Exploring the role of culture in online searching behavior from cultural cognitive perspective: case study of American, Chinese and Iranian graduate students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify if cultural differences affect information-searching behavior of users on Google with the use of eye tracking and mouse tracking technologies. According to the theory of cultural cognition, culture has a significant impact on how we organize our thoughts and our relationships, how we perceive the world, and how we decide to behave and act. In this study, I aim to investigate if the theory of cultural cognition is applicable to the users’ online information searching behavior. While the latest quantitative results of this pilot study on American, Chinese and Iranian graduate students showed differences in the search techniques employed by the cultural groups, the Mixed Effect analysis of fixation durations did not reveal significant differences in attention during the course of scanning the search result page on Google. Further analysis will be done and the latest findings will be presented at the conference.