以資訊世界圖研究法探討房屋首購族的資訊行為

Abstract

在房價高漲且資訊高度不對稱的房地產市場中，購屋對首次購屋者而言是一項高風險且複雜的重大決策。首購者普遍缺乏購屋經驗與專業知識，如何在有限資訊與資源中建構其資訊世界，為本研究關注的主要議題。相關研究多從消費者決策或市場分析角度切入，較少從資訊行為的角度，整體探討首購者在日常生活與社會脈絡中的資訊世界樣貌。本研究旨在從資訊行為與消費者的視角，深入探討臺北及新北地區之首次購屋者，在購屋決策歷程中的資訊世界，包含人、事、地、物及其互動關係，並進一步探討其資訊世界的內外在情境脈絡與建構方式，以及過程中所遭遇的資訊困境與因應策略。 在研究方法上，本研究運用資訊世界圖研究法（Information World Mapping, IWM），採半結構式訪談法，並以資訊視覺圖作為引談之研究工具，引導受訪者繪製其資訊世界，蒐集與分析 17 位首次自住購屋者的人際網絡、人地物互動關係及情境脈絡等資訊行為。 本研究結果發現：首先，首次購屋者的資訊世界是一個由多元人際網絡、網路資源與實體場域共同構成的資訊網絡。在「人」的面向，資訊世界普遍涵蓋配偶、父母等家庭成員、親友同儕、專業人士及提供在地經驗的在地人士。其資訊互動關係建立於信任、經驗與專業之上，互動關係呈現單向傳遞、雙向交流及資訊協作等多元型態。在「事、地、物」的面向，購屋資訊活動圍繞需求設定、資訊搜尋、實地看屋、評估與決策、議價簽約與交屋、購屋後等事件展開各種探索、搜尋、驗證、儲存與整理、評估與使用、分享與補救搜尋等資訊活動。資訊世界中的地點同時存在於日常生活與社交場域、網路場域、專業場域、物件及周邊環境場域。物的部分，則包含物件傳單、交易文件、網路與實體工具。雖然購屋屬重大決策，預期為投注大量時間心力的系統性搜尋，但本研究發現首購者的資訊行為特徵更常呈現「日常化、碎片化、偶遇性」的特質，長期嵌入於日常生活、社交與休閒時間中持續累積購屋資訊。 其次，首購者的資訊世界深受內外在情境脈絡影響。內在脈絡如時間壓力與情緒影響資訊搜尋深度、廣度與資訊策略；外在脈絡如社會資本、家庭文化影響資訊來源、協作模式等。特別的是，本研究意外發現在高度不確定性的首購決策過程中，宗教信仰成為部分首購者填補理性資訊缺口與降低焦慮的決策依據，呈現出理性資訊與宗教資訊並存使用的特殊文化現象。而首購者的資訊策略呈現「蒐集—驗證—評估—決策—問題發現—再蒐集」的非線性、動態樣貌。主要的資訊策略包括廣泛探索、多方驗證以及資訊委外等方式；資訊判斷標準主要依據可信度、相關度與效用性進行評估過濾。首購者的知識建構模式，主要包含深入研究型、直接行動型（經驗累積型）、問題導向型、委託專業型四種模式。 其三，首購者普遍面臨資訊不對稱、資訊難以取得、資訊可及性不足與難以理解、資訊有誤導之嫌與資訊過載等資訊困境，特別是真正影響居住品質的生活資訊仍難以完全揭露，即使積極搜尋也難以取得資訊，使首購者處於一種隨情境而生、動態變化的「情境性資訊弱勢」狀態。面對此類困境，首購者透過多元資訊來源交叉驗證、強化人際網絡協作、尋求專業協助及心理調適等方式加以因應。 整體而言，本研究發現，首次購屋者的資訊世界由人際網絡、網路資源、實體場域等混合資訊網絡構成。本研究從資訊行為觀點補充既有購屋資訊研究之不足，並建議政府與相關單位應重視首購者之資訊困境，持續推動房市資訊透明化，並考量首購者的知識建構模式與社會文化脈絡需求，提供更具支持性的購屋資訊環境。

In housing markets characterized by high prices and significant information asymmetry, purchasing a home constitutes a high-risk and complex decision for first-time homebuyers. Due to limited experience and professional knowledge, how first-time homebuyers construct their information worlds under constrained information and resources remains the focus of this study. While existing research has predominantly approached home-buying from consumer decision-making or market analysis perspectives, relatively little attention has been paid to first-time homebuyers' information worlds from a holistic information behavior perspective. This study adopts perspectives from information behavior and consumer studies to examine the information worlds of first-time homebuyers in Taipei and New Taipei City, focusing on the relationships among people, events, places, and items, the internal and external contextual factors and the processes through which their information worlds are constructed, and the information challenges encountered and coping strategies employed throughout the home-buying process. Methodologically, this study employs Information World Mapping (IWM) through semi-structured interviews and participant-drawn information world maps as a visual elicitation technique. Seventeen first-time owner-occupiers were interviewed to examine their interpersonal networks, people-place-item interaction patterns, and contextual factors underlying their information behavior. The findings reveal several key insights. First, the information world of first-time homebuyers is a dynamic information network composed of diverse interpersonal relationships, online resources, and multiple places. This world encompasses family members, friends and peers, professionals, and locals with firsthand neighborhood knowledge. Information interactions are built upon trust, experience, and expertise, manifesting as one-way transmission, reciprocal exchange, and collaborative information behavior. Information activities revolve around key home-buying stages—need identification, information seeking, property viewing, evaluation and decision-making, price negotiation, contract signing, and post-purchase experiences—encompassing exploration, searching, verification, storage and organization, evaluation and use, sharing, and follow-up information seeking. Places in the information world span everyday life and social settings, online environments, professional settings, and properties with their surrounding environments, while information items include property brochures, transaction documents, and digital and physical tools. Although home-buying is a major decision expected to require systematic investment of time and effort, information behaviors more commonly exhibit "routinization, fragmentation, and serendipity," longitudinally embedded in everyday life, social interactions, and leisure time. Second, first-time homebuyers' information worlds are profoundly shaped by internal and external contexts. Internal contexts such as time pressure and emotional states influence the depth, breadth, and information seeking strategies; external contexts including social capital and family culture shape information sources and collaboration patterns. Under high uncertainty, religious beliefs serve as an alternative resource for some buyers, compensating for gaps in rational information and alleviating anxiety—revealing a distinct cultural phenomenon of concurrent rational and religious information use. Information strategies exhibit a non-linear and dynamic pattern of "collection–verification–evaluation–decision–problem discovery–re-collection," with principal strategies of broad exploration, cross-verification, and information delegation, evaluated by credibility, relevance, and utility. Major knowledge construction patterns emerge: in-depth research, direct action, problem-driven inquiry, and professional delegation. Third, first-time homebuyers universally face challenges including information asymmetry, inaccessibility, limited comprehensibility, questionable credibility, and information overload. Living information that genuinely affects residential quality remains difficult to disclose and obtain even through active seeking, placing buyers in a dynamic state of "situational information disadvantage." Coping strategies include cross-checking multiple sources, strengthening interpersonal collaboration, seeking professional assistance, and psychological adjustment. Overall, the information world of first-time homebuyers is an information network woven through interpersonal networks, online resources, and multiple places. This study complements existing home-buying research from an information behavior perspective and recommends that government agencies address first-time homebuyers' information challenges by continuing to promote housing market transparency and providing a more supportive home-buying information environment that accounts for their knowledge construction patterns and socio-cultural contexts.