Impact of Information Overload on Consumer Decision‐Making in the Agri‐Food Sector: A Stimulus‐Organism‐Response Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT In the era of big data and AI, consumers are confronted with an overwhelming amount of information and a wide range of choices when purchasing agri‐food products online. This can significantly impact their decision‐making processes. However, there is currently insufficient comprehensive understanding regarding how information overload influences consumer purchasing decisions in the agri‐food sector and whether differences in personal cognition and knowledge moderate this effect. This study aims to address this knowledge deficiency. Drawing on the stimulus‐organism‐response (S‐O‐R) theory, an influence mechanism model is developed to examine the impact of information overload on consumers' decision deferral. A situational experiment involving 430 agri‐food consumers is conducted to empirically test the proposed model. The results show that information overload significantly affects the level of consumer confusion. This, in turn, causes a deferral of purchase decisions. Furthermore, both cognitive need and consumer knowledge negatively moderate the relationship between information overload and consumer confusion.