Research On Users' Information Seeking Behavior In Mobile O2O Context

In the context of the digital economy,new technologies and business models driven by data constantly spring up,and information has become an indispensable basic and strategic resource in the process of social development.With the rapid development and comprehensive popularization of mobile networks and intelligent terminals,various mobile applications have brought disruptive changes to people's lifestyles.The main channels for people to obtain information have begun to migrate from PC terminal to mobile terminal.Therefore,research on users' information behavior in the mobile context has become a hot research field currently.At the same time,the connection between the mobile Internet and the offline real economy is getting closer,and the trend of online and offline integration is becoming obvious.Local life service carried on the mobile O2 O platform has become the next trillion-level market after e-commerce.Mobile O2 O has integrated into people's daily life.As a new business model that uses mobile Internet technology to achieve online and offline interactions,mobile O2 O can take full advantages of mobile phone on its portability,uniqueness of user identity,traceability of location,and high interactivity,and it can penetrate into every corner of residents' life while providing real-time,convenient,personalized and scenarized quality services for users.Compared with PC terminal,mobile information search has significant differences in demand motivation,search context,search methods and strategies.For example,the information content searched by mobile users is highly correlated with their location,and the search time is fragmented.At present,many scholars have begun to pay attention to the mobile information seeking behavior,however,the research on users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context needs to be supplemented.Therefore,taking the mobile O2 O business model as the background,this research integrates online and offline information seeking organically and uses a variety of research methods and theories comprehensively,and then it carries out a systematic study on the theoretical model and the “motivation-process-result” of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context so as to reveal the characteristics and rules of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context and to explore its influencing factors and corresponding mechanisms.Finally,the guiding and optimizing strategies of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context are put forward,so as to provide references for improving mobile O2 O information service and recommendation system and building a "user-oriented" mobile O2 O information service system.This research mainly includes the following aspects:(1)Based on a comprehensive review of the classic theories,models and existing research results of information seeking,an exploratory study is conducted on the process of users' information seeking behavior and its internal mechanism and influencing factors in mobile O2 O context based on grounded theory and in-depth interview methods.And then constructs a theoretical model framework of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context.This model describes the entire process and behavior mechanism of users' information seeking behavior from generating information needs to ending information search behavior in the mobile O2 O context,including 5 stages: information demand cognition,information seeking channel selection,information seeking strategy selection,information screening and evaluation,and information seeking results;the model also summarizes various factors that will affect the process,including subjective factors such as individual characteristics,information literacy,perceived cost,perceived risk,and emotional factors,as well as objective factors,such as contextual factors,technical factors,social influences,tasks characteristics and product characteristics.This model can reflect the characteristics and rules of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context in a better way,expand the research context of information seeking,and it is a useful supplement to the study of users' information behavior,and it also provides theoretical support for subsequent quantitative research.(2)From the perspective of the seeking motivation,an empirical study on the driving factors of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context is conducted by structural equation model method,so as to dig out the inner psychological motivation,exogenous influencing factors and corresponding influence mechanism of users' behavior.Based on the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology”(UTAUT)and the "Motivation,Opportunity,Ability"(MOA)model,we construct the model of the driving factors of users' information seeking behavior in mobile O2 O context combing with the characteristics of users' information seeking behavior.And then the research collects data through questionnaire surveys,and uses SPSS 21.0,Smart PLS 3.0 and other software for data analysis and model testing.The empirical research results show that performance expectancy,information needs,effort expectancy,emotional factors and social influence have a significant positive impact on users' information seeking intentions in the mobile O2 O context,while perceived risks have a significant negative impact on it;There is an interactive relationship among seeking intentions,facilitating conditions and seeking ability,information seeking behavior can only occur under the three above conditions.(3)From the perspective of the seeking process,an experimental study is conducted to explore the influence of individual characteristics and task characteristics on users' information seeking behavior in the mobile O2 O context.Based on semi-controlled user experiment method,48 subjects are invited to complete 4 simulated information seeking tasks on the premise of restoring the real mobile O2 O situation as much as possible,while data about information seeking behavior is collected through the screen recording software(Screen Recorder APP)supplemented by the aloud thinking method.Then the thesis uses individual characteristics and task characteristics as independent variables and information seeking behavior indicators as dependent variables to collect corresponding data for quantitative analysis,so as to investigate how users with different individual characteristics in different task situations choose information seeking channels,methods and strategies,and to explore the corresponding rules of users' behavior.Among them,individual characteristics are measured by the Big Five Personality Feature Inventory(NEO-FFI),which includes five dimensions: neuroticism,extroversion,openness,agreeableness and conscientiousness,and task characteristics are classified by two dimensions: complexity and urgency.The research results will help mobile O2 O platforms and service providers improve search systems and interactive interfaces for different task situations and user groups,the results will also help optimize the way of providing information and achieve more accurate and efficient information recommendations and more personalized information services.(4)From the perspective of seeking results,based on the information gain theory and support vector machine(SVM)algorithm,the key influencing factors of users' information seeking satisfaction in the mobile O2 O context are identified.Based on literature reviews and user interviews,the influencing factors of users' information seeking satisfaction in the mobile O2 O context are sorted and summarized,and finally a total of 57 influencing factors are extracted,which covers five dimensions: user,information,technology,environment and channel.Based on the above information,the questionnaire is designed and data is collected,and 313 valid samples are obtained.Then the thesis uses the information gain theory to analyze the relationship between each influencing factor and user information seeking satisfaction quantitatively,and next the thesis uses SQL software to calculate and sort the information gain value of each factor,thereby identifying 15 key influencing factors of users' information seeking satisfaction in the mobile O2 O context(including convenience,information usefulness,individualized demand satisfaction,location relevance,economy,demand cognition,product/service differences,information screening capabilities,information timeliness,information technology capabilities,surrounding environment,service attitude of merchants,channel trust,interface friendliness,and operability).On this basis,the SVM algorithm is used to construct a prediction model of users' information seeking satisfaction in the mobile O2 O context.The data test results show that the classification accuracy of the model in the test set reaches 86.79%,indicating that the model has a high predictive ability.It also verifies the rationality and effectiveness of the key influencing factors identified by the information gain theory.(5)On the basis of the foregoing research,this thesis puts forward guidance strategies and optimization strategies for users' information seeking behavior in the mobile O2 O context from multiple perspectives of users,mobile O2 O platform service providers,entity businesses,government and industry regulators respectively,in order to provide some practical suggestions and references for promoting users' information seeking behavior and improving the users' information seeking effect in the mobile O2 O context.