Interactive Content Diversity and User Exploration in Online Movie Recommenders: A Field Experiment

Recommender systems often struggle to strike a balance between matching users' tastes and providing unexpected recommendations. When recommendations are too narrow and fail to cover the full range of users' preferences, the system is perceived as useless. Conversely, when the system suggests too many items that users don't like, it is considered impersonal or ineffective. To better understand user sentiment about the breadth of recommendations given by a movie recommender, we conducted interviews and surveys and found out that many users considered narrow recommendations to be useful, while a smaller number explicitly wanted greater breadth. Additionally, we designed and ran an online field experiment with a larger user group, evaluating two new interfaces designed to provide users with greater access to broader recommendations. We looked at user preferences and behavior for two groups of users: those with higher initial movie diversity and those with lower diversity. Among our findings, we discovered that different level of exploration control and users' subjective preferences on interfaces are more predictive of their satisfaction with the recommender.Comment: International Journal of Human Computer Interactio

Evaluating recommender systems from the user's perspective: survey of the state of the art

A recommender system is a Web technology that proactively suggests items of interest to users based on their objective behavior or explicitly stated preferences. Evaluations of recommender systems (RS) have traditionally focused on the performance of algorithms. However, many researchers have recently started investigating system effectiveness and evaluation criteria from users' perspectives. In this paper, we survey the state of the art of user experience research in RS by examining how researchers have evaluated design methods that augment RS's ability to help users find the information or product that they truly prefer, interact with ease with the system, and form trust with RS through system transparency, control and privacy preserving mechanisms finally, we examine how these system design features influence users' adoption of the technology. We summarize existing work concerning three crucial interaction activities between the user and the system: the initial preference elicitation process, the preference refinement process, and the presentation of the system's recommendation results. Additionally, we will also cover recent evaluation frameworks that measure a recommender system's overall perceptive qualities and how these qualities influence users' behavioral intentions. The key results are summarized in a set of design guidelines that can provide useful suggestions to scholars and practitioners concerning the design and development of effective recommender systems. The survey also lays groundwork for researchers to pursue future topics that have not been covered by existing method

People know how diverse their music recommendations should be; why don’t we?

While many researchers have proposed various ways of quantifying recommendation list diversity, these approaches have had little input from users on their own perceptions and preferences in seeking diversity. Through a set of user studies we provide a better understanding of how users view the concept of diversity in music recommendations, and how intra-list diversity can be adapted to better represent their diversity preference. Our results show that users have a clear idea of what music recommendation diversity means to them, accuracy metrics do not model overall list satisfaction, and filtering recommendations on genre before list diversification can positively impact list satisfaction. More importantly, our results highlight the need to base music recommendation metrics on insights from real peopl

KEER2022

Avanttítol: KEER2022. DiversitiesDescripció del recurs: 25 juliol 202

A Review of Personality in Human Robot Interactions

Personality has been identified as a vital factor in understanding the quality of human robot interactions. Despite this the research in this area remains fragmented and lacks a coherent framework. This makes it difficult to understand what we know and identify what we do not. As a result our knowledge of personality in human robot interactions has not kept pace with the deployment of robots in organizations or in our broader society. To address this shortcoming, this paper reviews 83 articles and 84 separate studies to assess the current state of human robot personality research. This review: (1) highlights major thematic research areas, (2) identifies gaps in the literature, (3) derives and presents major conclusions from the literature and (4) offers guidance for future research.Comment: 70 pages, 2 figure

