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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.

Studies the impact of search cost and prior knowledge on consumer search at different price points in a market price distribution for telecommunications products. In an experiment it is found that buyers search differently on premium price products than they do on moderate and low price products, and that this behavior depends on the search costs of the purchase situation and the knowledge of the buyer involved. The results suggest a number of implications for marketers on the role of premium priced brands, ranging from product line pricing strategy to information communication strategy.

This study explores identity signaling used by an emerging class of knowledge celebrities in China – Knowledge Wanghong – who sell knowledge products on online platforms. Because identity signaling may involve constructing unique online identities and controlling over product-related and seller-related characteristics, the purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to uncover different online identities of knowledge celebrities; and (2) to examine the extent to which the online identity type is associated with their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and sales performance.

A unique data set was collected from a Chinese leading pay-for-knowledge platform – Zhihu – which featured the online profiles of tens of thousands of knowledge celebrities. Online identity types were derived from their self-edited content using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling. Thereafter, their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and respective sales performance were analyzed across different identity types using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple-group linear regression.

Knowledge celebrities are clustered into four distinctive online identities: Mentor, Broker, Storyteller and Geek. Product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance varied across four different identities. Additionally, the online identity type moderated the relationships among their product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance.

As emerging-phenomenon-based research, this study extends related literature by using the notion of identity signaling to analyze a peculiar group of online celebrities who are setting an important trend in the pay-for-knowledge model in China.

Empirically examines how certain variables influence the extent of external information search for banking services. The effects of perceived benefit, perceived cost, perceived risk, and perceived knowledge are tested within a proposed structural equation, cost‐benefit based Banking Services Model (BSM). Surveys a sample of 661 students at a major US university to gather data on their information search for banking services. The results reveal that the BSM provides a good fit to the data. Perceived benefit, cost and knowledge influence the extent of prepurchase bank information search. In addition, the consumers felt that it was more beneficial to obtain more information when there was a perceived benefit of lowering risk and when they already had some form of prior product knowledge. Implications of the BSM for services marketing management and consumer theory, limitations of the study, and future research are discussed.

Intangibility has long been studied in marketing, especially its physical aspect. This paper seeks to verify whether a branding strategy is efficient in reducing the risk perceived by customers.

A sample of university students answered the measurements considering both perspectives (brands and product categories). The paper uses a three‐dimensional approach of intangibility and explores its relationships with evaluation difficulty (ED) and perceived risk (PR). These relationships were tested in two different perspectives: brands and product categories.

Two analyses were made to test the hypotheses which were generally supported. Several relationships between the variables were found, but three should be highlighted. First, it was shown that brands are more mentally intangible than product categories, which may lead to a difficulty to evaluate. Second, it was found that evaluation difficulty increases the perceived risk in the product category perspective. Third, it was found that higher involvement generates a stronger relationship between evaluation difficulty and perceived risk for the product category perspective.

Theoretical and managerial implications to the literature are discussed along with examples of how managers could use the findings.

The research incorporates prior knowledge and involvement as moderating variables of the proposed framework and reinforces their relevance to the field. The results not only show the importance of branding, but also support the argument of considering evaluation difficulty in future research.

In marketing, most research on intention–behavior consistency (IBC) is dedicated to improving the predictive ability of stated intentions for future behaviors, with relatively less exploration into the precursors of IBC, especially those linked to regular durable goods void of ethical consumption characteristics. This study aims to focus on the antecedents of IBC for such products, specifically examining category-level and product-level IBC in light of consumer knowledge.

The authors conducted a two-round survey to collect 3,560 Chinese consumers' vehicle purchase intentions and behaviors. The authors have also leveraged a large vehicle database (containing detailed vehicle attribute information) to measure consumer product knowledge (i.e. product judgment accuracy). A trivariate probit model was proposed to account for the potential selection bias arising from sample attrition while examining the effects of consumer knowledge on category- and product-level intention-behavior consistency.

Findings reveal that 47% of the participants displayed category-level IBC, and within this group, a further 39% exhibited product-level IBC. Notably, product knowledge, manifested as accurate product judgment, correlates negatively with category-level IBC but positively with product-level IBC. Intriguingly, the negative association between inaccurate judgment and product-level IBC is less pronounced for consumers overestimating the target product than for those underestimating it. Furthermore, consumers with direct experience are less prone to show category-level IBC, but are more inclined to display product-level IBC.

Vehicle marketers should prioritize consumers who show interest in their products but possess inaccurate knowledge, to retain whom companies can nurture their product knowledge. As for consumers with accurate knowledge, companies should try to expedite their purchase. Vehicle marketers also need to devise suitable advertising strategies to prevent consumers from undervaluing their products. For those overestimating competitors' products, companies can provide information to correct their overestimation and draw attention to possible confirmation biases. Vehicle marketers should encourage potential buyers who have shown interest in their product to participate in test-drive events, exhibitions, and other direct experience opportunities. Yet, for consumers still in the “whether-to-buy” decision-making phase, companies should not rush them into a test drive.

