Online Information-seeking Behavior Research Articles

Classifying and coding online actions

Research on how the Internet is diffusing across the population has broadened from questions about who uses the medium to what people do during their time online. With this change in focus comes a need for more detailed data on people's online actions. The author provides a method for coding and classifying users' online information-seeking behavior. The author presents an exhaustive list of ways in which a user may arrive at a web page. The proposed methodology includes enough nuanced information to distinguish among different search actions and links. In its entirety, the coding scheme makes it possible to understand many details about the users' sequence of actions simply by looking at the spreadsheet containing the information proposed in this article. The author also demonstrates the utility of this scheme with findings from a study on the information-seeking behavior of 100 randomly selected Internet users to exemplify the utility of this coding and classification scheme.

Exploring the online satisfaction gap of medical doctors: an expectation-confirmation investigation of information needs.

This research explores the satisfaction gap between the expectations of medical doctors when using the Internet to search for health-related information, and the confirmations they receive following the use of specific information sources to meet their information needs. We executed a quantitative study on 303 medical doctors to capture their online information-seeking behavior. Results suggest that authoritative online information sources are strongly related with the derived satisfaction of medical doctors' online information needs, whilst expectation fulfillment is not related with usage of non-authoritative sources. Nevertheless, doctors' perceptions regarding the information quality of online sources, and discerning personal constraints regarding Internet use, moderate the relationship between online source usage and the effectuation of their expectations.

Celebrity disclosures and information seeking: the case of Angelina Jolie

PurposeOn May 14, 2013, actress Angelina Jolie disclosed that she had a BRCA1 mutation and underwent a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. This study documents the impact of her disclosure on information-seeking behavior, specifically regarding online genetics and risk reduction resources available from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).MethodsUsing Adobe Analytics, daily page views for 11 resources were tracked from April 23, 2013 through June 25, 2013. Usage data were also obtained for four resources over a 2-year period (2012–2013). Source of referral by which viewers located a specific resource was also examined.ResultsThere was a dramatic and immediate increase in traffic to NCI’s online resources. The Preventive Mastectomy fact sheet received 69,225 page views on May 14, representing a 795-fold increase compared with the previous Tuesday. A fivefold increase in page views was observed for the PDQ® Genetics of Breast and Ovarian Cancer summary in the same timeframe. A substantial increase from 0% to 49% was seen in referrals from news outlets to four resources from May 7 to May 14.ConclusionCelebrity disclosures can dramatically influence online information-seeking behaviors. Efforts to capitalize on these disclosures to ensure easy access to accurate information are warranted.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Awareness of Cancer Genetic Testing Among Online Users: Internet Use, Health Knowledge, and Socio-Demographic Correlates

The increased availability of genetic information online has led to growing concerns regarding health disparities among racial and ethnic groups and the need to examine the role of race/ethnicity in genetic testing awareness. Online users from a national representative sample were analyzed to explain the racial/ethnic differences in genetic testing awareness. The analysis indicated that health-related knowledge, online information-seeking behaviors, and information trust of the Internet were correlated with the prediction for awareness of online genetic testing information in different ethnic groups. The study also highlights these differences and identifies the priority ranking of the factors that reflect racial gaps. These findings suggest that the diversities in amount of trust of online information sources, education initiatives of health services, and knowledge of the existence of clinical trials and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need to be considered more closely for racial/ethnic subgroups.

Patterns of internet use by parents of children attending a pediatric surgical service

The internet has revolutionised the way we search for information. We determined the level of internet use by parents of children attending general surgical services and identified trends in online information-seeking behaviour. A questionnaire based on the work by Boston and Tassone was distributed to parents attending both the day surgical units and surgical outpatients department in a paediatric tertiary referral centre. There were 214 (82.3%) questionnaires returned, with 82 (38.3%) of respondents having searched the internet regarding their child's surgical issue. Access to a smartphone, a university education and private health insurance were factors that positively influenced online searching (p<0.005). Of those respondents who searched the internet, 42 (51%) felt that information they found online was understandable, while only 14 (17%) admitted to online sourced information influencing the treatment decisions they had made for their children. When asked to rank information sources on Likert-type scales in terms of importance; parents ranked the surgeon as most important (mean=4.73), whilst the internet ranked lowest (mean=3.02). We demonstrated significant use of the internet amongst those attending paediatric general surgical services. Clinician sourced information remains important, however we should engage with patients to utilise this vast resource effectively.

