Consumer information search and decision processes in a Web-based shopping environment.

摘要

This study examines consumer information processing and decision-making in a Web-based shopping environment, focusing on the effects of personal characteristics on the process of selection of choice strategies. The study proposes that prior Internet shopping experience, self-perceived information processing ability, and perceived interactivity have an impact on consumers' strategy preferences. A two-phase experiment was conducted to identify the relationships between personal characteristics and decision strategies. In Phase II study, 229 subjects were instructed to perform a choice task in a Web-based shopping environment. The results indicate that consumers with greater amounts of prior Internet shopping experience tended to display higher levels of self-perceived competence in information processing, increasing the likelihood of more detailed evaluation processing being selected in an online shopping context. Self-perceived information processing ability was found to be positively correlated with perceived interactivity. Consumers with higher levels of self-perceived information processing ability tended to perceive a Website having greater interactivity more than those with lower levels of perceived competence in information processing. Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are discussed.