Hiç şüphesiz 20. yüzyılın en önemli teknolojik gelişmelerinden biri kabul edilen İnternet, genel olarak tüketici satın alma karar sürecini, özelde ise bilgi arama aşamasını önemli düzeyde etkilemektedir. İnternet ile birlikte, üretici ve perakende firmalarının web sayfaları, e-forumlar gibi çeşitli online bilgi kaynakları ortaya çıkmıştır. Pazarlama yöneticilerinin, tüketicilerin bilgi arama aşamasını yönlendirmek ve tüketicilerin tercihlerini etkileyebilmek için etkin iletişim stratejileri geliştirmeleri gerekmektedir. Dolayısıyla, tüketici bilgi arama davranışını, özellikle bilgi kaynaklarının kullanımını, etkileyen değişkenlerin belirlenmesi ve bu değişkenlerin etkilerinin incelenmesi önemlidir. Bu çalışmada, online bilgi kaynaklarının ortaya çıkmasıyla satış elemanı, arkadaş ve yakın çevre ve reklamlar gibi geleneksel bilgi kaynaklarının kullanımının nasıl etkilendiği araştırılmaktadır. İlk olarak tüketici bilgi arama davranışı ile ilgili literatür gözden geçirilerek bilgi kaynaklarının kullanımını etkileyen bir model önerilmiştir. Daha sonra ise önerilen model, cep telefonu satınalma kararı bağlamında Yapısal Denklik Modelleme (Structural Equation Modeling) ile test edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçlarına göre, cep telefonu satınalma durumunda, geleneksel bilgi kaynaklarının hala önemli ölçüde kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Ayrıca, algılanan risk, eğlence odaklı alışveriş eğilimi, ürüne yönelik ilgi düzeyi ve geleneksel bilgi kaynaklarının kullanımında algılanan faydanın, bilgi kaynakları kullanımı farkını geleneksel kaynakların lehine pozitif yönde etkilediği ortaya konulmuştur. Buna karşılık, çevresinde uyaran arama eğilimi, kalite-odaklı alışveriş yöneliminin, online bilgi kaynakları kullanımında algılanan faydanın ve nesnel ve öznel ürün bilgisinin hem online hem de geleneksel bilgi kaynaklarının aynı düzeyde kullanılmasında etkili olduğu görülmüştür.

With the help of the technological advances, online information sources offer new alternatives for consumers to get product information. For this reason, consumer information behavior could occur not only in an online environment or offline environment but also within the combination of both environments. This study is a pioneer study investigating consumer information search behavior through online information sources along with traditional information sources. The proposed conceptual model seeks to determine the variables that might influence the extent of usage of online information sources over offline information sources. The central construct of the proposed model is the gap between the use of online information sources and that of offline information sources. The variables included in the study are listed as product involvement, general perceived risk, optimum stimulation level, perceived benefits of online information sources, perceived benefits of offline information sources, objective and subjective product knowledge, attribute importance, time availability, recreational shopping orientation, economic- conscious shopping orientation and qualityconscious shopping orientation. Additionally, the conceptual model suggests link between the difference online and offline information search behavior and search outcomes. Thirteen testable hypotheses were proposed to test the causal paths between the main constructs of the model. The proposed model is tested for purchasing of a cellular phone. The reason behind choosing cellular phone as a focal product for this study is that a variety of online and offline information sources are available for consumers to obtain product information about cellular phones. Moreover, 20% of cellular phone users in Turkey want to purchase a new one within the range of six months or at most one year, while the average usage of cellular phone in Europe is two years. As a data collection method, a questionnaire was designed and face to face surveys were conducted. All measures for the constructs have been adapted from existing literature. The survey instrument is composed of four main sections. In the first section, filter questions were asked to reach the target respondents. The following second and third section included the questions associated with information search behavior for the purchasing of a cellular phone. In the last section, questions dealing with personal characteristics including optimum stimulation level, shopping orientations and demographics were asked. Prior to survey administration, a pilot study was conducted by using a student sample. Feedback was obtained regarding the wording of the questions asked in the questionnaire, and also asked to evaluate layout of the survey. In scope of the sampling and design process of the study, the population is defined as “the people who has bought a new cellular phone in last one year and living in Istanbul”. Besides, the population consists of males and females using both online information sources and offline (traditional) information sources to get product information. Thus, the Internet usage is the prerequisite of the consumers should be selected as sample members. The sampling procedure used in this study is the cluster sampling method and 685 face-to-face surveys were carried out with consumers. Structural Equation Modeling was applied to test the proposed model. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural model testing were performed using the Lisrel 8.7. Overall, the model fit indices confirmed that the model was valid for the focal product of cellular phone. Besides, modification indices calculated by LISREL propose structural relations among latent variables to improve the main model. The results of the analysis of structural model suggest adding a path from involvement to search outcomes. This proposed relationship between involvement and search outcomes was found to be statistically significant. The major finding of this thesis is that although online information sources have received more attention in recent years, traditional information sources are still important to consumers for seeking product information. Specifically, perceived risk has a positive impact on the difference the use of online information sources and traditional information sources in the favor of traditional information sources for cellular phones. Furthermore, at the pre-purchase information search stage in the case of purchasing a cellular phone, it was found that as recreational shopping orientation and product involvement increase, the difference between the use of online information sources and traditional information sources increases in the favor of traditional information sources.