Title:	EFFECTS OF USERS’ DIVERSITIES ON THEIR ONLINE INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIORS
Author(s):	Zhe Wang
ISBN:	978-989-8533-32-6
Editors:	Piet Kommers and Pedro Isaías
Year:	2015
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Internet users, User studies, Information retrieval, Information behavior
Type:	Short Paper
First Page:	305
Last Page:	310
Language:	English
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Paper Abstract:	Purpose – This study aims to investigate the effects of Chinese users’ diversities including gender, educational level, knowledge background (measured by major), cognitive style, online searching experience and online searching skills on users’ online information seeking behaviors, which are defined as the methods of searching online information resources and the types of satisfactory online information resources. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment was conducted in a usability laboratory. Data from 36 participants were collected on a set of measures of online information seeking behaviors and analyzed by SPSS. There were three stages to conduct the experiment: 1) pre-experiment test, in which participants needed to answer a questionnaire and complete a cognitive style test; 2) experiment test, where two online information seeking tasks were constructed – one is familiar was and the other was unfamiliar; 3) post-experiment, in which the participants were respectively involved in a structured interview. Findings – Gender, knowledge background (measured by major), cognitive style and online searching skills have influenced users’ online information seeking behaviors in various ways, whilst the effects of educational level and online searching experience have not yet been seen. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited mainly in the variety of participants chosen and the number of tasks used. Originality/value – The study provided empirical evidence to the effects of Chinese users’ diversities on their online information seeking behaviors. The results may help the owners of commercial databases and developers of open source platforms to tailor the services to their users’ needs.
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