Information Search Processes Research Articles

The robust beauty of ordinary information.

Heuristics embodying limited information search and noncompensatory processing of information can yield robust performance relative to computationally more complex models. One criticism raised against heuristics is the argument that complexity is hidden in the calculation of the cue order used to make predictions. We discuss ways to order cues that do not entail individual learning. Then we propose and test the thesis that when orders are learned individually, people's necessarily limited knowledge will curtail computational complexity while also achieving robustness. Using computer simulations, we compare the performance of the take-the-best heuristic--with dichotomized or undichotomized cues--to benchmarks such as the naïve Bayes algorithm across 19 environments. Even with minute sizes of training sets, take-the-best using undichotomized cues excels. For 10 environments, we probe people's intuitions about the direction of the correlation between cues and criterion. On the basis of these intuitions, in most of the environments take-the-best achieves the level of performance that would be expected from learning cue orders from 50% of the objects in the environments. Thus, ordinary information about cues--either gleaned from small training sets or intuited--can support robust performance without requiring Herculean computations.

New method in information processing for maintaining an efficient dynamic ordered set

This paper investigates how to maintain an efficient dynamic ordered set of bit strings, which is an important problem in the field of information search and information processing. Generally, a dynamic ordered set is required to support 5 essential operations including search, insertion, deletion, max-value retrieval and next-larger-value retrieval. Based on previous research fruits, we present an advanced data structure named rich binary tree (RBT), which follows both the binary-search-tree property and the digital-search-tree property. Also, every key K keeps the most significant difference bit (MSDB) between itself and the next larger value among K’s ancestors, as well as that between itself and the next smaller one among its ancestors. With the new data structure, we can maintain a dynamic ordered set in O(L) time. Since computers represent objects in binary mode, our method has a big potential in application. In fact, RBT can be viewed as a general-purpose data structure for problems concerning order, such as search, sorting and maintaining a priority queue. For example, when RBT is applied in sorting, we get a linear-time algorithm with regard to the key number and its performance is far better than quick-sort. What is more powerful than quick-sort is that RBT supports constant-time dynamic insertion/deletion.

Learning centred approach for developing the electronic information search processes of students

Background: Undergraduate students of the twenty-first century are widely regarded as ‘technologically savvy’ and have embraced the electronic information world. The literature, however, describes undergraduate students as using a limited range of electronic information sources and not critically evaluating the information they retrieve from internet searches.Aims: The aim was to evaluate a purposefully designed intervention that sought to expand the information search and evaluation practices of undergraduate students. The intervention scaffolded an independent learning activity in the form of a group-based project.Methods: Survey methodology was used to collect data from student pre- and post-intervention for two cohorts of students who undertook the intervention in 2005 and 2006 involving a total of 71 students. Percentages were used to describe survey findings and chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test examined differences between groups.Results: Questionnaires were completed by 59 students (response rate 83%) pre-intervention and 49 students (response rate 69%) post-intervention. Post-intervention there were positive and statistically significant differences in database searching behaviour (p = 0.000), use of Google Scholar (p = 0.035) and number of criteria used to evaluate information retrieved from the internet (p = 0.000) by students.Conclusion: By positively reshaping the electronic information search and evaluation practices of students we are helping students to find informed information sources as they engage in independent learning activities at university and as future health professionals.

What Can Eye‐Trackers Visualize? — An Approach to Capture the Reality of Search Processes

AbstractEye‐trackers have widely been used to judge whether user interfaces fit the searchers' cognitive style, but not often used to examine search processes. We have been using eye‐trackers to capture the behavior of people doing information searches on the web and attained an understanding of information search processes as cognitive processes with length and depth. We think eye‐trackers are useful for identifying various aspects of information search processes. In the past, eye‐trackers were quite expensive and required skill to use. Recently, however, less‐expensive and easy‐to‐use eye‐trackers have become available. Now it is possible to gather, compare, and contrast various research methods, findings, and implications about using eye‐trackers in behavior research particularly regarding web searches, in order to develop a firm foundation for future research.We would like to invite researchers from all over the globe who have been conducting a research using eye‐trackers for studying information seeking behaviors. Panel members' topics are as follows

