Information - Seeking as Optimal Consumer Experience. An Empirical Investigation

The central objective of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms leading to the formation of an optimal emotional-cognitive involvement of consumers during the act of online information searching and, thus, to the development of an open, exploratory information behaviour. We set out to improve the understanding of the online medium`s impact on the information seeking experience and further on human`s exploratory information behaviour. The paper is organized in six sections. We start by delineating the purpose of our study. Then we present our research model and its underlying hypotheses. Thirdly, we discuss the theoretical and empirical background of the constructs employed in our model. The fourth section contains a description of the data collection procedures and the related practical matters. Finally, we offer a detailed presentation of the empirical test results and conclude with some theoretical and managerial implications of conceptualizing and modelling consumers’ optimal online information-seeking experiences.