An empirical study on consumer information search behavior and experience in mobile shopping

Abstract

This research, which is based on developments and innovations in mobile technology and attempts to provide guidance to applications of mobile retailing or shopping, focuses on Human Behavior and Interaction. A research framework is established with the thinking of customer relationship, which leads to 4 issues to be explored. Therefore, this research is composed of 4 stages of studies. Urban citizens, aging from 25 to 34, in Hangzhou city, one of the shopping paradises in China, are chosen as the target people to conduct quantitative studies. Among these studies, gender difference is considered as a big issue for inspection. The first study that aims to discover potential customers and their attributes provides evidences to divide potential customers into active shoppers and inactive shoppers. Most of respondents tend to shop weekly (some of them even shop less frequently) at familiar or original retail outlets or through the Internet at home. It is noteworthy that the reasons that motivate them to perform frequent purchases or conduct housework related shopping activities are potentially shifting form purchase-driven to leisure-driven. The second study that attempts to investigate shopping motivations in different situations provides further evidences to support findings in terms of the potential shifting in shopping motivations in the first study. Respondents are unlikely to simply shop for either necessity or out of personal pleasure. They tend to pursue a holistic shopping experience or an experience that is free of responsibility. Additionally, respondents all prefer to shop in original stores although active shoppers are likely to shop in multiple channels. In addition, a majority of respondents agree that in general shopping is quite time-consuming. Therefore, regarding shopping frequency, time cost, motivation transformation, and shopping channel, being able to capture frequent touches, namely to generate a greater degree of exposure to shopping information, to shape holistic experiences, and to facilitate initial search is considered as the role of mobile search. Considering adaptation of mobile search, frequent consumption, in which consumers shop products with relatively short replacement cycle, is chosen as the focused area to conduct subsequent studies. By focusing on this area more trials or frequent experiences of mobile search can be generated or applied among consumers in their regular shopping activities and in their regular use of mobile devices. Since indulged shopping in frequent consumption reflects the potential shifting in shopping motivations three desirable attributes, namely informativeness, enjoyment, and efficiency, are selected as important criteria to measure mobile search experiences. Next, in order to find out which information elements are most relevant and important for initial search, the third quantitative study is performed. Information content elements in relation to product comparison, payment security, product settlement, and non-marketer dominated recommendations are found most relevant and important for initial search. Moreover, females are usually informed better than males, and active shoppers are likely to be more knowledgeable than inactive shoppers because females and active shoppers tend to receive and process more information in initial search. In addition, respondents prefer non-marketer dominated information sources much more than market-dominated information source. Electronic word of mouth recommendation (e-WOM), as proved, gains equal preference with traditional word of mouth recommendation (WOM), and it is more likely to be utilized particularly for evaluating and selecting products that have experience attributes. Furthermore, the perceptions towards most of information content elements which respondents are likely to search for embody both perceived hedonic usefulness and perceive utilitarian usefulness. This, to some extent, further explains why consumers are unlikely to simply shop for either task completion or leisure and recreation. This also further supports the previous findings in terms of motivation transformation. Among those information content elements which are high of relevance and importance for initial search product attribute comparison, price related information, and non-marketer dominated recommendations are the information elements that respondents often search for and usually process at the earlier stage of a search process with greater input of time and effort. In order to make initial search less intensive but more efficient, judgment support and easy of recall are considered relevant and positively correlated with efficiency in product selection and evaluation. This means if consumers feel judgment can be quickly and easily made through information they exposed to or through information that can be better and easier accessed in working memory their feeling of efficiency can be enhanced. Therefore, judgment support, easy of recall together with informativeness, enjoyment, and efficiency are the 5 indicators to evaluate effects of information presentation. Since product attribute comparison gain highest priority in a search process and is also perceive high of search intensity. It is selected as the focal and starting point to improve mobile search experiences, which is involved in the investigations of information presentation. The results of information presentation in terms of product attribute comparison reveal that being able to have better understanding of products or product characteristics is the foundation based on which right decisions of information selection and information presentation can be made. Additionally, a good organizational structure of information presentation can contribute to enjoyable and efficient information processing. Thirdly, comparison facilitation enhances judgment making and ensures that information interaction is of coherence. Furthermore, information interaction should not only be easy but also should be flexible and compatible in order to fit different search approaches or search logics that shoppers follow at the time. Last but no the least, information presentation need to provide essential and effective evidences based on consumers’ own evaluation strategies.