This study replicates previous studies focusing on consumer information search benefits and introduces the Internet as a source of information to investigate whether its users obtained more benefits in the purchase of new automobile than non-users. The results, besides allowing the identification of a large set of search determinants, also permitted to conclude that buyers that used the Internet as a source of information spent more time searching than buyers that did not use the Internet. This finding is likely to result from the different search profiles of both groups (Internet users are younger, more educated, and have higher income, characteristics usually associated with more search). When both groups were analyzed together, it was found that time spent on search was not positively associated with higher discounts in the purchase of the new automobile. However, when the two groups were separated and analyzed, it was found that time spent on search was positively associated with higher discounts for the group of Internet users but not for the group of non-users. Findings are discussed and modifications in the theoretical model are suggested.
search of information; cars; electronic shopping; Internet; econometry
