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Figure 21.2
Mind-set formation and infl uence (MSFI) model (adapted from Dholakia and
Bagozzi 2001).
online may fall into an implemental, action-focused mind-set, whereas someone wanting to plan
for a vacation a few months later may start from an exploratory mind-set, browsing through a
number of websites in order to accumulate information for future decision-making. Thus, an
individual's mind-set can vary from time to time depending on goals to be attained, relevant
knowledge/experience and the emotional state at the time the search process occurs. Also,
mind-sets can change during the actual search process as the result of the interaction with the
information source and/or the information found. This model of consumer mind-set formation
and infl uence is parsimonious and has the potential to explain a variety of consumer behaviour
in digital environments.
From an information seeking standpoint, Marchionini (1999) defi nes information search in
an electronic environment as an interactive process and understanding the information
environment, then, is as important as understanding the searcher's cognitive processes, as it is the
interaction between the two that establishes and reveals the actual information seeking strategies
of the user. Marchionini identifi es eight information-seeking components, which can be
described as falling into four information entities (or contexts). These contexts are summarized
and compared to previous information seeking model contexts in
Figure 21.4
.
The key
supposition of Marchionini's model is that information seeking is a relatively linear process, and
the information seeker looks at and evaluates one information need at a time. The evaluation
either leads to the identifi cation of a whole new information need, or reveals possible problems
in the search process, resulting in the searcher re-defi ning the information need, employing
Figure 21.3
Conceptual framework of information search in an electronic environment
(Marchionini 1999).
