Examining Comparative Shopping Agents from Two Types of Search Results

• Published in: Information systems management Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 3 - 9
• Main Authors: Ma, Zhongming, Liao, Kun, Lee, Johnny Jiung-Yee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2010; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Artificial intelligence; comparative shopping agent; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Cost reduction; Electronic commerce; Exact sciences and technology; Information systems; Information systems. Data bases; Learning and adaptive systems; Management; Memory organisation. Data processing; Online shopping; organic results; paid results; price comparison site; Pricing policies; reliability; Search engines; Searching; Service introduction; Shopping; Software; Studies; Trust; United States > US; Information retrieval; Electronic trade; Modeling; Intelligent agent; Search engine; World wide web
• ISSN: 1058-0530; 1934-8703
• DOI: 10.1080/10580530903455072

When searching for products and information using search engines, Web consumers often see comparative shopping agents (CSAs) in search results. CSAs list companies that sell desired products and the prices they offer on one page, greatly reducing search costs. Using 168 digital camera models from seven major camera makers, we examine CSAs between organic and paid search results in terms of the number of CSAs, number of vendors, lowest and average prices, and price dispersion.