How Users Search the Mobile Web: A Model for Understanding the Impact of Motivation and Context on Search Behaviors

Dan Wu; Man Zhu & Aihua Ran

doi:10.20309/jdis.201608

Journal of Data and Information Science >

2016 , Vol. 1 >Issue 1: 98 - 122

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20309/jdis.201608

Research Paper

How Users Search the Mobile Web: A Model for Understanding the Impact of Motivation and Context on Search Behaviors

Dan Wu ,
Man Zhu & Aihua Ran

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School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

Received date: 2016-01-03

Revised date: 2016-03-02

Online published: 2016-03-03

Supported by

This work is jointly supported by the Wuhan International Science and Technology Cooperation Fund (Grant No.: 2015030809020371) and the Wuhan University Youth Fund of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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Abstract

Purpose: This study explores how search motivation and context influence mobile Web search behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach: We studied 30 experienced mobile Web users via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and an online diary tool that participants used to record their daily search activities. SQLite Developer was used to extract data from the users' phone logs for correlation analysis in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS).

Findings: One quarter of mobile search sessions were driven by two or more search motivations. It was especially difficult to distinguish curiosity from time killing in particular user reporting. Multi-dimensional contexts and motivations influenced mobile search behaviors, and among the context dimensions, gender, place, activities they engaged in while searching, task importance, portal, and interpersonal relations (whether accompanied or alone when searching) correlated with each other.

Research limitations: The sample was comprised entirely of college students, so our findings may not generalize to other populations. More participants and longer experimental duration will improve the accuracy and objectivity of the research.

Practical implications: Motivation analysis and search context recognition can help mobile service providers design applications and services for particular mobile contexts and usages.

Originality/value: Most current research focuses on specific contexts, such as studies on place, or other contextual influences on mobile search, and lacks a systematic analysis of mobile search context. Based on analysis of the impact of mobile search motivations and search context on search behaviors, we built a multi-dimensional model of mobile search behaviors.

http://ir.las.ac.cn/handle/12502/8481

Key words： Mobile search; Query formulation; Search motivation; Search context; Contextual dimension

Cite this article

Dan Wu , Man Zhu & Aihua Ran . How Users Search the Mobile Web: A Model for Understanding the Impact of Motivation and Context on Search Behaviors[J]. Journal of Data and Information Science, 2016 , 1(1) : 98 -122 . DOI: 10.20309/jdis.201608

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