An Examination of the Relationship between Information Provided and Sales When Dealing Online

This study stems from a suggestion in the literature (Lohse and Spiller, 1999) that for some products an increase in the amount of information presented on a web site has a negative impact on sales. It examines the effect information has on purchase decisions for high risk products, specifically a desktop computer. The information characteristics analysed are ease of navigation, ease of finding information, amount of technical information about the product, quality of technical information, amount of marketing information (for example, information about the company), readability of the presented information, use of photos and graphics, and the possibility of personalising the product specifications. Results can be used by a business to design their information content based on market segments they are targeting, but the with a limited sample size, care should be taken when generalising results. KEYWORDS Retail websites, product information, information content

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: IADIS
• Authors: Aritz Lopez Trueba, Thomas Chesney
• Keywords: IADIS 2003, IADIS 2008, Information, Information Content, Technical Information