Gender and Web information seeking: A self-concept orientation model

Introduction This paper explores gender differences in Web information seeking behavior in a manner that questions the commonly assumed equivalence of sex and gender. An alternative understanding, which distinguishes between the two, defines gender in terms of self-concept traits that vary from person to person. Developing this individual-differences conceptual-ization of gender, we introduce a new self-concept orientation framework that describes how sex and measurable differences in gender-related traits affect information seeking on the World Wide Web. The development of a model that addresses relationships among Web information seeking, sex, and gender is a timely and important research objective for several reasons. First, the Web has had wide-ranging effects on society in general (Lesk, 1997; Lynch, 1997) and on information seeking in particular. Its novel information-seeking environment differs from traditional information retrieval contexts in terms of interfaces, search models, and document collections (Jansen & Pooch, 2001; Sparck Jones & Willet, 1997). This environmental distinctiveness warrants further exploration of Web searching (Jansen & Pooch, 2001). Second, sex has been identified as a strong predictor of many attitudes and behaviors that have implications for Web information seeking. These include spatial orientation, ver-also identify sex as an important user demographic that can influence seeking behavior. However, surprisingly little research attention has been directed to understanding sex differences in Web information seeking (Ford, Miller, & Moss, 2001). Our conceptual framework and empirical research address this gap by exploring male–female differences in information-seeking effort and the content of information that is sought. Finally, we believe that any model of sex differences in information-seeking behavior must also address gender as a psychological and social construct. With successive generations , traditional male–female behavioral distinctions are expected to become less pronounced (Nelson, 1994). As gender roles blur and behavior departs from stereotypic role assignments, models that equate gender and sex will be far less useful in explaining information-seeking behavior. In contrast, frameworks that investigate gender in terms of individual psychological differences in self-concept will become increasingly important. We begin by summarizing pertinent research in psychology , marketing, education, and information studies, paying particular attention to the consumer behavior selectivity model and its gender role explanation of sex differences in information processing. This background informs the development of our proposed self-concept orientation framework and leads to specific research questions concerning the roles of sex and gender in Web information seeking. Next, we report the results of empirical research that explores …