Feature-oriented vs. Needs-oriented product access for non-expert online shoppers

Abstract

Most online shops today organise their product catalogue in a feature-oriented way. This can cause problems for shoppers who have only limited knowledge of product features. An alternative is to organizing product information in a needs-oriented way. Here possible ways of using the product build the focus of attention. In this study we compared reported preference of catalogue access of non-expert shoppers when confronted with either feature-oriented or needsoriented access to a catalogue of digital cameras. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.