To read this content please select one of the options below:

Online/offline information search patterns and outcomes for services

Alberto Sa Vinhas (Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USA)
Douglas Bowman (Emory University, Goizueta Business School, Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Journal of Services Marketing

ISSN: 0887-6045

Article publication date: 3 October 2019

Issue publication date: 6 December 2019

917

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to determine the antecedents and consequences of information source choice to support a purchase decision for services high in experience attributes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct two studies to test their propositions. Study 1 is a single-category application using data from a national survey of 974 consumers who recently made a hotel-stay purchase/reservation. Correspondence analysis was used to identify search patterns, and regression analysis was used to identify their antecedents and influence on search outcomes. Study 2 is a cross-category study using data from a survey of 422 MTurk respondents reporting on search processes across six different services contexts, including hotel reservations. In this study, the authors seek generalization of their results to other services categories.

Findings

The authors identify four dimensions that characterize what information sources consumers, on average, use together when purchasing services. It is found that loyalty program membership and consistency in service delivery across a brand’s outlets for the brands in a consumer’s evoked set are important determinants of search patterns. Search patterns partially mediate the impact of consumer characteristics, choice context and choice set characteristics on search effort and, ultimately, on price paid.

Practical implications

An understanding of the factors that are associated with consumers’ choices of information sources and whether these choices are systematically related to search outcomes has implications for market segmentation and for marketers’ initiatives with respect to what information content to emphasize across sources.

Originality/value

The contribution is an understanding of the antecedents and consequences of consumer search patterns – and what information sources consumers tend to use together, considering the diversity of both internet and non-internet sources. There are limited insights in the services literature regarding how the internet impacts information search processes.

Keywords

Citation

Sa Vinhas, A. and Bowman, D. (2019), "Online/offline information search patterns and outcomes for services", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 33 No. 7, pp. 753-770. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2017-0222

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles