title: Is an idea different from cake: can you have it and eat it, too? A violation of permanence in information consumption.
abstract: One of the basic features of information is permanence. This feature states that the consumption of information by one consumer does not affect the availability of that information to other consumers. We present examples in two studies indicating that both laymen and experts of information exchange may be motivated to make choices that violate the permanence feature in accepting (Study 1) and offering (Study 2) information. When they possess, but have not yet consumed information, people may suffer from the appearance of wastefulness. This apparent wastefulness may provide a potential explanation for the observed violation of the permanence feature. Our findings indicate that, as the material age evolves into the information age, information-exchange behavior has not evolved significantly away from material-exchange behavior.
authors: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Shu
authors: S
authors: Li
authors: Yue-Ran
authors: YR
authors: Li
authors: Yin
authors: Y
authors: Su
authors: Li-Lin
authors: LL
authors: Rao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D058980:Information Literacy; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male