Effects of SERP Information on Academic Search Behaviours

Search engine result pages (SERPs) usually display different information contents for web search users. In this paper, the effects of different information categories displayed on SERPs, including snippet, published date, and citation count, were investigated in the academic search context. In addition, the academic search behaviours and the satisfactions of 48 undergraduate students were explored. The results showed that participants were more satisfied with the SERPs displaying the snippet information than those displaying published date, and citation count information regardless of their familiarity with the search tasks' topics. Moreover, the participants were more satisfied with their final submitted options when they selected the submission from SERPs displaying the snippet information. The findings from this research could be used as the implication for SERPs interface design to provide valuable information for users without overwhelming them with excessive information categories.