consumerlooking

Consumerlooking is a term used to describe the active, goal-directed behavior of consumers as they seek information about products or services to inform purchase decisions. It encompasses online and offline activities, including researching features, pricing, availability, and reviews, as well as seeking recommendations from peers.

Origin and usage: The term combines consumer and looking and is used in some industry and academic writings to emphasize the looking stage as distinct from shopping or buying. It is often written as consumerlooking or consumer-looking; spelling varies. There is no universally standardized definition, and interpretations differ among commentators.

Scope and behavior: Consumerlooking typically occurs during the information search and evaluation of alternatives stages of the consumer decision process. It involves cross-channel behavior: searching on search engines, visiting retailer sites, reading reviews and ratings, comparing features, and asking questions in forums or social networks. It is influenced by perceived risk, product category, and the availability and credibility of information.

Implications: For marketers, understanding consumerlooking informs content strategy, search engine optimization, and user experience design, such as optimizing product pages for comparison, providing transparent pricing, aggregating reliable reviews, and offering accessible customer support. For researchers, it provides a lens for analyzing how information environments, trust signals, and social proof affect decisions.

Relation to related concepts: It aligns with established concepts of information search and consumer decision-making; it overlaps with online shopping behavior, shopping intent, and media effects. The term remains informal and is not universally adopted.

See also: consumer behavior, information search, shopping behavior, e-commerce, user experience.