Foraging in the electronic jungle: Extending the matching law and the delay-reduction hypothesis to consumer behavior on the Internet

Two experiments were conducted using a simulated Internet shopping experience to test predictions of the matching law and the delay-reduction hypothesis. Each of five online compact disc stores was associated with either a different in-stock probability or a different delay to informational feedback about whether the item was in stock. In the first experiment, behavior of subjects was well described by the matching law; that is, the relationship between encountered in-stock probabilities and shopping behaviors were approximated by linear functions. Of the three dependent variables measured, purchase behaviors were most sensitive to the in-stock probabilities followed by time spent in stores and entries into stores. With the addition of a changeover delay, sensitivity to in-stock probabilities increased for both entries and time spent in stores while for purchase behaviors, sensitivity decreased. In the second experiment, the behavior of half the subjects was explained by the delay-reduction hypothesis with two others showing tendencies in that direction. For these subjects, the changeover delay facilitated a preference for the store associated with the smallest delay. Data for these subjects were best explained by a hyperbolic function. These two experiments, taken together, suggest that human shopping via the Internet bears more than just a passing resemblance to animal foraging in the wild and that viewing human consumption activities as biobasic behaviors (Sheny, 1991) may provide new direction for consumer behavior research.