Search Gaps and Consumer Fatigue

Raluca M. Ursu (), Qianyun Zhang () and Elisabeth Honka ()
Additional contact information
Raluca M. Ursu: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012
Qianyun Zhang: Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012
Elisabeth Honka: Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024

Marketing Science, 2023, vol. 42, issue 1, 110-136

Abstract: In the canonical sequential search model, consumers inspect options consecutively until they decide to stop searching, a decision that occurs only once before consumers determine whether and what to purchase. However, using data on consumers’ online browsing histories, we document that consumers frequently take breaks during their search (“search gaps”); that is, they obtain information on a number of options, pause, and later resume their search. Furthermore, we provide model-free evidence that consumers take breaks from searching because of fatigue. To describe search processes that include gaps because of fatigue, we extend the Weitzman (1979) framework and develop a sequential search model that rationalizes search gaps by allowing consumers to additionally decide when to search an option: now or after a break. Fatigue enters the model through increasing search costs: the more a consumer searches, the higher the search costs per option; taking a break reduces these costs to a baseline and enables the consumer to resume searching at a later time. We estimate the proposed model using our data and quantify the effect of fatigue on consumer search and purchase decisions. We find the effect of fatigue to be larger than that of baseline search costs. Lastly, we illustrate the impact of search gaps and consumer fatigue on market outcomes via counterfactuals.

Keywords: sequential search; search fatigue; search delay; online browsing; apparel industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.1359 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:42:y:2023:i:1:p:110-136

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Marketing Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().