Assessment of antecedents of online consumers’ information search behavior

Abstract

Understanding consumers’ online information search behavior is of major importance in e-commerce for making appropriate strategic, technological, and marketing decisions to increase customer satisfaction and to obtain competitive advantage in the era of digitalized economy. The purpose of this paper is to compare information search behavior of both online and offline consumers in order to understand the characteristics of online consumers and their information search behavior, and to explore prospects of the Internet as a medium to reach consumers. Assessment of the difference between these two consumer groups provides insights to change the paradigm of consumer behavior in terms of information search and choice making process. Findings suggest significant managerial implications for advanced marketing activities and firms’ strategy in response to the emergence of online consumers who appear to have significantly different information search behavior compared to offline consumers.