Information search

To make informed purchase decisions, buyers of course need information. However, what seems like a simple and plausible undertaking can be complex and difficult. Some purchases are made without systematically acquiring information, e.g., impulsive and habitual purchases. Further, too much information can cause information overload, so more information is not necessarily better. Culture plays a role in this process. Empirical findings suggest that individualist consumers who tolerate uncertainty and reject power distance have a greater need for information than collectivist consumers who avoid uncertainty and accept power distance. These findings seem counterintuitive. Relatedly, how consumers process information differs culturally on whether an analytical or holistic thinking style is prevalent. The analytic and the holistic thinking styles are associated with different mechanisms of dissonance generation and with different strategies of dissonance reduction. Finally, this chapter discusses cultural preferences for information channels, e.g., advertising, personal recommendations and trust in each channel.