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The purpose of the study is to explore the effects of two dimensions of perceived risk (functional and emotional risk) on two types of consumer information search (ongoing and pre-purchase search) in the context of innovative products and services and examine the moderating effect of innate consumer innovativeness.

The findings in this study are generated with a quantitative design using a multiple linear regression model and a residual centering method on data-collected survey responses related to tablet PC adoption in an online community and laboratory experiment on online bike-renting services.

The results show that functional and emotional risks influence on-going and pre-purchase search differently in innovative products and services context. On the one hand, functional risk affects on-going search negatively, whereas emotional risk affects on-going search positively; on the other hand, the effect of functional risk on pre-purchase search is not significant, and the effect of emotional risk on pre-purchase search is positive. Furthermore, these relationships are moderated by innate consumer innovativeness. For on-going search, consumer innovativeness moderates the negative effect of functional risk negatively and moderates the positive effect of emotional risk positively; for pre-purchase search, consumer innovativeness moderates the positive effect of emotional risk negatively on pre-purchase search.

Unlike established products and services, innovative products and services possess some elements that are unfamiliar to consumers. Companies typically pre-release innovative products and services long before officially launching them in the market, enabling consumers to assess potential risks and seek information in advance, thereby priming the market. Since innovative products and services are becoming more ubiquitous, research on the impact of perceived risk on information search is crucial for marketers. The present work is designed to be the first to consider the effects of two dimensions of perceived risk (functional and emotional risk) on two types of consumer information search (ongoing and pre-purchase search) and the moderating effect of innate consumer innovativeness. The present research is, therefore, intended to make contributions to the literature on perceived risk, information search and innovation management.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the dimensions of the pre-purchase information search (PS) such as direction (reliance on the information sources-RIS) and pattern (reliance on the utilitarian value-RUV), moderating role of the online shopping experience (OSE), and their influence on the behavior of the socialization agents (family communication (FC), peer communication (PC), TV advertising-TVAdv, social media communication (SMC)) for buying branded apparel.

This study used a questionnaire, and a total of 458 responses were obtained. A measurement model with the dimensions of the pre-purchase information search and socialization agents was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The conceptual model with hypotheses (direct and moderated effects) was analyzed using a moderated approach using Hayes Macros.

The findings confirm the significant influence of the dimensions of the PS (RIS and RUV) on the behavior of socialization agents for buying branded apparel with the strongest influence of RIS on SMC. The moderated effects of OSE between the dimensions of PS and socialization agents are found to be significant except for the relationship between RIS and FC. The direct effects of the RIS and RUV on the socialization agents are higher for consumers having high OSE and lower for consumers having low OSE.

The findings contribute to the growing body of literature on the PS, highlighting the importance of consumer socialization for the purchase decision of consumers in emerging markets. No previous studies have applied a psychological approach to explain the variation in the external search incorporating the dimensions like direction (RIS) and pattern (RUV), which did not receive research attention so far. This study uniquely sets a new direction for the researchers by establishing a theoretical linkage between the dimensions of PS that can act as antecedents and can significantly influence the behavior of socialization agents using the consumer socialization approach based on the social learning theory. The results reveal the strongest influence of SMC and establish the moderating role of OSE for the buying decision of branded apparel. The findings are valuable for online marketers who must acknowledge that social media is the strongest platform for reaching customers and must create a formal page for displaying their latest updates about their products and services. Marketers must engage all the family members through online contests and feedback sessions for developing trust for online shopping platforms.

Because of the increasing volume of information spread in physical and online environments, a consumer intending to purchase a product or service must choose not only what to buy but also which sources to consult when searching for information that may aid decision-making. This study aims to understand how consumers choose their sources of information in pre-purchase external searches, given the information overproduction scenario.

Using a qualitative approach, data collected through interviews with consumers were analyzed under the technique of content analysis, and the results were synthesized into a framework.

Consumers tend to consider few sources of information, based on a previously built perception of which sources are more or less appropriate for consultation. Choice tends to be based on pre-established evaluation criteria involving the use of heuristics in the form of socialized images regarding those sources.