The Impact of Time Pressure and Experience on Information Search and Decision-Making Processes

The goal of this research was to examine the diagnosis and decision processes of pilots when dealing with conflicting information. The loose coupling between decision processes and an event outcome makes it hard for researchers to use data such as accident reports as reliable indicators of the quality of decisions, and one problem faced by researchers is determining the extent to which pilot decision processes during events are faulty. We examined pilot strategies in a Web-based automated cockpit scenario as a function of time pressure condition (present vs. absent) and experience with automated systems. Time pressure had an impact on time to diagnosis and information accessed for more experienced pilots only. Pilots who accessed more information were more likely to make accurate diagnoses but were less confident in them. Neither time pressure nor experience had a main effect on diagnosis accuracy or confidence. More experienced pilots tended to conduct a thorough information search when under no time pressure, but time pressure caused pilots of all experience levels to accelerate and filter their information search. Results highlight the importance of training for coherent information use under time pressure given the complexities of automated aircraft.

Marketspace or Marketplace? Online Information Search and Channel Outcomes in Auto Retailing

The growth of the Internet has spawned an increasing number of online information sources (OISs). The effect of OISs on consumer information search processes has been particularly striking in sectors such as auto retailing, where the typical consumer has conventionally been confronted with an unpleasant and inefficient purchase process. However, the relationships between the information found in the online “marketspace,” consumer search in the offline “marketplace,” and other aspects of the multichannel shopping process are not well understood. This study examines the differential impact of price and product information found in the marketspace, relating consumers' information needs and information retrieval from OISs to three shopping-related outcomes—purchase based on online infomediary referral (i.e., referred purchase), intensity of search in the marketplace, and online search satisfaction. We draw on a large data set of more than 16,000 new vehicle purchasers who reported using the Web for search related to their new vehicle purchase. We find that OISs offer different levels of price and product information and consumers are differentiated in their ability to retrieve this information. Further, the retrieval of price versus product information online has important implications for whether consumers consummate their online search through referred purchase or extend their search into the physical marketplace. Our results suggest different business models for infomediaries providing price and product information and underscore the need for designing information provisioning systems of OISs to facilitate transition between the marketspace and the marketplace.

Combined Effects of Knowledge About Others' Opinions and Anticipation of Group Discussion on Confirmatory Information Search

There is conclusive evidence that information search processes are typically biased in favor of the information seeker's own opinion (confirmation bias). Less is known about how knowledge about others' opinions affects this confirmatory information search. In the present study, the authors manipulated feedback about others' opinions and anticipation of group interaction. As predicted, the effect of knowledge about others' opinions on confirmatory information search depended on whether participants anticipated interacting with these others. Specifically, minority members anticipating a group discussion exhibited a particularly strong confirmation bias, whereas minority members who did not anticipate a discussion predominantly sought information opposing their opinion. For participants not anticipating group interaction, confidence about the correctness of one's decision mediated the impact of knowledge about others' opinions on confirmatory information search. Results are discussed with regard to the debiasing effect of preference heterogeneity on confirmatory information search in groups.

Implementing Welfare-to-Work Services: A Study of Staff Decision-Making

In the post-welfare reform era, increased discretion has been given to frontline staff for day-today welfare policy implementation. To determine how frontline staff address the complex needs of welfare program participants in this new policy environment, the decision-making processes of welfare staff (N = 52) in 11 San Francisco Bay Area county social service agencies were assessed through a case vignette using a Web-based survey design. We examined staff decision making in four areas: problem recognition, goal formulation, information search processes, and evaluation. The results suggest that the high level of staff discretion apparent in the day-to-day implementation of welfare policy may have important implications for participants. Several recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are presented.