The Symbiosis of News Coverage and Aggregate Online Search Behavior: Obama, Rumors, and Presidential Politics

Using a relatively new approach, this study examines the agenda-setting effects of television and newspaper coverage of a prominent rumor from the 2008 presidential election: the rumor that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim. In doing so, we look at the relationship between online information-seeking behavior and mass media news coverage, expecting online behavior, such as search, to be a function of exposure to conventional news coverage rather than vice versa. Using Google search trends as a novel search behavior measure, we demonstrate that volume of news coverage positively predicts spikes in aggregate search.

The School as an Information Ecology: A Framework for Studying Changes in Information Use

This article explores the concept of the school as information ecology and proposes the use of this concept as a framework for studying the dynamics of online information-seeking behaviors of educators within the ecology. From an earlier study of teachers' online information-seeking behaviors using online survey and interview methods, four themes emerged: currency of information, sparking of ideas and gaining personal knowledge, resource management and the role of time, and webs of sharing. However, although teachers were using the Internet widely, they were underusing the online digital tools pecifically designed for educational use.

Hurdles to Information Seeking: Spelling and Typographical Mistakes During Users' Online Behavior

A refined approach to digital inequality requires that in addition to looking at differences in access statistics we also must examine differences among Internet users. People encounter numerous hurdles during their online information-seeking behavior. In this paper, I focus on the likelihood that Internet users will make spelling or typographical mistakes during their online activities. Information seeking on the Web often requires users to type text into forms. Users sometimes make mistakes, which can hinder their browsing efficiency because they may get detoured to irrelevant sources or encounter errors. I draw on data collected from in-person observations with a diverse sample of 100 Internet users to see what explains their tendency to make spelling and typographical mistakes and the frequency with which they make such errors. I find that education level is a significant predictor of one’s likelihood to make mistakes, suggesting that existing social inequalities translate into differences in online behavior.

New Media and Politics

Many fascinating questions have been raised about the “transformative” influence of the Internet on everyday social life. Some research suggests that the Internet has a positive and transformative influence on many lives, but other studies suggest that this influence is overstated and not always associated with such positive consequences. This article briefly discusses some of these claims, especially those grounded in research from social and political psychology. It focuses on the extent to which the Internet is providing (a) an important and increasingly influential forum for acquiring politically relevant information and (b) a new context for researchers to study traditional social-psychological processes that may be associated with the way citizens enhance their political knowledge online and bolster their political attitudes and partisan affiliations. More generally, the article suggests that there are potential theoretical and empirical payoffs associated with studying online information-seeking behavior in the political realm.

Classifying and Coding Online Actions

Research on how the Internet is diffusing across the population has broadened from questions about who uses the medium to what people do during their time online. With this change in focus comes a need for more detailed data on people’s online actions. The author provides a method for coding and classifying users’ online information-seeking behavior. The author presents an exhaustive list of ways in which a user may arrive at a web page. The proposed methodology includes enough nuanced information to distinguish among different search actions and links. In its entirety, the coding scheme makes it possible to understand many details about the users’ sequence of actions simply by looking at the spreadsheet containing the information proposed in this article. The author also demonstrates the utility of this scheme with findings from a study on the information-seeking behavior of 100 randomly selected Internet users to exemplify the utility of this coding and classification scheme.

To Look or Book: An Examination of Consumers’ Apprehensiveness toward Internet Use

In a series of three studies, a two-factor measure of apprehension toward Internet use was developed and tested among three independent samples of consumers. The relationship between general Internet apprehensiveness (GIA) and transactional Internet apprehensiveness (TIA) was examined in concert with the relationship between consumers’ online information seeking, purchasing intentions, and behaviors. Results indicated that (1) a two-factor measure of GIA and TIA demonstrated construct validity across three independent samples of potential Internet users, (2) GIA is more strongly related to perceptions of Internet use for information seeking compared to online purchasing, and (3) TIA is more strongly related to perceptions of online purchasing activities and reported online purchasing behavior compared with perceptions of online information-seeking behavior. Implications for management practice and further research are presented.