COGNITIVE STOPPING RULES FOR TERMINATING INFORMATION SEARCH IN ONLINE TASKS.

Author List: Browne, Glenn J.; Pitts, Mitzi G.; Wetherbe, James C.;
MIS Quarterly, 2007, Volume 31, Issue 1, Page 89-104.
Online search has become a significant activity in the daily lives of individuals throughout much of the world. The almost instantaneous availability of billions of web pages has caused a revolution in the way people seek information. Despite the increasing importance of online search behavior in decision. making and problem solving, very little is known about why people stop searching for information online. In this paper, we review the literature concerning online search and cognitive stopping rules, and then describe specific types of information search tasks. Based on this theoretical development, we generated hypotheses and conducted an experiment with 115 participants each performing three search tasks on the web. Our findings show that people utilize a number of stopping rules to terminate search, and that the stopping rule used depends on the type of task performed. Implications for online information search theory and practice are discussed.
Keywords: Information search; cognitive stopping rules; online search behavior; decision making; task types and dimensions
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#205 0.160 cognitive style research rules styles human individual personality indicates stopping users composition analysis linguistic contextual certain differences preferred theoretical activity
#217 0.154 search information display engine results engines displays retrieval effectiveness relevant process ranking depth searching economics create functions incorporate low terms
#292 0.130 information research literature systems framework review paper theoretical based potential future implications practice discussed current concept propositions findings provided extant
#295 0.121 task fit tasks performance cognitive theory using support type comprehension tools tool effects effect matching types theories modification working time
#51 0.103 results study research experiment experiments influence implications conducted laboratory field different indicate impact effectiveness future participants evidence test controlled involving
#130 0.094 online users active paper using increasingly informational user data internet overall little various understanding empirical despite lead cascades help availability
#146 0.087 work people workers environment monitoring performance organizations needs physical useful number personal balance perceptions create computer-based technological technologies investigation achievement