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The Relationship between task complexity and information search: The role of self‐efficacy
Author(s) -
Hu Jing,
Huhmann Bruce A.,
Hyman Michael R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20160
Subject(s) - task (project management) , matching (statistics) , perspective (graphical) , cognition , psychology , context (archaeology) , resource (disambiguation) , cognitive psychology , product (mathematics) , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , economics , mathematics , paleontology , computer network , statistics , geometry , management , neuroscience , biology
Prior research suggests the complexity of a product choice task is inversely related to the extent of consumers' external information search. The resource‐matching perspective holds that cognitive effort (e.g., external information search) is greatest when available cognitive resources (e.g., as determined by self‐efficacy) match the cognitive demands of a task (e.g., perceived task complexity). Within a brand‐choice context, the relationship between self‐efficacy and extent of information search appears nonmonotonic. In support of the resource‐matching perspective, consumers conduct the most extensive information search when their self‐efficacy matches perceived task difficulty. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.