Providing a Model of Information Redundancy in Cyberspace and Its Role in Consumer Purchase Decision
Keywords:
Information Redundancy, Consumer Purchase Decision, CyberspaceAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to develop a qualitative model of information redundancy in cyberspace and explain its role in consumers’ purchase decision-making difficulties.
Methodology: This exploratory qualitative study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The participants included 16 individuals with lived experience of information redundancy in cyberspace during online purchase decision-making. The interview data were analyzed through thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA software. The analytic process involved familiarization with the data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and developing the final qualitative model.
Findings: The qualitative inferential findings led to the identification of one overarching theme, four organizing themes, and 18 sub-themes. The overarching theme was “information redundancy and consumer purchase decision difficulty in cyberspace.” The organizing themes included environmental and content-related antecedents, trust and credibility of social sources, cognitive pressure and decision anxiety, and coping strategies and behavioral consequences. The findings indicated that excessive information volume, multiplicity of sources, contradictory information, ambiguity in product specifications, exaggerated advertising content, and platform/interface characteristics intensify consumers’ cognitive load. Moreover, reduced trust in online information, doubts about the authenticity of reviews, social feedback effects, decision anxiety, fear of making the wrong choice, anticipated regret, decision paralysis, and perceived financial and time-related risk make purchase decisions more difficult. Consumers cope with this condition by prolonging the search process, filtering and simplifying information, relying on mental shortcuts such as brand or price, using media and digital literacy, or changing purchase behavior by abandoning online purchase or shifting to in-person buying.
Conclusion: Information redundancy in cyberspace is not merely an increase in data volume; rather, it is a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral phenomenon that complicates consumer purchase decisions. The proposed model provides a basis for designing user-centered digital platforms, reducing information overload, strengthening trust, and improving the online purchase experience.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Abolfazl Fardi, Narges Delafrooz, Ali Gholipour Soleimani (Author)
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