Psychological Distance and Online Search

This research investigates the role of psychological distance between the consumers and information in online search, as demonstrated through the concept of distance. Distance conveys a sense of not only space between objects in the physical world but also psychological distance. Online circumstances do not have the physical distance, so this study tests various psychological distance factors (knowledge, memory, ability, risk, et al.) between online search tools and consumers. And this paper explores the choice of online information search via tools instead of website offered by Internet and dividing online information search into knowledge building stage and decision-making stage. The findings affirm the relationships between online search strategy choice and psychological distance, and help the website operators to assess the value of the network channels and to improve their performance of online promotion and advertising.