Despite the study’s exploratory nature, the proposed framework sheds light into how consumers respond to information overproduction when choosing their sources, providing interesting venues for future investigations.

The study identified the possible occurrence of consumer confusion associated with information sources, extending the theoretical understanding of such a concept. Moreover, it revealed the need for managers to consider specific aspects related to the sources to be included in marketing communications.

This is the first study to address choice of information sources associated with consumer confusion focusing the offline/online scenario.

Despite the increasing popularity of influencer marketing, there exists a lack of understanding of how content created by social media influencers stimulates the pre-purchase behaviour of followers. Based on the stimulus-organism-response framework, this paper aims to address this lacuna by examining how influencer-created content affects the willingness of followers to search for more information related to the posted product.

A cross-sectional research design uses a web-based questionnaire among Instagram users in Sri Lanka. Structural equation modelling with analysis of moment structures 27 and SPSS PROCESS macro are used for hypothesis testing.

Findings indicate that the commercial orientation of influencer-created content reduces follower trustworthiness towards them and the perceived credibility of the content. Mediation results demonstrate that the commercial orientation of influencer-created content negatively affects follower willingness to search for more information related to the posted product through trustworthiness and perceived credibility.

When adopting influencer marketing to stimulate information search behaviour, marketing practitioners should carefully examine the commercial orientation of the content of the messages posted by social media influencers to maintain high levels of follower trustworthiness towards the influencer and positive follower credibility perceptions of the message.

This paper adds to influencer marketing literature by demonstrating the underlying process through which the commercial orientation of influencer-created content impacts follower willingness to search for product-related information.

This research reviews numerous studies of the relationship between consumer knowledge and external search in conventional marketing channels to investigate differences among these studies that have produced conflicting results. The findings provide a benchmark for future researchers and practitioners seeking to gain insight into consumer information search processes unfolding in the new environment of online, mobile, and social networking channels.

A meta-analysis of an extensive array of empirical studies of the relationship between consumer knowledge and external information search was conducted. Regression analysis was used to test whether certain characteristics in the studies can explain variability in the effect sizes in which effect sizes are entered as dependent variables and moderators as independent variables.

Objective and subjective knowledge tend to increase search, while direct experience tends to reduce search. Consumers with higher objective knowledge search more when pursuing credence products. However, they search relatively less when pursuing search products. Consumers with higher subjective knowledge are much more likely to search in the context of experience products, but as is the case for objective knowledge having little effect on search for experience products, subjective knowledge has no significant effect on information seeking for search products. In addition, objective knowledge facilitates more information search in a complex decision-making context while higher subjective knowledge fosters more external information search in a simple decision-marketing context. Finally, the findings indicate that the knowledge search relationship reflects strong linkage in the pre-Internet era.

Relatively little is known about how the relationship between knowledge and information search varies across different types of products in simple or complex decision-making contexts. This study begins to fill this gap by providing insight into the relative importance of objective knowledge, subjective knowledge, and direct experience in influencing consumer information search activities for search, experience, and credence products in simple or complex decision-making contexts.

The debate over how services should be advertised and communicated has raged on for decades. Much of the early work on services emphasized the use of tangible cues and was primarily issue and/or profession specific. There are no real communication guidelines that encompass all service marketers. This paper looks at how consumers use information in a purchase situation to establish communication guidelines for service providers. Marketers know consumers rarely have full information in a buying situation and have devised communication strategies accordingly. Services in particular offer less information than traditional consumer goods because of services inherent distinguishing characteristics, e.g. intangibility, non‐standardization and concurrent production and consumption. Integrating both conceptual and empirical work this paper uses a framework of incomplete information to examine commonly practiced communication methods of advertising, signaling, personal sources and relationship marketing. Using the two‐dimensional framework advanced in this paper, 16 communication guidelines for service providers are presented.

