| Abstract: |
Despite substantial efforts to help consumers search in more intuitive ways,
text search remains the predominant tool for product discovery online. In this
paper, we explore the effects of visual and textual cues for search refinement
on consumer search and purchasing behavior. We collaborate with one of the
largest e-commerce platforms in China and study its roll out of a new search
tool. When a customer searches for a general term (e.g., “headphones”), the
tool suggests refined queries (e.g., “bluetooth headphones” or
“noise-canceling headphones”) with the help of images and texts. The search
tool was rolled out with a long-run experiment, which allows us to measure its
short-run and long-run effects. We find that, although there was no immediate
effect on orders or total expenditures, the search tool changed customers’
search and purchasing behavior in the long-run. Customers with access to the
new tool eventually increased orders and expenditures compared to those in the
control group, especially for non top-selling products. The purchase increase
comes from more effective searches, rather than an increase in activity on the
platform. We also find that the effect is not only driven by the direct value
of suggested searches, but also by customers indirectly learning to perform
more effective searches on their own. |