DOI: 10.4018/IJABIM.2017070104 International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management Volume 8 • Issue 3 • July-September 2017 Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Conceptual Model of Customer Utility for Information Databases Used in Iran Fatima Fahimnia, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Mahshid Eltemasi, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Maryam Nakhoda, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to address the factors that can increase the utility for customers of information databases in Iran. In order to achieve that, summarizing content analysis techniques was used. The study population consists of customers paying to use information databases in Iran. The bibliographical research has been done on utility related publications published in the 5-year period of 2011-2015, indexed on Science Direct, ProQuest and EBSCO information databases. Samples were randomly chosen from information database customers using paid services from two major information centers in Iran - University of Tehran Central library and Documentation Center and Organization for Industrial Management Library, for interviews. Results showed that the main factors affecting customer utility in using paid information databases are information needs, quality, Incentives, additional information and users’ individual and social characteristics, respectively. KeywoRDS Customer Utility, Information Commodity, Information Databases, Information Economics INTRoDUCTIoN Information databases are one of the most important channels for scientific and research information retrieval, particularly in recent years, and the majority of students and researchers use information databases to fulfill their information needs. On the other hand, most credible information databases are not free and access to their services requires certain costs for the consumers. Although typically universities undertake these payments to provide access for their faculty and students, a large number of researchers and even students and professors, do not have access to these facilities, 52