Platform Information Provision and Consumer Search: A Field Experiment
Abstract
Despite substantial efforts to help consumers search in more intuitive ways, text searchremains the predominant tool for product discovery online. In this paper, we explore
the effects of visual and textual cues for search refinement on consumer search and
purchasing behavior. We collaborate with one of the largest e-commerce platforms in
China and study its roll out of a new search tool. When a customer searches for a
general term (e.g., “headphones”), the tool suggests refined queries (e.g., “bluetooth
headphones” or “noise-canceling headphones”) with the help of images and texts. The
search tool was rolled out with a long-run experiment, which allows us to measure
its short-run and long-run effects. We find that, although there was no immediate
effect on orders or total expenditures, the search tool changed customers’ search and
purchasing behavior in the long-run. Customers with access to the new tool eventually
increased orders and expenditures compared to those in the control group, especially
for non top-selling products. The purchase increase comes from more effective searches,
rather than an increase in activity on the platform. We also find that the effect is not
only driven by the direct value of suggested searches, but also by customers indirectly.