Determinants of the Perceived Value of Information in Information Search Contexts

Abstract

While considerable research has examined information search behavior, little is known about factors that impact how individuals judge the value of the information they receive. We argue that the extent to which an information seeker judges information to be valuable depends on the breadth and depth of the information provider's expertise relative to that of other information providers who respond to that same information seeker. Information value is also impacted by the relative responsiveness the information provider - that is, how quickly, how frequently and how elaborately they respond to the information seeker's query. Importantly though, we find that these effects are moderated by the information seeker's goals - that is, whether they are searching for information so as to learn something new (a learning goal) or whether they are searching for information to decide what to do (a decision making goal).