Previous research provides evidence for a conceptual distinction between self‐assessed and objective knowledge, and relatively little is known about the relationship between knowledge and information search. The current research provides empirical evidence for differentiating the two knowledge types. Furthermore, it suggests that the relative effects of the two types of knowledge on pre‐purchase information search depend on the type of information source. Consistent with prior research, this study shows that self‐assessed knowledge is strongly linked to the consumer’s use of personal sources of information, including internal memory searches and word‐of‐mouth communication. Conversely, objective knowledge seems to have a positive impact on the consumer’s motivation to seek external information (e.g. newspaper articles, mass media sources) about the service provider. Managerial implications for professional service providers are discussed

Existing literature offers conflicting evidence on how prior product knowledge influences amount of information search. A majority of these studies are based on variants of cost benefit frameworks where consumers engage in search until the benefits from information search exceed search costs. The purpose of this paper is to develop an expectancy theory‐based framework to model consumers' information search and its antecedents, including motivation to search as an intervening construct.

The framework is tested using data from real consumers engaged in their actual purchase decisions, in an emerging market context, using longitudinal survey research design. The data are analysed using structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model. The model shows an acceptable fit with X2 (271, 487)=640.252, p < 0.00 and 0.95 CFI.

Results indicate that the relationship between prior product knowledge to information search is mediated by motivation to search. Prior product knowledge influences motivation to search through its influence on the consumer's perceived ability to search and his/her perceived value of additional information. Furthermore, perceived ability to search is the strongest predictor of motivation to search. The parsimony of the proposed framework in providing a simpler account of factors influencing the search process along with its managerial implications is discussed.

The findings suggest that perceived ability to search and perceived value of additional information are two important levers that managers could use for achieving desired results. Furthermore, perceived ability to search is an important mediator, which completely mediates the relationship between prior product knowledge and motivation to search. These findings also provide strong indications about the need to simplify the search process for consumers, especially in the context when novelty is predominantly marketed.

The paper introduces a motivational measure of search in the literature and shows that the motivational measure is indeed the proximal measure to other antecedent constructs compared to a behavioral measure of search. Perceived ability to search and perceived value of additional information are shown as important mediators between prior product knowledge and motivation to search.

To determine whether French and English Canadians had different information search patterns prior to automobile purchase, 210 buyers of 1983 and 1984 Ford and Toyota automobiles in two Ontario and two Quebec cities were surveyed. We hypothesised the English‐Canadian car buyers prefer printed sources of information, while French‐Canadian buyers prefer personal sources, consider fewer alternatives, devote less time to the search process, and generally search less extensively for a new car than do English Canadians. Three of the five hypotheses were supported. Compared to their English counterparts, French Canadians evaluated ten per cent fewer alternative car makes, spent 30 per cent fewer days in the search process, took 67 per cent fewer test drives, and scored eight per cent lower on a measure of overall depth of search. As the French search pattern perhaps entails a greater risk, marketers in Quebec may need to provide better warranties and after‐sales service than in Ontario.

The purpose of this paper is to present a buying process for the multichannel consumer (MCC) that starts at online information search and ends at the offline retail channel and then seeks to determine the universality of such behavior across countries.

A structured questionnaire was administered to MCCs from Russia, Singapore and the USA. The model was estimated using partial least square and country comparisons were conducted with a multi-group analysis.

The empirical results validated the conceptual model. In country comparisons, there is both converging (online information search) and diverging (retail store) MCCs’ behavior exhibiting nuanced differences.

Future research should examine values of MCCs at the individual level so as to increase the generalizability of the findings.

The convergence of MCCs information search behavior suggests that there is an opportunity for companies to standardize their online information strategy to educate global MCCs prior to their visiting brick and mortar stores. In-store salesperson remains important and effective for MCCs in the USA and Singapore, but not Russia.

A new conceptual framework that integrates economic and psychology theories is presented to depict the shift of control tilting in favor of MCCs in the buying process and introduces the concept of “reversal” information asymmetry in which consumers perceive to have more knowledge than the vendors.