Online Hunting and Gathering: An Evolutionary Perspective on Sex Differences in Website Preferences and Navigation

Abstract

Despite numerous sex differences found in spatial navigation, perception, and verbal abilities, the manner in which these differences manifest themselves in terms of online navigation has yet to be explored. We propose a unified framework based on evolutionary psychology and supported by recent findings in cognitive neuroscience for understanding sex differences in cognition and how they relate to online navigation and website preferences. The literature on sex differences in navigation, object location, spatial rotation, the perception of color, form, and movement, and verbal fluency is reviewed within the context of their evolutionary underpinnings. Based on these findings, specific website design recommendations are proposed. Results of a pilot study examining sex differences in web navigation provide evidence that utilizing an evolutionary approach can engender findings with significant implications for e-communication researchers and practitioners alike.

Human mobility: Models and applications

“…It is reasonable, however, to believe that online activity is driven by the same psychological mechanism as off-line behaviors, now adapted to new environments or contexts. In fact, such intuition has increasingly found scientific support, both from a theoretical and empirical point of view, such as evidence of foraging behaviors in online shopping [392] and information consumption on the Web [393,394], similar to that observed in human resource acquisition behaviors [395].…”

Evoking online consumer impulse buying through virtual layout schemes

“…To enable this, online stores should either provide a search engine or display items for selection on every page permanently (Stenstrom et al 2008). To enable this, online stores should either provide a search engine or display items for selection on every page permanently (Stenstrom et al 2008).…”

“…This study used four virtual layouts as manifestations of EON and employed navigation depth to represent the breakdown of navigability for each of four virtual layouts (Stenstrom et al 2008). In this study, the total levels of depth for freeform layout are two, three levels of depth for the mix grid-freeform layout, four levels of depth for the grid layout, and five levels of depth for the racetrack layout (see Appendix).…”

Evolutionary consumption

“…This yields numerous universal and robust sex differences across a wide range of cognitive spatial abilities (e.g., spatial navigation, spatial rotation, and object location). These evolved spatial abilities manifest themselves in contemporary commercial settings including when online browsing where men reported spending less time than women to complete a task in a ‘deeper’ website (Stenstrom, Stenstrom, Saad, & Cheikhrouhou, 2008), and when strolling in a farmer's market where women outperformed men in recalling the location of specific foods (New, Krasnow, Truxaw, & Gaulin, 2007).…”