Internet shopping, consumer search and product branding
Abstract
Recent interest in the Internet as a medium for commerce has raised questions about the usefulness of branding on the World Wide Web. Examines whether consumers use brands as sources of information when shopping on the Internet. Applying theory from the economics of information, predicts that recent adopters of the Internet will be less proficient at searching for product information and will rely more on brands. As they gather more experience on the Internet, their search proficiency should rise and their brand reliance should fall. These hypotheses are tested and confirmed using usage and opinion survey data from the Internet community. The results suggest that branding can facilitate consumers’ acceptance of electronic commerce.
Keywords
Citation
Ward, M.R. and Lee, M.J. (2000), "Internet shopping, consumer search and product branding", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 6-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420010316302
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited