An exploratory study of using a user remote tracker to examine web users' personality traits

ABSTRACT

Many online firms are investing money in various means and methods to track online customers' navigation patterns and analyze their characteristics and their web behaviours. With better understanding of the navigation patterns, the firms can provide breakthrough customer service. Currently, there are numerous frameworks ready to help the firms realise their dream to understand their customers. However, these frameworks are limited to server-sided tracking, and the firms lose their customers' footprints once the customers leave their web sites. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework of user remote tracker, and this tracking method can be used to discover much value of customer information. We implemented this tracker, and used it to record the Internet activities from web users in a controlled lab experiment setting. We performed preliminary data analysis to draw a linkage between web customers' characteristics (such as personality traits) and their browsing behaviors.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.2 Types of Systems
          Subjects: Decision support (e.g., MIS)

General Terms:
Experimentation, Human Factors

Keywords:
data mining, electronic commerce, personality traits, tracker, web mining