MODELING INFORMATION USE IN A SPATIAL CONTEXT

Housing market information systems are characterized by multiple and interrelated channels of information flow. Decision makers are thought to use four channels of information characterized by message content, reliability, and cost. The effects of variations in the four subjective costs of channel use on the sequential structure of information collection and the spatial structure of search are examined with simulation techniques. Cost variations lead to four distinct sequential patterns of channel use, while the cost of obtaining general market information dominates the efficiency of spatial search. © 1979, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.