A52.
Baldwin,
N. & Rice, R. E. (1997). The information-seeking behavior of
securities
analysts: Individual and institutional influences, information sources
and channels, and outcomes. Journal of the American Society for
Information
Science,
48(8), 674-693.
Information technology and the need for global information are
constantly
changing the way securities analysts, one kind of knowledge worker,
obtain,
manipulate, and disseminate information. This study develops and tests
a general model, with specific hypotheses, that individual
characteristics
and institutional resources influence the information sources and
communication
channels that individuals use, that use of these sources and channels
influences
the outcomes of analysts' activities, and that, therefore, individual
characteristics
and institutional resources both directly and indirectly influence the
outcomes. The data for this study were collected through a telephone
survey
administered to a random sample of 100 securities analysts from 40 of
the
largest investment banking firms in the United States and the United
Kingdom.
The results show that individual characteristics have little influence
on the information sources and communication channels used by analysts,
and thereby do not have a significant influence on the outcomes of
analysts'
information activities. Institutional resources do have a significant
influences
on the information sources and communication and channels analysts use,
but also have a direct influences on outcomes, and thereby play a
significant
role in analysts' information activities. The conclusion discusses
implications
of these findings for securities analysts, institutional and retail
investors,
schools of library and information science, and practicing
informational
professionals.
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