Consumer Information Search and Decision Making in the Electronic Commerce Environment

Abstract

Marketing managers in the consumer goods industry face a new frontier of electronic information and commerce. Understanding buyer behaviour in this new marketing channel is crucial. Projections about the diffusion of electronic commerce have been breathtaking. It is estimated that by the year 2000, business-to-consumer electronic commerce will account for a sales volume of 80 billion dollars a year and business-to-business electronic commerce will account for a sales volume of 300 billion dollars a year (Al Gore, USA Vice President in his report to Congress, 1998). The past few years have seen a rapid growth in the variety of products carried by the electronic shopping malls on the World Wide Web. Simultaneously, technological advances have resulted in increasingly complex products. Consumers, who are becoming more mature, sophisticated, and intelligent, are demanding higher levels of product information before making purchasing decisions (Beninati, 1994; Whittemore, 1994). Rapid advancements in Web technology have offered a solution to this dilemma in the form of computerised decision aids that use software smart agents to provide an intelligent interface to the consumer. These computerised decision aids improve transactional efficiency by providing merchandising and sales information to consumers, offering sales support, and facilitating sales promotions, while at the same time, enhancing the consistency, availability, and quality of support to consumers. These computerised decision aids have the potential to empower consumers by enabling them to make informed decisions about the marketplace.