A Macro Analysis of the Relationship of Product Involvement and Information Search: The Role of Risk

The relationship of the importance and hedonic dimensions of product involvement to information search is analyzed. Four different models of the role of perceived risk in this relationship are compared and tested. It is expected that perceived risk will mediate the effect of the dimensions of product involvement on information search. Previous investigations have used individual consumers as the units of observation and have, therefore, limited the generalizability of their results to a few products at best. In contrast, the study reported in this paper attempts to determine the relationships of interest with products as the units of observation. It is found that perceived risk fully mediates the effect of the importance dimension of product involvement on information search but not of the hedonic dimension. The effect of hedonic involvement on information search is direct.