Detecting Goal-Oriented vs. Browsing Users Through Behavior Analysis

Abstract

Understanding user personas in e-commerce is important for promoting successful online interactions. Two common personas include goal-oriented and browsing users. A goal-oriented user has the intention of completing a specific task as efficiently as possible (e.g., purchasing a product). A browsing user explores for information that will ultimately determine the next objective (e.g., to purchase or look elsewhere). A website that customizes content to a goal-oriented versus browsing user will improve the user experience and ultimately maximize conversion. In this research, we provide a methodology for differentiating between goal-oriented and browsing users by monitoring users' behavior on the website. We conducted a study where participants were randomly assigned to either a goal-oriented task to find a product or told to simply browse the website. Based on the study's results, we discuss suggestions to assist future human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers on how to design behavior-monitoring studies to accurately portray goal-oriented versus browsing users. We also provide insights into the need for considering the motivation of Amazon's Mechanical Turk workers to appropriately utilize them as a sample population in future behavior-monitoring studies.