Motives Driving Functional Food Consumption among Portuguese Students

Although Functional Foods are the fastest growing segment of the global food market, motives driving consumption remain somewhat unexplored. Literature points towards personal values as a vital theoretical concept to consider in motivational research, but requiring a mediating construct for measurement, with lifestyle succesfully tested for this effect. Furthermore, authors suggest that individuals are motivated by the self-relevant consequences of consumption and the ability to link them with product attributes and personal values. Exploratory qualitative work has been undertaken to elicit such beliefs, concerning University students’ perception of functional foods. Laddering interviews and focus group were used, establishing whole grain cereals, antioxidant fruit juices and probiotic yoghurts as the most popular products. The conceptual framework was afterwards tested, via questionnaire submission to a sample of 596 students, examining Food-Related Lifestyles (FRL) and those product-related beliefs as possible consumption motives. Five FRL segments were identified, with empirical confirmation of segment membership being determinant only for cereal consumption. Conversely, findings indicate a strong association between beliefs and consumption frequency for all products. The study revealed that Portuguese students are only ready to adopt functional cereals and juices if both their well-being and pleasure needs are satisfied, as health claims alone do not seem enough to guarantee preference. For yoghurts, on the other hand, results suggest that loyal consumers strive for an independent lifestyle and look for convenient foods that can help them to take care of their own health. Implications for food companies, academic contributions and future directions are also offered.Apesar dos Alimentos Funcionais constituirem actualmente o segmento de maior crescimento no sector alimentar, as motivações inerentes ao seu consumo permanecem por explorar. A revisão bibliográfica indica os valores pessoais como um conceito teórico essencial na área motivacional, tendo os Estilos de Vida sido testados com sucesso como permitindo a sua mensuração. Adicionalmente, diversos autores têm defendido que os indivíduos são motivados por crenças àcerca da relação entre atributos do produto, consequências do seu consumo e valores pessoais. Um estudo exploratório foi realizado junto de estudantes universitários, de forma a apurar as suas crenças mais frequentes relativas aos Alimentos Funcionais, recorrendo a entrevistas laddering e focus group. Identificaram-se os cereais integrais, sumos antioxidantes e iogurtes com ácidos activos como os produtos mais populares neste grupo. Posteriormente, foi testado o modelo conceptual, junto de uma amostra com 596 estudantes, propondo o segmento de Estilo de Vida Alimentar e crenças sobre a Atractividade do Produto como possíveis determinantes de consumo. Cinco segmentos foram identificados, confirmando-se uma correlação estatisticamente significativa apenas com o consumo de cereais. Por outro lado, os resultados indiciam uma correlação forte entre atractividade e consumo, para os três produtos. O estudo quantitativo revela que os estudantes Portugueses só adoptam hábitos de consumo frequente de cereais e sumos funcionais, quando acreditam que quer as suas necessidades de prazer, quer de bem-estar podem ser satisfeitas. Relativamente aos iogurtes, os consumidores mais frequentes parecem aspirar a um estilo de vida independente, procurando produtos alimentares que os ajudem a tomar conta de si próprios. Por último, são apresentadas implicações para a indústria alimentar, bem como contributos para futuras investigações académicas

FATREC Workshop on Responsible Recommendation Proceedings

We sought with this workshop, to foster a discussion of various topics that fall under the general umbrella of responsible recommendation: ethical considerations in recommendation, bias and discrimination in recommender systems, transparency and accountability, social impact of recommenders, user privacy, and other related concerns. Our goal was to encourage the community to think about how we build and study recommender systems in a socially-responsible manner. Recommendation systems are increasingly impacting people\u27s decisions in different walks of life including commerce, employment, dating, health, education and governance. As the impact and scope of recommendations increase, developing systems that tackle issues of fairness, transparency and accountability becomes important. This workshop was held in the spirit of FATML (Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency in Machine Learning), DAT (Data and Algorithmic Transparency), and similar workshops in related communities. With Responsible Recommendation , we brought that conversation to RecSys

Involvement and determinants of ancient towns as tourist destinations: a case study of Wuzhen, China

