Searching for information in marketspace: does the form ‐ product or service ‐ matter?

Abstract

Posits that companies offering services that directly compete with products are particularly interested in whether the form of the offering ‐ service or product ‐ affects the behavior of consumers. Compares in two tightly designed and rigorously implemented experiments, consumers’ information search behavior for services that compete with products. Finds that: the critical difference between services and products is not that personal sources are used more for services but that impersonal sources are used less; there are similarities between products and services in search patterns; and with greater knowledge about the service, product and service search does not look very different. Finally discusses implications of these findings for managerial action.

Citation

Venkatraman, M. and Roy Dholakia, R. (1997), "Searching for information in marketspace: does the form ‐ product or service ‐ matter?", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876049710175999