Inside the Customer: Modeling Cognition during Online Shopping

Online marketers want to present potential customers with the right information at the right time. Decisions about what information to present are typically made before the customer has visited a web site, using data such as purchase histories and logs of web pages visited (i.e., clickstream data). An alternative approach is to develop predictions about what information to present based on inferences made from cognitive models of the customer. This research presents one approach to collecting and analyzing data that could be used to construct such models. Two studies are presented on how differences in product type may impact customer cognition and browsing behavior. The results suggest that differences in product type may lead to differences in waiting time before making a purchase. Product type may also influence the types of information people consult before making a purchase.