The digital medium, to a great extent, has reduced the conventional differences between search and experience goods by bringing down the costs of assembling and disseminating information and contributing novel ways of knowing about products during purchase. At the same time, differences in the type of information sought for search and experience goods can instigate distinctions in the procedure through which consumers draw together information and formulate online decisions. A groundwork experiment reveals that although there are considerable differences in customer's’ apparent ability to assess product quality pre-purchase amid experience and search goods in conventional retail environments, such distinctions are hazy in online environments. An examination of the online consumer behavior of a representative sample of Indian consumers shows that there are significant differences in the factors influencing their purchase behavior in these two distinctive categories. Particularly, search goods are highly brand image driven as compared to experience goods. On the other hand, social influence like presence of product reviews from peers/other users has a larger effect on consumer search and buying behavior for experience goods. Yet service and website quality plays an equally significant role for both search and experience goods.
Service quality, online shopping, search goods, experience goods, purchase intention