Anthropology and consumer research: qualitative insights into green consumer behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce a new qualitative method that is theoretically underpinned by cognitive anthropology. This research strategy is introduced to further advance the understanding of complex green consumer behavior – in this case life‐cycle analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the contextual aspects of problem‐solving behavior of green, environmentally concerned consumers. Cognitive anthropology develops a different, yet complementary, understanding of consumer cognition to a psychological approach. Through the concepts of practical thinking and bricolage, cognition and behavior are conceptualized on a contextual basis. Such an approach encourages a reassessment of how consumer research has traditionally conceptualized problem framing, information search, information processing and related concepts. The paper draws upon in‐depth, qualitative interviews with a wide range of green consumers from both the UK and Germany.FindingsThe findings provide some interesting clues regarding the nature of information search and information processing. In the sample, the green consumers of the top clusters were able to see and retrieve life‐cycle information as it was offered by a shopping context and it was this context, as it is perceived by the bricoleur that ultimately limits information search and processing. Within the “objective” bounds of a choice context, skilful practical thinking and bricolage was shown in different degrees amongst the clusters, with considerable creativity shown in “seeing” life‐cycle information.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that the research outlined in this paper is mono‐paradigmatic, it is suggested that a future avenue for research in green consumer behavior would be the use of a multiple paradigm approach.Practical implicationsThe paper outlines a stepping approach to marketing communications directed towards the green, or potentially green consumer, suggesting that some form of community based social marketing program might be a useful educational tool given the findings presented.Originality/valueThe introduction of a new research strategy – cognitive anthropology to the study of green consumer behavior.

“Irrational” searchers and IR‐rational researchers

AbstractIn this article the authors look at the prescriptions advocated by Web search textbooks in the light of a selection of empirical data of real Web information search processes. They use the strategy of disjointed incrementalism, which is a theoretical foundation from decision making, to focus on how people face complex problems, and claim that such problem solving can be compared to the tasks searchers perform when interacting with the Web. The findings suggest that textbooks on Web searching should take into account that searchers only tend to take a certain number of sources into consideration, that the searchers adjust their goals and objectives during searching, and that searchers reconsider the usefulness of sources at different stages of their work tasks as well as their search tasks.

An internet‐based approach to environmental scanning in marketing planning

PurposeThis paper introduces a new approach for autonomous internet‐based environmental scanning, which combines concept of weak signals with “information foraging theory”.Design/methodology/approachEarly detection and rapid action with respect to developments in the operating environment is a prerequisite for successful marketing planning. Accordingly, this paper proposes a three‐stage process for overcoming practical obstacles to the detection and use of weak signals from the operating environment, in particular how to identify relevant and useful documents in harsh information environments such as the internet. Its functionality is demonstrated by means of a human‐machine experiment.FindingsA framework based on information foraging theory is well suited to the task of determining the relevance of documents and facilitates the automation of information search processes. A prototype environmental scanning system of this type outperformed human experts in a typical scanning task.Research limitations/implicationsEmbedding the detection of weak signals in a formal process permits intelligence gatherers to step beyond anecdotal evidence, and complements the current literature on weak signal detection with formal and systematic procedural guidelines.Practical implicationsThe presented methodology facilitates both the selection and the structuring of information sources. This unburdens the managers and leaves time for important tasks such as the development of concrete marketing plans reacting to detected developments.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive framework for web‐based weak signal detection in business environments, and can be used as a starting point for the development of practicable environmental scanning systems.

Stereotype-Biased Search and Processing of Information About Group Members

Abstract Two studies examined the contribution of biased information search and biased information processing to stereotyping of individual group members. Participants were free to ask any question they thought would help them make an accurate judgment about a target person's attitudes. Despite this opportunity to acquire individuating information, participants' judgments about group members were strongly influenced by their stereotypes. The findings further show that both the content of the questions addressed to stereotyped targets and the manner in which the answers to these questions were processed contributed to stereotyping. It is argued that biased information search is a major obstacle to the reduction of stereotyping in many real-life situations.

The SST method: a tool for analysing Web information search processes

The article presents the search situation transition (SST) method for analysing Web information search (WIS) processes. The idea of the method is to analyse searching behaviour, the process, in detail and connect both the searchers' actions (captured in a log) and his/her intentions and goals, which log analysis never captures. On the other hand, ex post factor surveys, while popular in WIS research, cannot capture the actual search processes. The method is presented through three facets: its domain, its procedure, and its justification. The method's domain is presented in the form of a conceptual framework which maps five central categories that influence WIS processes; the searcher, the social/organisational environment, the work task, the search task, and the process itself. The method's procedure includes various techniques for data collection and analysis. The article presents examples from real WIS processes and shows how the method can be used to identify the interplay of the categories during the processes. It is shown that the method presents a new approach in information seeking and retrieval by focusing on the search process as a phenomenon and by explicating how different information seeking factors directly affect the search process.

