Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify major themes and potential research opportunities in online and offline consumer search.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review was conducted based on 118 articles identified from prevalent journal databases. Keywords frequency analysis was carried out to identify the major themes. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out to verify the generated themes.

Findings

Results show that uncertainty, knowledge, perceived risk, price, experience and involvement are the major themes associated with consumer information search. Uncertainty, one of the major themes of offline search, has not been studied in the online search context. Similarly, the previous experience needs to be explored in the context of the offline search. Finally, potential research opportunities for future research has been summarized based on the retrieved themes.

Research limitations/implications

The systematic review provides an in-depth understanding on the current research on information search literature with future research directions.

Practical implications

This study helps retailers to understand the key elements that motivate consumers to perform external information searches from online and offline sources and to curate targeted information provision strategies to influence purchase decisions.

Social implications

Consumers with limited internet availability may access channels prior to decision-making. The themes identified in this study can aid policymakers to design affordable access to these channels.

Originality/value

This study adds to the sparse literature on systematic reviews on consumer search for online and offline channels.

中文翻译：

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在线和离线环境中消费者信息搜索的系统回顾

目的

本研究的目的是确定在线和离线消费者搜索的主要主题和潜在的研究机会。

设计/方法/方法

基于从流行期刊数据库中确定的 118 篇文章进行了系统评价。进行关键词频率分析以确定主要主题。进行归纳主题分析以验证生成的主题。

发现

结果表明，不确定性、知识、感知风险、价格、经验和参与度是与消费者信息搜索相关的主要主题。不确定性是离线搜索的主要主题之一，尚未在在线搜索上下文中进行研究。同样，之前的经验需要在离线搜索的上下文中进行探索。最后，根据检索到的主题总结了未来研究的潜在研究机会。

研究限制/影响

系统评价提供了对当前信息搜索文献研究和未来研究方向的深入理解。

实际影响

本研究帮助零售商了解促使消费者从线上和线下来源进行外部信息搜索的关键因素，并制定有针对性的信息提供策略以影响购买决策。

社会影响

互联网可用性有限的消费者可以在决策之前访问渠道。本研究中确定的主题可以帮助政策制定者设计负担得起的这些渠道。

原创性/价值

这项研究增加了关于消费者搜索在线和离线渠道的系统评论的稀疏文献。