Information Seeking and Processing

Information Seeking

People can seek information by expending very little or quite a lot of effort. Thus, information seeking is often conceptualized in terms of its intensity. Intensity can be thought of as varying along two dimensions: (1) effort involved in seeking each information source and (2) overall number of sources sought. Seeking can involve interpersonal as well as mediated sources—and often involves a combination of both. In terms of effort, information seeking is often dichotomized as active or passive. Active seeking describes a more goal-driven behavior, while passive seeking describes a more ritual-based behavior. In the case of mass mediated seeking, active seeking is characterized as stimulated beyond routine media use and is driven by such motivating factors as problem solving or the desire for autonomy. Active seeking may involve, for example, seeking out information about climate change on the Internet [Page 394]using search engines. Passive seeking, in contrast, is characterized as more routine and habitual and not driven by a specific goal beyond the general desire to scan one's environment. An example of passive seeking would be habitual scanning of the morning newspaper or a Web page one regularly visits. While passive seeking may seem a contradiction of terms, it is simply meant to capture information seeking that is one step up from no seeking at all. This dichotomy is similar to that offered by the uses and gratifications literature, which invokes the terms instrumental and ritualized media use.

Passive seeking can serve as a gateway to more active seeking. Motivating factors that tend to determine moving from passive to more active seeking include one's perceived need for information, the relative or perceived accessibility of information channels that can assist in meeting that need, and changing situational demands (multitasking, deadlines, etc.). In terms of perceived need, perceived personal relevance plays a notable role such that as relevance increases (for example, one experiences illness), so does the effort expended in seeking and the number of sources sought. Multichannel information seeking can involve accessing not only the major news media and the Internet but also family, friends, and experts. Sometimes, seeking may not be easily dichotomized and may vary.

Any attempts to better understand information seeking behaviors must be careful not to oversimplify the behaviors; researchers must account for the numerous potential sources of variation. That means that researchers must consider the goals that drive information seeking as well as the situation in which the seeking takes place.

...