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ABSTRACT
There is no question that the Internet has, and will continue to have, a major impact on consumer information search behavior. However, under what conditions, and how, that impact will be felt is not clear. This article offers 14 propositions to stimulate and guide investigations of consumer information search behavior in the context of the Internet. A major conclusion is that broad generalizations regarding the impact of the Internet on consumer information search behavior are not warranted and that, if the propositions possess any truth value, the Internet is not likely to be an information panacea for consumers. Because of the complexities of the Internet and information search behavior (individually and even more so when considered conjunctively), investigations of consumer information search behavior in the context of the Internet should especially focus on moderators of that behavior and interactions among the various antecedents of the behavior. (c)2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
For many pundits and politicians, the Internet represents the ultimate consumer panacea. Indeed, the hubris surrounding the alleged benefits that the Internet offers consumers is unprecedented. Foremost among these alleged benefits are the quantity and quality of individually customized information that the Internet can provide with minimal effort and cost, information that facilitates better decision making and makes the decision-making process more efficient (e.g., Alba, Lynch, Weitz, Janiszewski, Lutz, Sawyer, &Wood, 1997; Bakos, 1991; Widing &Talarzyk, 1993). For example, Underhill (1999) stated that, through the Internet,
. . . limitless amounts of product information and other reading materials can be summoned and then saved, all in an instant, far beyond anything possible in the real world of brochures, manuals, and the memory and knowledgeability of salesclerks (p. 216).
More specifically, with respect to automobile purchases, Armstrong (1999, p. 120E2) wrote that, "The wealth of information available for free on thousands of Web sites has pretty much leveled the playing field for car buyers and sellers. Some people would even say the buyer now has the advantage."
Although the Internet may well empower consumers, there is a paucity of systematic conceptual, analytical, or empirical research indicating that the Internet will in fact lead to more and better information, which in turn will lead to better consumer decision making. The Internet is not, in and...