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by travellers can be described in three stages, where the fi rst stage, namely Pre - Search Conditions ,
refl ects travellers' use of (or preference for) various types of information as well as the perceived
usefulness of the various travel tools (i.e. types of websites) available on the Internet. The second
stage, namely Search Process , describes the basic strategies travellers use to navigate through
the Internet to fi nd relevant information in order to make various travel decisions. These
strategies act as 'frames' within which the information accessed through use of search engines
is evaluated (Dholakia and Bagozzi 2001; Fesenmaier and Jeng 2000). The third stage, i.e. Post -
Search Evaluation , focuses on the overall evaluation of search engines. Importantly, this stage of use
not only results in overall evaluation (i.e. satisfi ed vs. not satisfi ed), but also attitude formation
toward search engine use for travel planning (Pan and Fesenmaier 2006). It is argued that an
in-depth understanding of these relationships is essential as destination marketers seek to
optimize the conversion rate between seeing the search result and actually choosing to visit the
destination website.
Another important concept is information overload. As information technology further
evolves, a huge amount of information has been made available on the Internet. Besides, each
individual has different information processing ability and behaves differently in response to the
situation they are facing (Bettman 1979; Eppler and Mengis 2004). These may affect the infor-
mation seekers' perception of the quantity and the complexity of information (Henry 1980).
More specifi cally, information overload occurs when the information processing requirement
(IPR) exceeds the information processing capacity (IPC) of each individual (Bergamaschi,
Guerra and Leiba 2010). Consumers suffer from information overload which would cause them
to be confused, feel constrained in their abilities to set priorities and struggle to recall every piece
of information needed for their decision (Eppler and Mengis 2004). The effect of information
overload on decision accuracy is usually referred to as the inverted U-curve.
Once information load goes beyond the optimal point of information processing, people
usually try to avoid the overloaded situation using two different strategies, fi ltering strategy and
withdrawal strategy (Savolainen 2007). For example, some people might browse the information
selectively or intend to use a recommender system, while the others stop their searching behav-
iour right away. The concept of information overload is evidential in certain online search behav-
iours, particularly in the context of using search engines. For example, the majority of online
search engine users only review results in the fi rst three search results pages (Spink and Zimmer
2008). Further, social media, online review sites and other new media such as mobile apps are
generating enormous amounts of information on a daily basis. While abundance of information
is benefi cial for users, it may increase the level of information overload at the same time.
The Mind-Set Formation and Infl uence (MSFI) model proposed by Dholakia and Bagozzi
(2001) integrates some of the most relevant factors of consumer search behaviours on the
Internet (see Figure 21.2 ). According to this model, website selection, length of website visit and
information obtained depend on one's mind-set. Four different mind-sets of the information
seeker have been identifi ed: deliberative, implemental, exploratory and hedonic. A deliberative
mind-set represents a cognitive orientation with a focus on collecting and processing information,
while an implemental mind-set is defi ned as the state in which a consumer's focus is oriented
toward the smooth action execution for goal achievement. An exploratory mind-set refers to the
state of mind in which a consumer focuses on new experiences, and a hedonic mind-set
represents a state where the individual pays attention to the sensory elements of the experience.
Both deliberative and implemental mind-sets are more goal-oriented whereas exploratory and
hedonic mind-sets focus more on the search experience itself (Dholakia and Bagozzi 2001).
Three antecedent factors combine to determine the consumer's mind-set when one starts
to use the Internet. For example, a consumer wanting to perform his/her banking activities
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