Information seeking behavior of R&D professionals in new product development

Information seeking behavior plays an essential role in shaping innovation performance in industrial firms. However, little research has been conducted at the individual level to investigate the information seeking behavior of R&D professionals in new product development and potential behavior differences among different professional groups. By using an individual level sample in Chinese technology intensive firms, this paper examines both frequency and width of information source use in new product development, and how task, individual, and information source characteristics would affect information seeking behavior of R&D professionals. The research results shows that task complexity and uncertainty have significant influences on both frequency and width of information source use.