Online information quality in experiential consumption: An exploratory study

Most studies on online information quality are functionalistic and overlook social and emotional features of information and meaning-making, which are important in experiential consumption. Using Jakobson's [1960. Closing statement: linguistics and poetics. In: Sebeok, T.A. (Ed.), Style in Language. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 350–377] communication model as an analytic device, this paper aims to explore consumers’ information needs in online experiential consumption contexts and, based on that, it suggests a tentative framework for understanding online information quality. The findings show that, in addition to descriptive information, the emotive, the social, the imperative and the meta-linguistic information dimensions constitute online information quality in experiential consumption. The managerial implications underline the importance of consumer-to-consumer referencing, personalization and support functions on websites.