Searching the Web: The Impact of User Knowledge on Search Satisfaction

Searching on the web is a tedious process as it requires knowledge and skills on what and how to search. What to search is basically, the core of the searching activity as it represents the need of the searcher. How to search is related to the knowledge on how the facilities available on the web can be utilized in order to achieve the needs. Search satisfaction is the level of measurement that describes the achievement of the searcher towards his/her information needs. In this paper, two categories of knowledge: topic understanding and web search system understanding have been identified to contribute to the search satisfaction. The Linear Regression analysis confirms that both topic and search system understanding are equally important since they are significantly associated with search satisfaction.