Table 1.

Main categories of information-seeking behaviour according to Wilson’s model

Deductive categories of information-seeking behaviour (Wilson’s model)
Main categories	Subcategories	Definition [8]
Types of information-seeking behaviour	Passive attention	‘Such as listening to the radio or watching television programmes, where information acquisition may take place without intentional seeking’
	Passive searching	‘Signifies those occasions when one type of search (or other behaviour) results in the acquisition of information that happens to be relevant to the individual’
	Active searching	Active searching is ‘where an individual actively seeks out information’
	Ongoing searching	‘Where active searching has already established the basic framework of knowledge, ideas, beliefs or values, but where occasional continuing search is carried out to update or expand one’s framework’
Intervening variables	Psychological	Psychological intervening variables include, e.g. cognitive dissonance, cognitive and emotional characteristics
	Demographic	Demographic intervening variables cover, e.g. age and sex
	Role-related or interpersonal	Role-related or interpersonal intervening variables cover, e.g. social systems, requirements and level of responsibility
	Environmental	Environmental intervening variables cover, e.g. time, geography and national cultures
	Source characteristics	Source characteristics cover, e.g. access, credibility and the channel of communication