The Internet conquered the world at a very rapid pace. Moreover, it is an ideal communication and transaction channel for both firms and consumers. An aspect of the Internet is that recorded visits to a web site create a valuable source of information on online consumer behavior. This information can subsequently be used to support firms and consumers in their decision-making processes. Several aspects of consumer decision making in relation to the Internet are, however, still rather unclear. In this thesis we firstly investigate what determines that the Internet or other channels like the brick-and-mortar store are used for information search or purchase. In addition, we investigate whether a firm can select mortgage-loan applicants on the likelihood of a purchase, which is based on information on online consumer behavior. This type of information may also be used to provide consumers with recommendations on products and services. We investigate whether differences in the quality of these recommendations change consumer decision making. These changes are likely to be related to changes in decision strategies. Do consumers switch from decision strategy? To answer this question one needs to be able to identify these strategies. We provide a first setup for a new method to measure decision strategies, which is more suitable for an online (electronic) environment than existing methods.

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Dellaert, B.G.C., Donkers, A.C.D., Franses, Ph.H.B.F., Osselaer, S.M.J. van, Verhoef, P.C.
Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans) , A.C.D. Donkers (Bas)
Erasmus University Rotterdam , Erasmus Research Institute of Management
hdl.handle.net/1765/8067
ERIM Ph.D. Series Research in Management
Erasmus Research Institute of Management

Vroomen, B. (2006, November 9). The Effects of the Internet, Recommendation Quality and Decision Strategies on Consumer Choice (No. 90). ERIM Ph.D. Series Research in Management. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/8067