Consumers Information Search In The Digital Age:Appropriation And Reflection Of Social Information Resources

This paper intends to explore the impact of digital technologies on consumers’ information search. Consumers’ information search is defined as a series of actions of seeking informaiton performed in the process of consumption to satisfy the information needs related to the consumption situation.The research is based on the fact of "co-existence":the co-existence of consumers using digital technologies and the consumers who are not using them and the co-existence of consumers’ using digital means and non-digital means during one course of information search. In a review of literature volumes from both consumer information search and information-seeking behavior in the domain of information system, the paper discovers two major problems to solve:to extend the current the "toolbox" imagination of digital technology on consumer information search and to explain the structural habits of consumer information search and its change.A concept of Social Information Horizon (SIH) is constructed to extend the single imagination of "toolbox" to understand the impact of digital technologies on consumers’ information search. Digital technologies are changing the tools of consumer information search, as well as the social information resources for consumers’ conducting information search, including documents, tools and social networks. Digital technologies have an enormous impact on SIH based on their dimensions of information production and exchange. The paper continues with a typology of the information search means available to consumers. These means are analyzed to their SIH characteristics, media characteristics and interactivities. After a hierarchy cluster analysis, these means are clustered to3categories and6sub-categories:traditional information search means (including enterprise dominated and media dominated), social information search means (including directed and no-directed) and browsing information search (including matching browse and exploratory browse).The Structuration Theory is introduced to understand the change brought by digital technologies to a certain course of consumers information search as the practical use of social information resources. A Habit-Mediated Dual Structuration Model (HMDSM) is proposed:the impact of digital technologies on average consumers starts from the task of consumer information search. After interpreting the task and its situational facts, consumers form their information needs. Consumers appropriate the tool-in-use from the social toolbox according to their perception and preference in the information search habits. These means-in-use interact with documents and social networks in SIH and bring a series of results. Consumers will have their reflections on these consequences:especially those unintended consequences, which encourages the reflections on the ways they interact with information search means, their own information needs, the means itself and their habits. There is a constant monitoring and modification process for consumers information search. The model is used in this paper to discuss the consumer information search and the impact of digital technologies.A series of hypothesis are proposed based on HMDSM. To test the hypothesis, the paper designs an empirical questionnaire to collect the data. Selecting he information search in a travel situation as the situation task to interviewees, the paper constructs measurements to collect the information search behavior and consumers attitude and perception. The results are analyze using SPSS20.0with the main hypothesis are proved-the results further suggest that it is the difficulties consumers encounter in the course of information search that play the crucial roles of reflections. The different difficulties consumers encounter result in different change intentions on their information search habits.A further analysis on the data of consumer travel information search shows the certain and uncertain dimensions of impact of digital technologies:consumers with longer digital experience show more optimistic on information availability and quantity and quality of user generated contents. Digital experience has its main impact on instrumental attitude concerning information search, and significantly lower the percentage of consumers with low motivations of information search. However digital technology has the uncertain impact on consumers with different attitudes.The last part of the paper divides6types of consumer information needs based on HMDSM and a case study of consumer information search:discovery and exploration, facts and experiences, comparison and choice, exchange, learning and assurance and re-assurance. These6types are not in a linear order but will shift and move. The paper further suggests the strategies of advertisers for these information need types: build visibility, complete information mix, obtain standards, clear satisfactory, help learning to cultivate fans and win positive word-of-mouth. The paper ends with a discussion of the possibility behavioral segmentation and targeting using the criteria of information search and proposes a new advertiser strategy beyond "management" build the information resource of your own brand.