Several important issues related to the role of the Internet in information search are discussed in this chapter. First of all, is information search on the Internet different from traditional information search behavior? A group of researchers suggest that consumer search behavior on the Internet will be similar to traditional search behavior and will follow the same decision making perspective (Hoffman & Novak, 1996). Others indicate that online information search behavior will change because the Internet is able to provide iterative screenings with respect to an individual consumer’s attribute preference (Alba et al., 1997) and consumers can easily adjust their preferences for product attributes (Jaillet, 2002; Peterson et al., 1997). This issue can be better understood by considering characteristics of the Internet as an information source and transaction channel more thoroughly and by adopting a comprehensive causal framework such as the one proposed in this chapter.
Second, the Internet is but one among various information sources available to consumers (Kaufman-Scarborough & Lindquist, 2002; Schoenbachler & Gordon, 2002). Consumers may not utilize the Internet exclusively for their search and purchases. In today’s multi-source and multi-channel environment, it is necessary to understand what factors influence consumers to choose different channels and information sources for products and services.
Lastly, information search on the Internet does not necessarily increase the amount of search but rather it may substitute for other external information search (Peterson & Merino, 2003; Ratchford et al., 2003). Ratchford et al. (2003) found that Internet users’ total search for automobiles reduced because the Internet replaced search effort dedicated to other sources such as dealer visits. It is also important to recognize that using the Internet for product information search does not necessarily lead to product purchase online (Burke, 2002; Kaufman-Scarborough & Lindquist, 2002). For example, Burke (2002) found that among Internet users, about half of them (55%) used the Internet for product purchase. However, a majority of them tended to purchase products using conventional retailers (91%). Marketers may need to improve transaction and checkout processes such as account setups, delivery and tracking as well as product information quality in order to transform online searchers into online shoppers.