Information-seeking : a way of looking at the world
The Micro Trends column on the Wall Street Journal reports we are in the era of what it deems the "info shopper."
Americans are doing their homework before hitting the stores. In a WSJ shopper survey, 78 percent of consumers said that TV ads do not provide enough information they need to convince them to buy a product.
Consumers are losing trust in the advice of salesclerks and placing more weight on their own findings, often derived from websites. According to WSJ's latest survey, 92 percent of respondents said they are more confident in the product information they find online than advice from a salesclerk or other source.
Shoppers are increasing the amount of effort they put into finding information online before setting out to buy what they want, even if it's a simple bottle of shampoo, a product which 24 percent of respondents said they researched online before settling on a decision.
Overall, 70 percent of American shoppers said they refer to product reviews and consumer ratings before settling on what to buy, and 62 percent said that every week, they spend at least half an hour researching products online before buying the.
There are good insights and some short case studies cited in the article published on Jan 8th.
For full text of WSJ article:http://bit.ly/SPLel