The construct of food involvement in behavioral research: scale development and validation ☆

The construct of involvement has been found to influence brand loyalty, product information search processing, responses to advertising communications, diffusion of innovations, and ultimately, product choice decisions. Traditionally, involvement has been defined as being a characteristic of either a product or of an individual. In the present research, we make an assumption that an individual's ‘food involvement’ is a somewhat stable characteristic and we hypothesized that involvement with foods would vary between individuals, that individuals who are more highly involved with food would be better able to discriminate between a set of food samples than would less food involved individuals, and that this discrimination would operate both in affective and perceptive relative judgments. Using standard scale construction techniques, we developed a measure of the characteristic of food involvement, based on activities relating to food acquisition, preparation, cooking, eating and disposal. After several iterations, a final 12-item measure was found to have good test–retest reliability and internal consistency within two subscales. A behavioral validation study demonstrated that measures of food involvement were associated with discrimination and hedonic ratings for a range of foods in a laboratory setting. These findings suggest that food involvement, as measured by the Food Involvement Scale, may be an important mediator to consider when undertaking research with food and food habits.

A social judgment analysis of information source preference profiles: An exploratory study to empirically represent media selection patterns

AbstractTo better understand how individuals and groups derive satisfaction from information, it is important to identify the information source preferences they apply in information seeking and decision making. Four informal propositions drove the structure and underlying logic of this study, forming a preliminary outline of a theory of information source preference profiles and their influence on information satisfaction. This study employed Social Judgment Analysis (SJA) to identify the information judgment preferences held by professional groups for six selected information sources: word of mouth, expert oral advice, Internet, print news, nonfiction books, and radio/television news. The research was designed as an hypothesis‐generating exploratory study employing a purposive sample (n= 90) and generated four empirically supported, testable hypotheses about user satisfaction with information sources. The SJA judgment functions revealed the influences of volume and polarity (i.e., positive versus negative information) on information satisfaction. By advancing the understanding of how information source preferences can be identified empirically and their influence on information satisfaction, this research reflects a first, small step toward understanding “satisficing.” Satisficing behaviors result in early termination of information search processes when individuals, facing incomplete information, are sufficiently satisfied to assume risks and execute decisions.

Development of a fisheye-based information search processing aid (FISPA) for managing information overload in the web environment

Information technologies have proliferated at an unprecedented rate to provide access to information across geographical boundaries. However, this proliferation has led to an information overload. Information overload has adverse impacts on information use and decision quality. This research focuses on the overload problem resulting from a web search, and proposes a potential remedy. We develop the requirements of a system that makes use of clustering and visualization for browsing the results of a typical web search. Based on this model, we develop a prototype that visualizes search results by first organizing them into a hierarchy according to their individual contents. This system presents a visual overview of the groups in this hierarchy, and lets the users focus (zoom) on specific groups of interest. One general problem with zooming within hierarchical structures is the separation between the details and the context. To address this problem, we implement a fisheye zooming capability in our system. This paper describes a typology of the various components necessary for addressing the problem and then the proposed solution based upon a fisheye view-based visualization. Next, the specific visualization algorithm and the system implementation are described. We conclude with research questions for further development of such interfaces for presentation of the results from web searches.

A model for personal assistance in complex information spaces

AbstractQualitatively enhanced access to data collections requires a more meaningful interface which endows the users with personal agents that are easily adaptable to the users' individual retrieval preferences. Tracking individual needs of users leads to personal digital assistance that appears in the system's interaction mode as the user's personal software agent. The main objective of personal assistance as envisaged here is enabling the system to give the users recommendations that are derived from best practive in information search processes. Best practice reflects the knowledge about how users perform successful retrieval activities and attempt to define the best ways of searching large document collections. Best practices are developed on an individual as well as on a community base.The model presented here was developed for the information system IRAIA, a portal for economic information from huge data collections of Economic Research Institutes (ERI) and National Statistical Institutions (NSI). The personal agent draws on IRAIA's model of context‐oriented retrieval and observe, record and analye the users' search and navigation by applying concepts of the respective taxonomies.