In the policy-making realm, governmental administrators can implement extensive consumer education programs, with a focus on the importance of product knowledge. This may involve providing consumers with accurate information and buying guides through various channels, which can help consumers make informed purchase decisions. Moreover, to foster healthy competition among vehicle companies, governmental administrators can establish regulations that require vehicle companies and other relevant industries to provide accurate and transparent product information, including performance, safety, and environmental aspects. Finally, in order to protect consumer rights, governmental administrators can also strengthen regulations to ensure fair treatment and safeguards for consumers throughout the purchasing process. This includes cracking down on false advertising and fraudulent practices, maintaining market order, and enhancing consumer confidence and purchase consistency.

This study is among the first attempts to examine the relationship between consumer knowledge and intention-behavior consistency, especially for regular durable products void of ethical consumption characteristics. Responding to the call of previous literature (e.g. Morwitz, 1997), the authors distinguish between and examine two forms of intention-behavior consistency simultaneously (using a sample selection model) and obtain more reliable conclusions. Moreover, the study's large-scale two-round survey had obtained individual-level purchase behavioral outcomes, which allowed the authors to measure each consumer's IBC at both category and product levels. More importantly, the authors show the opposite effects of consumer knowledge on the two forms of intention-behavior consistency.

This paper aims to examine how product knowledge influences consumers to consider available information before choosing between organic and non-organic options. As “certified organic” is based on a complex standard in the USA, many consumers have only partial understanding of the term. This research shows how that knowledge influences consumer evaluation of the options presented in the market.

A two-study experimental survey that offers respondents a choice between two canned soups, one organic and one not, along with front- and back-of-label information which they can decide to use is utilized. The two studies differ in inclusion of national brand.

Consumer behavior with respect to information significantly affects rationale for product choice, and higher levels of knowledge are associated with choice rationale. Objective and subjective knowledge influence information processing differently. Inaccurate knowledge displayed by consumers influences their information processing behavior.

While the survey stimuli are a realistic representation of two products, the online survey abstracts from in-store distractors that might influence behavior. The product chosen, while familiar and commonly consumed, is a low-involvement product which may reduce consumer effort.

Marketers of organic foods must understand the level of knowledge held by consumers, as well as the information that most influences their choices if the industry is to grow further.

This study contrasts subjective and objective knowledge about organic foods and calculates the degree to which consumers under- versus over-estimate “organic” in their ignorance. As such, the research offers insight into a well-established label claim that has yet to achieve significant market share.

This research examines impacts from tourists’ destination knowledge and destination interest upon Generation Z’s recognition memory of advertisement for a new travel destination (Taiwan). The findings of this study indicated that participants with high destination knowledge are more likely to exhibit a lower level of new travel destination advertising recognition than participants with low destination knowledge, while the destination interest is low. Practical and theoretical implications of this outcome for destination marketers and tourism scholars are suggested to better understand and anticipate the processes of tourists’ learning and retaining of new travel destination information.

In this chapter, we introduce a new construct we call “Perceived Deception in Online Consumer Reviews” (PDOCR). Online reviews of products are very important to companies and customers, yet they are vulnerable to unethical representations. Even regardless of whether a deceptive review has been posted or not, we take the position that it is important to understand consumers’ perceptions of deception because it is a consumer’s perception that leads him or her to experience subsequent feelings and opinions and to consider follow-up actions. We draw on the literature and build on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Cognitive Dissonance Theory to create an overarching framework of antecedents of PDOCR, consequences, and moderators. We also report findings from a sample of in-depth interviews with real consumers about their thoughts on these phenomena and related constructs. We use our framework and theories and the qualitative data to derive Research Questions that we hope will spur future research on these important issues.

Customers often want to learn about a product/service, and companies can benefit from such a learning desire. While prior research has shed light on firm-beneficial outcomes of customer learning and explored the motivational factors of business partners’ learning behavior, less is known about the critical antecedents of individual customers’ learning behavior. This study aims to explore the key drivers of individual customers’ learning desires and identified customers with a stronger learning desire.

This research used both a lab experiment (Study 1, N = 148) and surveys (Study 2, N = 553; Study 3, N = 703) across different participant populations and product contexts.

This study indicated that both involvement and knowledge-sharing intention drove customer learning desire. Customer expertise further strengthened these main effects. Moreover, a stronger learning desire led to greater customer satisfaction.

This study identified key factors involved in customer learning desire and its potential benefits for companies. Additional research to investigate customer learning in specific environments and forms and regarding specific brands is warranted.

This study emphasizes the importance of supporting customer learning and encourages businesses to manage customer learning proactively. It also provides suggestions for effective learning support for targeted customer groups.

This study contributes to the customer learning literature by exploring key influencing factors of individual customers’ learning desires, based on self-determination theory. It also identified the role of customer expertise in shaping customers’ learning processes. Moreover, this study examined customer learning as a novel way to enhance customer satisfaction.