The effects of economic and time resources: an Inter-individual analysis of information seeking

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of economic resources, namely cost, and time resources on information seeking trends of individuals. The study considered individual level variations, as observed in the attitude to these resources of information, arguing that the responses to different resources varied across individuals. The cost and time related dimensions were derived from the data and its effect on information seeking behavior of individuals was estimated. An indepth questionnaire was administered to 307 respondents. Factor analysis, cluster analysis, multiple regression and Bayesian regression were used in order to identify cost and time related dimensions, find segments of individual information seekers, estimate their effect on the actions of individual information seekers, and make a comparison between the individual level effect and aggregate level effect of cost and time related dimensions on individual information seekers. A significant difference of effect of these two resource related dimensions on individual's information seeking was observed when the effect was estimated at the aggregate level as opposed to the effect estimated at the individual level. This study provides insight into the decision of individuals regarding their choice of resources when seeking some particular information. The study also highlights the benefit of using inter-individual variation. The findings of this investigation are discussed to understand the implications and to provide avenues for future research.