ABSTRACT
Information technologies have contributed to the development of the information society. Thanks to rapid technological development, it is now possible to collect more and more information and use more and more advanced tools to do so. These changes have had a significant impact on the consumer.
The purpose of this chapter is to present the interdisciplinary nature of the concept of a consumer, its specific features, and changes in the process of making consumer decisions in light of the development of information technology.
The authors apply the narrative description method to present a review of literature on consumer decision-making processes on the Internet and the development of related new technologies. The development of the Internet and its tools have led to the appearance of both new models of consumer behaviour processes and the subsequent effects of these new behaviours, e.g. ROPO effect (Research Online, Purchase Offline) and the reverse ROPO (Research Offline, Purchase Online).
The results of this analysis offer considerable practical insights. First, they show the changes in consumer behaviours, and second, they can provide advice for companies on which elements of their sales strategy should be strengthened.
