INFORMATION RESEARCH

Research on the Influence of Users' Need-State on Information Searching Tactics in Mobile Shopping Based on the Information Foraging Theory

  • Shen Wang ,
  • Shi Qianru ,
  • Li He ,
  • Liu Jiayu ,
  • Li Shiyu
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  • School of Business and Management, Jilin University, Changchun 130012

Received date: 2023-08-14

  Revised date: 2023-11-27

  Online published: 2024-04-24

Supported by

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation titled "Research on the Evolutionary Mechanism of Social Media Group Behavior and the Discovery of Special Behavior Groups Based on System Hierarchy Evolution" (Grant No. 72304111), Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan titled "Construction of Integrated Big Data Resources and Decision Support Platform for Ice and Snow Tourism in Jilin Province under the Empowerment of Digital Intelligence" (Grant No. 20220203176SF).

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] Searching tactic constitutes a pivotal aspect of user information searching process. Analyzing the impact of need-state on the information searching tactics in mobile shopping could provide theoretical and practical references for enhancing user searching experience.[Method/Process] Based on the information foraging theory and the search economy theory, this study discussed how users' need-state in mobile shopping influenced their information search tactics. The research design encompassed goal-oriented and exploratory-based need-states scenarios, and hypotheses were tested through scenario experiments.[Result/Conclusion] The results indicate that users' need-state significantly influence the product evaluation costs but do not affect the moving costs between information patches. In comparison to goal-oriented need-state, users in an exploratory-based need-state spend more time evaluating an alternative. Furthermore, when evaluation costs increase, users tend to decrease the quantity of evaluations within information patches. The study findings contribute to improving users' information search experiences.

Cite this article

Shen Wang , Shi Qianru , Li He , Liu Jiayu , Li Shiyu . Research on the Influence of Users' Need-State on Information Searching Tactics in Mobile Shopping Based on the Information Foraging Theory[J]. Library and Information Service, 2024 , 68(7) : 79 -87 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2024.07.008

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