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Jason E. Lueg, Mississippi State University, USA
Robert S. Moore, Mississippi State University, USA
Merrill Warkentin, Mississippi State University, USA
Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
The Internet is drawing consumers in search of information about a broad range of topics. In order to understand how consumers search for and benefit from information online, this chapter presents a set of hypotheses and an explanatory model concerning web-based information search behavior. Our model was tested within the patient health domain, wherein consumers are often highly motivated to seek relevant information. The analysis suggests that there is a clear link between an individual's health and his or her use of online health information, and also that the search intensity that individuals undertake results in an increased propensity to talk with health care providers about the information. [2] Though the context of our data analysis has limitations related to the source of the data (in the health domain), it can nevertheless be generalized that the higher the consumer's involvement with the decision, the higher the motivation to seek information online.
[1]This chapter was adapted from: Lueg, J., Moore, R. S. & Warkentin, M. "Patient Health Information Search: A Exploratory Model of Web-Based Search Behavior," Journal of End User Computing, 15(4), Oct.-Dec. 2003, pp. 49–61.
[2]The data used in this chapter are from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. We thank the Pew Trusts for making the data set available and acknowledge that the Project bears no responsibility for interpretations and inferences based on the analysis of the data presented herein.
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