Information Search and Consumer Behavior: How Do Consumers Utilize Information on the Internet?

Abstract

This paper addresses how consumers use Internet with the focus on information search and decision making process. Our findings based on the survey results are as follows: 1.Time constraint is observed with respect to information search via Internet. 2.The higher a consumer’s involvement in choosing specific item, the longer he/she spends on information search. 3.However, it is paradoxical that information obtained via Internet becomes less important in decision-making process, as the involvement gets higher.

These findings imply the following. 1.The spread of Internet usage has a limited effect in improving the market efficiency. 2.Consumers are likely to spend more time on high-involvement items for more information, resulting in less time on information search for low-involvement items.

Whether or not information collected via Internet will be used in decision-making process depends mainly on the extent of the consumers’ average involvement with the item in concern.