in a category where competitive offerings are perceived by consumers to be relatively undifferentiated.
The purpose of this study is to analyze how channel characteristics influence the channel attitudes of multi-channel research shoppers. In addition, the study also considers consumers’ complex shopping behaviors that involve using one channel for search and another for purchase simultaneously. Survey data were collected from 191 consumers with recent (i.e., in the last 3 months) multi-channel experiences. Qualified respondents had either searched in physical retail stores and purchased on the Internet or searched on the Internet and subsequently purchased in physical retail stores. The research hypotheses were examined using multiple regression analysis. The results show that customer perceptions of channel characteristics drive channel choice attitudes. Importantly, we find the significance of channel characteristics varies between the Internet and the physical channel. The research findings deepen our understanding of shopping behaviors in the multi-channel context. Practitioners may use the findings to manage the characteristics of the complementary channels while also designing marketing programs to create positive consumer attitudes toward search and purchase.
The present study takes into account “need for cognition” (NFC), which represents the tendency of individuals to engage in and enjoy thinking. The NFC has been described as the need to structure relevant situation into meaningful, integrated ways and a need to understand and make a reasonable understanding of the experiential world. The article attempts to identify the specific skill dimensions, which operate in respondents who shop online and are positive on NFC, and try to seek difference in online shopping behavior of the respondents with different level of these skills. Principal Component Analysis, ANOVA, and confirmatory factor analysis were the statistics used in the study. Six factors were identified explaining dimensions operating in NFC positive segment, namely, preference for being advance user, confident user of latest in information technology, using it as tool for knowledge exploration, ability to assess behavior of program, efficient end user and knowledge of hardware. Significant difference in online shopping behavior was identified for users having skills clubbed under the dimension of confident user of latest in information technology.
Newman and Staelin (1971) point to a lack of research addressing the important questions of "How long are buyers 'in process' on their purchasing decisions?" and "What factors are related to differences in decision time?" Unfortunately, very little attention has been paid to this important research area during the more than two decades following Newman and Staelin's work. Accordingly, the authors develop a theory of the evolution of choice decisions for consumer durable products. This theory addresses information acquisition behavior and the duration of the purchase deliberation process itself. From this general theory, hypotheses pertaining to the duration of the deliberation process are tested using new car purchase survey data.
Purpose
Existing literature offers conflicting evidence on how prior product knowledge influences amount of information search. A majority of these studies are based on variants of cost benefit frameworks where consumers engage in search until the benefits from information search exceed search costs. The purpose of this paper is to develop an expectancy theory‐based framework to model consumers' information search and its antecedents, including motivation to search as an intervening construct.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is tested using data from real consumers engaged in their actual purchase decisions, in an emerging market context, using longitudinal survey research design. The data are analysed using structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model. The model shows an acceptable fit with X2 (271, 487)=640.252, p < 0.00 and 0.95 CFI.
Findings
Results indicate that the relationship between prior product knowledge to information search is mediated by motivation to search. Prior product knowledge influences motivation to search through its influence on the consumer's perceived ability to search and his/her perceived value of additional information. Furthermore, perceived ability to search is the strongest predictor of motivation to search. The parsimony of the proposed framework in providing a simpler account of factors influencing the search process along with its managerial implications is discussed.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that perceived ability to search and perceived value of additional information are two important levers that managers could use for achieving desired results. Furthermore, perceived ability to search is an important mediator, which completely mediates the relationship between prior product knowledge and motivation to search. These findings also provide strong indications about the need to simplify the search process for consumers, especially in the context when novelty is predominantly marketed.
Originality/value
The paper introduces a motivational measure of search in the literature and shows that the motivational measure is indeed the proximal measure to other antecedent constructs compared to a behavioral measure of search. Perceived ability to search and perceived value of additional information are shown as important mediators between prior product knowledge and motivation to search.
The authors argue that what consumers learn from the experience of using products is not a simple matter of discovering objective truth. They frame the problem of learning from experience as a fourstage process (hypothesizing-exposure-encoding-integration) with three moderating factors (familiarity with the domain, motivation to learn, and the ambiguity of the information environment). The framework is used to identify where learning from product consumption experience is most open to managerial influence. The authors discuss strategic tools for managing experiential learning and consider applications to the simulation of learning in concept and pre-test-market product testing.
Sustainable business development in Africa is a debatable issue. Different theoretical frameworks have been advanced to explain the phenomena. This paper explores studies to argue that the late and slow adoption of strategic management perspectives could explain the low business development. Models that accounted for growth of businesses in other parts of the world like firm internationalization, market liberalization, strategic planning became common in Africa much later. The business landscape was characterized by colonial legacy, state controls and unexploited resources. Recent environmental changes have seen great transformation. This paper contends that strategy tools could enhance sustainable business development in Africa.
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