An empirical study on Chinese adolescents’ web search behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the web search behavior of adolescents from a Chinese secondary school and the factors affecting this behavior. Design/methodology/approach – A controlled experiment was conducted to collect data on adolescents’ background and their web search behavior. A total of 48 students were asked to perform three different search tasks on the internet within a limited time, and were then interviewed by researchers. Findings – The results revealed three characteristics of Chinese adolescents’ main behavior during the search process: mental set during the search process, poor information search skills, and poor ability to process the search results. In addition, this research found that cognitive style had only minor influence on students’ use of embedded links. However, grade and task type had a significant impact on their search performance and behavior. In general, high school students performed better than middle school students, and adolescents acted differently when completing different tasks. Originality/value – This research sheds light on Chinese middle and high school students’ search behavior on the web. It also investigates how cognitive style, grade, and task type influence students’ online search behavior.