Diagnosing the search cost effect: Waiting time and the moderating impact of prior category knowledge

Studies have concluded that cost of search and prior knowledge are two majo r influences on search. What is not known is whether the effect of search c ost is the same for consumers of differing knowledge levels, particularly w hen consumers must wait to retrieve information. This paper studies the imp act on search of different types of search cost: cognitive search cost, ope rationalized using prior category knowledge; and external search cost, oper ationalized using waiting times to obtain information. We focus on the prio r knowledge x waiting time interaction effect on search in a computer searc h environment. We find that knowledge facilitates search, but only in low w aiting time conditions. High knowledge consumers augment their search with more complex and cognitively demanding sources and patterns of information acquisition. But the search of low knowledge consumers remains largely unaf fected. Implications of the study's findings are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science B.V. All rights reserved. PsycINFO classification: 3900; 3920; 3940; 2320 JEL classification: D12; D80; D83.