Further Discussion Because information websites and comparison websites are not significantly more used than other channels it is possible that consumers nowadays are using a broad set of channels to obtain information. To examine this further another test was done to see whether there is a difference between the product chosen by the respondents and the chance of using a particular channel for gathering information and comparing products. The following is a conclusion per channel regarding this analysis. Physical stores The mean for products without distinctive specifications is higher. Thus it can be assumed that people searching for these products are more likely to use physical stores to gather information. This conclusion can be explained by the fact that subjective attributes (e.g. if the colour of clothing is desirable) are easier to evaluate in physical stores. Furthermore there are no results that implicate that consumers are more likely to use physical stores to compare products without distinctive specifications. Telephonic information services Telephonic information services are used more for products with distinctive specifications. This could be because subjective attributes are more difficult to transfer over the phone than objective attributes. All in all telephonic information services are not used very often (low mean). On the other side telephonic information services are not used more for products with distinctive specifications. This could be because telephonic information services are generally not used to compare products but only to gather information about one product. Products that are comparable (such as mortgages) are more often compared on appointment with an expert than over a telephone connection. Corporate websites Consumers who search for products with distinctive specifications are not significantly more likely to use corporate websites. This could be due to the fact corporate websites have more information about their products and brand than just specifications.
Further Discussion Because information websites and comparison websites are not significantly more used than other channels it is possible that consumers nowadays are using a broad set of channels to obtain information. To examine this further another test was done to see whether there is a difference between the product chosen by the respondents and the chance of using a particular channel for gathering information and comparing products. The following is a conclusion per channel regarding this analysis. Physical stores The mean for products without distinctive specifications is higher. Thus it can be assumed that people searching for these products are more likely to use physical stores to gather information. This conclusion can be explained by the fact that subjective attributes (e.g. if the colour of clothing is desirable) are easier to evaluate in physical stores. Furthermore there are no results that implicate that consumers are more likely to use physical stores to compare products without distinctive specifications. Telephonic information services Telephonic information services are used more for products with distinctive specifications. This could be because subjective attributes are more difficult to transfer over the phone than objective attributes. All in all telephonic information services are not used very often (low mean). On the other side telephonic information services are not used more for products with distinctive specifications. This could be because telephonic information services are generally not used to compare products but only to gather information about one product. Products that are comparable (such as mortgages) are more often compared on appointment with an expert than over a telephone connection. Corporate websites Consumers who search for products with distinctive specifications are not significantly more likely to use corporate websites. This could be due to the fact corporate websites have more information about their products and brand than just specifications.
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