From Query to Conscience: The Importance of Information Retrieval in Empowering Socially Responsible Consumerism

Millions of consumers search for products online each day, aiming to find items that meet their needs at an acceptable price. While price and quality are major factors in purchasing decisions, ethical considerations increasingly influence consumer behavior, giving rise to the socially responsible consumer. Insights from a recent survey of over 600 consumers reveal that many barriers to ethical shopping stem from information-seeking challenges, often leading to decisions made under uncertainty. These challenges contribute to the intention-behaviour gap, where consumers' desire to make ethical choices is undermined by limited or inaccessible information and inefficacy of search systems in supporting responsible decision-making. In this perspectives paper, we argue that the field of Information Retrieval (IR) has a critical role to play by empowering consumers to make more informed and more responsible choices. We present three interrelated perspectives: (1) reframing responsible consumption as an information extraction problem aimed at reducing information asymmetries; (2) redefining product search as a complex task requiring interfaces that lower the cost and burden of responsible search; and (3) reimagining search as a process of knowledge calibration that helps consumers bridge gaps in awareness when making purchasing decisions. Taken together, these perspectives outline a path from query to conscience, one where IR systems help transform everyday product searches into opportunities for more ethical and informed choices. We advocate for the development of new and novel IR systems and interfaces that address the intricacies of socially responsible consumerism, and call on the IR community to build technologies that make ethical decisions more informed, convenient, and aligned with economic realities.

Search Changes Consumers' Minds: How Recognizing Gaps Drives Sustainable Choices

Despite a growing desire among consumers to shop responsibly, translating this intention into behaviour remains challenging. Previous work has identified that information seeking (or lack thereof) is a contributing factor to this intention-behaviour gap.In this paper, we hypothesize that searching can bridge this gap - helping consumers to make purchasing decisions that are better aligned with their values. We conducted a task-based study with 308 participants, asking them to search for information on one of eight ethical aspects regarding a product they were actively shopping for. Our findings show that actively searching for such information led to an overall increase in the importance participants' assigned to ethical aspects.However, it was the recognition and understanding of ethical considerations, rather than ethical intentions or search activity, that drove shifts towards more responsible purchasing decisions. Participants who acknowledged and filled knowledge gaps in their decision making showed significant behaviour change, including increased searching and a stronger desire to alter their future shopping habits. We conclude that responsible consumption can be considered a partial information problem, where awareness of one's own knowledge limitations may be the catalyst needed for meaningful consumer behaviour change.

From Validity to Inter-Subjectivity: An Argument for Reliability Signals in Search Environments

Search engines and information platforms are increasingly scrutinized for their role in spreading misinformation. Traditional responses often focus on detecting falsehoods or verifying the ultimate validity of claims. This paper argues that such a validity-centered framing is inadequate for the epistemic challenges of search environments.

A Conversationalist Approach to Information Quality in Information Interaction and Retrieval

Rather than using (proxies of) end user or expert judgment to decide on the ranking of information, this paper asks whether conversations about information quality might offer a feasible and valuable addition for ranking information. We introduce a theoretical framework for information quality, outlining how information interaction should be perceived as a conversation and quality be evaluated as a conversational contribution. Next, an overview is given of different systems of social alignment and their value for assessing quality and ranking information. We propose that a collaborative approach to quality assessment is preferable and raise key questions about the feasibility and value of such an approach for ranking information. We conclude that information quality is an inherently interactive concept, which involves an interaction between users of different backgrounds and in different situations as well as of quality signals on users' search behavior and experience.