Effect of consumer self‐confidence on information search and dissemination: Mediating role of subjective knowledge

Abstract

Consumers search for information about products to make a satisfactory purchase decision and gain knowledge about new features and updates. Consumers also use this knowledge to be vocal about their product experience because several consumers seek interpersonal recommendations. This phenomenon has contributed to the emergence of information search (IS) and information dissemination (ID) as a key research area in the field of consumer behaviour. However, the role of personal factors such as consumer self‐confidence and subjective knowledge has received little attention in the extant IS and ID literature. The major argument of this study is that information acquisition confidence and social outcome confidence enhance subjective knowledge and consequently increase the will of consumers to search and disseminate information in the context of smartphone buyers in India. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses using a convenience sample of 259 consumers obtained through a cross‐sectional survey. The study shows that subjective knowledge is crucial in strengthening the association between consumer self‐confidence and consumer intention for IS and ID. Additionally, enhancing consumer’s social outcome confidence contributes towards high subjective knowledge and consequently accelerates information dissemination. Results suggest that firms could focus on enhancing the social outcome confidence and subjective knowledge of consumers to motivate them to disseminate information. The results also show that consumers with high confidence in information acquisition ability have the high subjective knowledge and are more likely to search for information. Overall, this study contributes to the emerging literature regarding the role of personal factors in IS and dissemination behaviour.

Television Advertising in the Multiscreen and Multitasking Age: Does it Work for Millennials?

“…The pre-purchase phase, including information research, is perceived as the first step of the omnichannel customer journey (Barwitz, Maas, 2018). Searching for information is considered an important sub-process of decision making; in fact, it is one of the key research areas in the field of consumer behaviour (Utkarsh et al, 2019). In some sources, it is referred to as predecisional information search (Gigerenzer, 2003;Lindow, Betsch, 2019).…”

“…The commonly used criteria to form groups are social class or geographic location (Sessa et al, 2007), web experience characteristics (Frambach et al, 2003), motivational drives and personality traits (Morrison et al, 2013), subjective knowledge,and the style of decisionmaking (Brucks, 1985;Karimi et al, 2015). Utkarsh, S. Sangwan and P. Agarwal (Utkarsh et al, 2019) also studied subjective knowledge and its influence on information search behaviour. The level of stimulation and motivation represents another factor affecting the intensity of information search efforts (Utkarsh, 2017).…”

Subjective Knowledge, Perceived Risk, and Information Search when Purchasing a Franchise: A Comparative Exploration from Australia

“…Previous research has provided mixed results for the relationship between subjective knowledge and information search, with the product and the context seeming to play a pivotal role. One vein of enquiry found that higher subjective knowledge levels raised information search, ostensibly due to increased confidence in the ability to search (Utkarsh and Agarwal 2019). Conversely, an alternate vein of enquiry found elevated levels of subjective knowledge lowered information search due to decreased motivation to search as consumers who "believe they are already knowledgeable about a topic area will be less likely to search out additional information" (Radecki and Jaccard 1995, p. 114).…”

The Effect of Intentions on Ethical Purchasing Behavior in Islam: The Moderating Role of Subjective Knowledge and Perceived Reliability

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