Research on Cross-Session and Cross-Device Search: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The complex process of online information search has been of great interest to academics and practitioners, regarding its motivation, triggers, phases, and various aspects of user search behavior. Web search spanning multiple sessions has been studied, including users switching between devices. The study presented in this paper aims to critically analyze two decades (2000 – 2020) of research on cross-session and cross-device search. A systematic literature review of 29 journal papers and peer reviewed academic conference proceedings was conducted. The main results were extracted, synthesized, and presented. Topical (focus and terminology), methodological (data collection, sample size, sample type, and countries studied) and bibliometric (publication outlet and citations) aspects of online information search were evaluated and described. The paper identifies keywords for effective literature searches and adds new insights about effective research methods and sampling, the most cited publications and most influential authors in this field and the possibility of conducting interdisciplinary research. Both scholars and practitioners can use this study to gain a deeper understanding of the cross-session and cross-device search research agenda. Future research suggestions inform researchers about issues that warrant further attention.

Keywords

• Cross-device search
• cross-session search
• information search
• multi-session search
• multi-screening
• online information gathering