Abstract
Extensive research has found information to be crucial for consumers’ understanding (Harrison, 2002). However, other research has found information to be not at all crucial, but rather that it is more important in terms of experiential learning, where people learn through their own action and reflection (Boyatzis & Kolb, 1995; Kolb, 1976, 1981; Meyer, 2003; Saunders, 1997; Sautter, 2000). Research has also determined that the consumers’ knowledge influences the extent to which they search for information. Some research has shown that an increased level of knowledge results in a decreased search for information, which is explained by the fact that the consumers’ need for information has decreased (Johnson & Russo, 1984; Mattila & Wirtz, 2002). Other research has found that an increased level of knowledge results in an increased search for information because the consumers then know what to search for (Brucks, 1985; Jacoby et al., 1978). It is well known that some people learn most effectively by doing, whereas others learn by dealing with abstract conceptions and then relating them in practice (Evans, 1989). How do consumers acquire knowledge about Internet banking - through information or through usage and reflection? How does the consumers’ knowledge influence their search for information? These questions will be studied within the Internet banking context. It is important to investigate these questions because the consumers’ knowledge is an influential construct in understanding consumers’ usage behavior (Brucks, 1985; Chiou, Droge, & Hanvanich, 2002; Park, Mothersbaugh, & Feick, 1994) and, therefore, may influence the consumers’ use of the Internet channel to the bank (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989). This chapter aims to increase the understanding of what influences the consumers’ usage of a technological channel and what managerial implications are involved in how the distributor can influence the consumers’ usage behavior. Banking services constitute a heterogeneous supply, and the Internet is a difficult channel to the bank for many consumers. Therefore, the consumers’ knowledge assessment of Internet banking is an interesting area to study. Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), on which this chapter is to a great extent based, has been used to explain learning and educational issues in several fields (Mainemelis, Boyatzis, & Kolb, 2002). A bibliography of research on ELT includes 1004 studies conducted in the fields of management (207), education (430), computer studies (104), psychology (101), medicine (72), as well as nursing, accounting, and law (Mainemelis et al., 2002). In spite of the extensive amount of research based on ELT, it does not seem as though any studies of ELT have been conducted in a context where the computer constitutes a channel to heterogeneous services.