INFORMATION-SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF SECURITIES ANALYSTS - INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INFLUENCES, INFORMATION-SOURCES AND CHANNELS, AND OUTCOMES

Information technology and the need for global information are constan tly changing the way securities analysts, one kind of knowledge worker , obtain, manipulate, and disseminate information, This study develops and tests a general model, with specific hypotheses, that individual characteristics and institutional resources influence the information sources and communication channels that individuals use, that use of t hese sources and channels influences the outcomes of analysts' activit ies, and that, therefore, individual characteristics and institutional resources both directly and indirectly influence the outcomes, The da ta for this study were collected through a telephone survey administer ed to a random sample of 100 securities analysts from 40 of the larges t investment banking firms in the United States and the United Kingdom . The results show that individual characteristics have little influen ce on the information sources and communication channels used by analy sts, and thereby do not have a significant influence on the outcomes o f analysts' information activities. Institutional resources do have a significant influence on the information sources and communication cha nnels analysts use, hut also have a direct influence on outcomes, and thereby play a significant role in analysts' information activities. T he conclusion discusses implications of these findings for securities analysts, institutional and retail investors, schools of library and i nformation science, and practicing information professionals.