New venture survival: Ignorance, external shocks, and risk reduction strategies

Although scholars have long recognized the increased mortality risk that new ventures face in terms of a “liability of newness,” most of the discussion around this risk has been in terms of the contextual constraints that new ventures face and the difficulties that managers have in overcoming them. This emphasis is in part a reflection of the perils of newness but also stems from the retrospective and aggregate perspective taken by researchers. Although the macro-level perspective of new venture mortality has made a significant contribution to our knowledge of mortality risk patterns, there has been little interest in identifying how venture managers can address the risks that all new organizations face. We argue that in order to make progress in explaining new venture survival, a theoretical model is required that uses a more micro-level perspective to explain new venture failure (and the flip side, new venture survival). In this paper we develop such a model. We establish a definition of mortality risk and argue that the liability of newness is largely dependent on the degree of novelty (ignorance) associated with a new venture. Novelty is viewed in three different dimensions, viz.: to the market, to the technology of production and to management. Novelty to the market concerns the degree to which the customers are uncertain about the new venture. Novelty in production concerns the extent to which the production technology used by the new venture is similar to the technologies in which the production team has experience and knowledge. Novelty to management concerns the entrepreneurial team's lack of business skills, industry specific information and start-up experience. We argue that mortality risk increases with the degree of novelty in each dimension and with the number of dimensions in which the new venture is novel. We propose that the decline in mortality risk occurs as the venture's novelty in each of the three dimensions is eroded by information search and dissemination processes. This allows the new firm to become an established business and explains what we term the “evolutionary” path of mortality—novelty and risk decline monotonically, after a period of adolescence, as ignorance decays over time due to `passive learning'. We also propose that there is a “strategic” mortality risk path that reflects the impact of positive and negative shocks (shocks are exogenous events that alter the overall degree of novelty at a point in time— positive shocks decrease overall novelty, while negative shocks increase overall novelty) and reversals (endogenous actions that increase the overall novelty of the new venture at a point in time) on the mortality risk of a new venture. If the incidence and effects of these disruptions can be managed, then venture managers may be able to mitigate the mortality risk for their venture. We argue that risk reduction strategies can be employed, most of which impact on one or more of the dimensions of mortality risk in order to increase the firm's chances of survival. A series of risk reduction strategies are proposed and their impact on the determinants of mortality risk is considered.

Examining Candidate Information Search Processes: The Impact of Processing Goals and Sophistication

An experiment investigated how 4 different information-processing goals, varying on the dimensions of effortful vs. effortless and impression-driven vs. non-impression-driven processing, and individual difference in political sophistication affect the depth at which people process candidate information and their decision-making strategies. The results showed that subjects with the goal of memorizing information (effortful and non-impression-driven processing) conducted the deepest information search by accessing the largest amount of information and spending the longest time on searching information, followed by those with the goal of carefully evaluating candidates (effortful and impression-driven processing). Moreover, political sophisticates were found to process information more efficiently and be more likely to adopt noncompensatory decision rules than were nonsophisticates, particularly when effortful processing was involved.

Examining candidate information search processes: the impact of processing goals and sophistication

An experiment investigated how 4 different information-processing goals, varying on the dimensions of effortful vs. effortless and impression-driven vs. non-impression-driven processing, and individual difference in political sophistication affect the depth at which people process candidate information and their decision-making strategies. The results showed that subjects with the goal of memorizing information (effortful and non-impression-driven processing) conducted the deepest information search by accessing the largest amount of information and spending the longest time on searching information, followed by those with the goal of carefully evaluating candidates (effortful and impression-driven processing). Moreover, political sophisticates were found to process information more efficiently and be more likely to adopt noncompensatory decision rules than were nonsophisticates, particularly when effortful processing was involved.