Chapter 7: Summary, conclusion, and recommendations
2.4 Wilson’s (1999) model of information behaviour
Wilson (1999:249) defines information behaviour as “activities a person may engage in when identifying his or her own needs for information, searching for such information in any way, and using or transferring that information”. Case (2007:120) opines that “Information behaviour approaches are typically regarded as models because they focus on specific problems”. Wilson's (1999) model is a representation and an update of his 1981 and 1996 models. This model was designed to “propose an integration of…models into a more general framework” (Wilson, 1999:249). Ingwersen and Järvelin (2005:67) point out that “Wilson’s model is a general summary model”.
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Although there were few models at the time Wilson's general model of information behaviour was being developed (Wilson, 1999:250), he nested some elements of specific models such as Ellis’
features of information-seeking behaviour; thereby developing his model into a macro-model that attempted to embrace all facets of information-seeking behaviour. Wilson therefore believes that his model:
offers a view of the existing research as a set of ‘nested’ models bound together by a dependency upon one another…with finer and finer details of human information seeking and searching behaviour (Wilson, 1999:249).
Hence, this model is based on generic needs in general situations (Beverley, Bath and Barber, 2007:13). Wilson’s (1999) model can therefore help understand vital features of human behaviour including high school learners, since it is a general model.
Wilson (1999:250) believes that using a model helps in achieving the general objectives of the study and contributes greatly towards the provision of effective answers to research questions.
According to Beverley, Bath and Barber (2007:14), Wilson's (1999) model embodies the following questions about information behaviour:
• Why some need prompt information seeking more so than others (stress/coping theory);
• Why some sources of information are used more than others (risk/reward theory); and
• Why people may, or may not, pursue a goal successfully, based on their perceptions of their own efficacy (social learning theory).
Particularly, Wilson’s (1999:251) model aimed at outlining the “various areas covered by what the writer proposed as ‘information-seeking behaviour’, as an alternative to the then common
‘information needs’” and it is based on the assumption that information seeking begins with a perceived need for information by a user. This implies that the user identifies and then defines this need, before seeking information in order to meet the information need which then solves the problem. Wilson (1999:252) thus shows two key points that his model is based on:
• The model considers an information need as a secondary need that arises out of a more basic or primary need;
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• When discovering information to satisfy a need, the information seeker tends to meet with barriers of different kinds and these barriers include personal, interpersonal, and environmental barriers.
Wilson's (1999) assertion of need is corroborated by Chowdhury and Chowdhury (2011:26) who also maintained that “information need is not a primary need, but a secondary need that arises out of another need”. Needs include a conscious need (expressed) and an unconscious need (unexpressed) (Case, 2007). Expressed or articulated need is an actual perceived need which demands an answer; whereas unexpressed needs are usually not recognised, as information needs (Davies and Harrison, 2007:79). Unconscious needs therefore do not cause active information seeking behaviour (Henefer and Fulton, 2005:226). Wilson (1977:44) maintains that unconscious needs may be passive and it might not necessarily cause an individual to seek information.
Wilson’s (1999) model indicates that an information user often has different needs and these needs determine the information systems and sources to be used, thereby influencing the ways in which the information would be used. Grunig (1989:209) believes that a need is an inner motivation state that involves action. However, Wilson (1999) describes needs in terms of uncertainty. Uncertainty in this sense is caused by the presence of barriers and Wilson (1999:265) defines it as “a discrepancy between the typifications applied to the life-world and a phenomenon that, at first sight, cannot be fitted into those typifications”. Besides, Adams (2010:69) sees uncertainty as “a cognitive condition that can lead to an affective state of anxiety and lack of confidence”. On the issue of barrier, Ikoja-Odongo and Mostert (2006) support Wilson's assertion by indicating that internal factors (personal) and external factors (environmental) may create barriers to obtaining useful information. For example, “interpersonal problems are likely to arise whenever the information source is a person” (Wilson, 1997:559).
This model also depicts that “part of the information- seeking behaviour may involve other people through information exchange and that information perceived as useful may be passed to other people” (Wilson, 1999:251). The information user is therefore expected to utilise information or exchange information received with other people personally. The model therefore identifies the user as the focus of the information needs, but introduced the term "intervening variables" to
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represent factors that may affect information-seeking behaviour. Intervening variables, unlike barriers, “may actually be supportive of information use as well as preventive” (Wilson, 1999:256). Beverley, Bath and Barber (2007:14) point out that these “intervening variables” may be involved in an individual’s information behaviour.
The overall framework of Wilson's (1999) model also identified an “active search” mode that included behaviours. This model therefore recognises the existence of different types of search behaviours: passive attention, passive search, active search, and ongoing search (Beverley, Bath and Barber, 2007:14). If a search for information is successful, then the user “makes use of the information found and may either fully or partially satisfy the perceived need – or, indeed, fail to satisfy the need and have to reiterate the search process” (Wilson 1999:251).
The model thus indicates that information users have needs and these needs may come from the previous level of satisfaction or non-satisfaction with information they acquired. Information users in satisfying their information needs consult formal and informal information sources (Wilson, 1999:251), hence the next action after a user recognises the need for information is information seeking activities. For example, a high school learner in need for information for a class assignment may consult the Internet. These activities lead to receiving either useful (success) or unhelpful (failure) information. Wilson (1999:257) therefore perceived information processing and use to be necessary components of the feedback loop, if information needs were to be satisfied.
Wilson’s (1999) model of information behaviour is well established and can make a valuable contribution to our understanding of information behaviour in the context of all groups of users (Beverley, Bath and Barber, 2007:27). This model is suitable for the current study since the study is within the field of information behaviour and within the pattern of understanding information seeking behaviour of users (Wilson, 2008), within its context (Courtright, 2007). The simplicity and comprehensiveness of Wilson’s model also allows the consideration of a strong connection that exists between a ‘user’ and ‘use’, hence appropriate for investigating the Internet-based information behaviour of high school learners.
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Figure 2.4: Wilson's Information Behaviour Model (Source: Wilson, 1999:251)