資訊控制度與專家知識效應對網路消費者決策之影響

The Effects of Information Control and Expertise on Consumers’ Decision Making

網際網路這個媒體上有不同程度的資訊控制度（pull與push），不同控制程度的資訊呈現方式，對人類的搜尋資訊、處理資訊、判斷、決策等過程的影響為何？乃是一個新的研究課題，也是本研究的研究動機。過去一些文獻顯示互動式媒介有助於人類的資訊處理（例如記憶能力、問題解決），當人類擁有較多資訊控制自由時，資訊處理的表現較佳。然而，也有研究顯示：控制對人類的影響也有可能是負面的。因此，有必要針對此問題作進一步探討。許多認知心理學的研究結果亦顯示：相對於新手，專家比較會注意相關的資訊，忽略不相關的資訊。因此我們假設，高控制度對於專家的決策較為有利，因為專家知道何為相關資訊，何為不相關資訊。專家可以利用高資訊控制度來搜尋與決策相關之資訊。低資訊控制度反而多所限制。但是，對新手而言，低控制度對決策較有幫助，新手個人知識不足以導引搜尋者主動尋找相關資訊，所以高控制度反而增加其壓力，並可能使其注意力分散到不相關的資訊上。若藉由低控制度得到與決策相關的資訊時，或許可以導引資訊搜尋者注意相關重要的資訊，決策品質可以因此提昇。本研究採用實驗法驗證上述假設，並獲得實證結果的支持。研究結果顯示：資訊控制必須與知識程度相配適才能提昇決策品質。

There are different degrees of information control, pull and push, on the Internet. How does this factor, namely information control, affect processes of human information search, judgment and decision making? Empirical research has found that high information control can increase decision making quality。However, control might also have negative effects on human being. Psychological research has shown that experts, compared to novices, pay more attention to relevant information. It is thus hypothesized that high information control is more beneficial to experts who have the ability to differentiate relevant and irrelevant information, can thus utilize the freedom of high control to search for high quality information. On the other hand, low control do more good to novices who can be forced to notice relevant information, passively provided by the websites, and thus achieve high quality of decision making. Results in this study support the hypothesis, showing that information control has to match the expertise in order to facilitate decision making.