Ancient towns have become one of the favorite destinations for Chinese tourists. In recent years, many local governments in China have been actively developing such tourism projects. However, the economic efficiency of different projects varies significantly. Some ancient towns are crowded with tourists whereas the others are rarely visited. The present study focuses on the influencing factors in the involvement of tourists’ decision-making on ancient town destinations, in order to help local administrative authorities to develop the market in a more efficient manner. The research hypotheses and conceptual model are put forward on the basis of literature review. Then the author designs the survey questionnaire and distributes copies among tourists in Wuzhen Ancient Town, China (simple sampling). After that, statistical analysis, independent-sample T test, one-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and regression analysis are carried out to test the research hypotheses. Research findings: First, different tourists differ in advertising information factor, tourist attraction factor, destination image factor, social factor, cost factor and experience factor. Second, regression analysis suggests that the factors affecting the destination decision-making of ancient town tourists include advertising information factor, tourist attraction factor, destination image factor and social factor. Third, advertising information factor has the strongest influence on tourists' decision-making involvement, with the influence coefficient being 0.288. According to the research conclusions, the Researcher puts forward some management suggestions for the local management authorities of ancient towns: First, invest in strong destination advertising and information release; second, develop new tourist attraction factor; third, highlight the social functions of tourism; fourth, correctly position the destination image; fifth, focus on differentiating the marketing strategies of different source areas; sixth, divide the tourist market into segments and develop the tourism market in a targeted way.As cidades antigas tornaram-se um dos destinos favoritos dos turistas chineses. Nos últimos anos, muitos governos locais na China têm desenvolvido ativamente esses projetos de turismo. No entanto, a eficiência econômica de diferentes projetos varia significativamente. Algumas cidades antigas estão cheias de turistas, enquanto outras são raramente visitadas. O presente estudo enfoca os fatores que influenciam o envolvimento na tomada de decisões dos turistas na escolha de alguma cidade antiga como destino a visitar, a fim de ajudar as autoridades administrativas locais a desenvolver o mercado de maneira mais eficiente. As hipóteses de pesquisa e o modelo conceitual são apresentados com base na revisão da literatura. Em seguida, o autor cria o questionário da pesquisa e distribui cópias entre os turistas na Cidade Antiga de Wuzhen, China (amostragem simples). Depois disso, análise estatística, teste T de amostra independente, análise de variância unidirecional, análise de correlação e análise de regressão são realizados para testar as hipóteses de pesquisa. Resultados da pesquisa: Primeiro, distintos turistas diferem no fator de informação publicitária, fator de atração turística, fator de imagem de destino, fator social, fator de custo e fator de experiência. Segundo, a análise de regressão sugere que os fatores que afetam a tomada de decisão sobre o destino dos turistas de cidades antigas incluem o fator de informação publicitária, o fator de atração turística, o fator de imagem de destino e o fator social. Terceiro, o fator de informação de publicidade tem a influência mais forte no envolvimento da tomada de decisões dos turistas, com um coeficiente de influência de 0,288. De acordo com as conclusões da pesquisa, o autor apresenta algumas sugestões de gerenciamento para as autoridades administrativas locais das cidades antigas: Primeiro, investir em fortes anúncios de destinos e divulgação de informações; segundo, desenvolver novas atrações turísticas; terceiro, destacar as funções sociais do turismo; quarto, posicionar corretamente a imagem de destino; quinto, focar na diferenciação das estratégias de marketing para diferentes lugares emissores de turismo; sexto, dividir o mercado turístico em segmentos e desenvolvê-lo de forma direcionada

Markenpersönlichkeiten und Konsumenten-Marken-Beziehungen als Elemente erfolgreichen Markenmanagements

The focus of this dissertation lies on the brand personality (BP) and the brand relationship concept. They represent two particularly important measures of brand equity. And more importantly, both concepts still lack a comprehensive understanding. Hence, this dissertation provides deeper insight in how two manage and measure BP and how to build strong consumer-brand relationships. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is twofold: In particular, the first objective is to discuss consumer’s perception of brand personality. In particular, the first goal is to gain an understanding of the way consumers perceive brands. The aim is to explore the amount of variance in consumer perception of brand personality. Do all customers perceive the same intended BP or do customers perceive the same intended BP differently? Reviewing the extant literature on BP reveals that there is much criticism on the existing BP scale (Aaker 1997). In order to address this issue, the research objective is to introduce an alternative conceptualization of BP by drawing upon social psychology. The aim is to analyze the role of emotions linking BP perceptions, brand attitude and purchase intentions. The second purpose of this dissertation is to illustrate how customers form relationships towards brands. Hence, in a first step, this dissertation pursues a thorough literature review. The aim is to scrutinize past research on consumer-brand relationships. This literature review will portray how the concept of consumer-brand relationships has been used in the marketing literature. The aim of this state-of-the-art review is to precisely identify the variables and concepts that deserve more attention. Subsequently, these variables will be investigated in an empirically tested model. So, the fourth aim is to identify the relevant antecedent and mediating variables of consumer-brand relationships. In doing so, this thesis seeks to provide a clear picture of the current state of BP and consumer-brand relationship research. Moreover, it aims at promoting research in these two research fields by addressing current issues in marketing. The first study (chapter 2) applies the existing BP scale. It develops a taxonomy which fills a gap in empirical knowledge about consumer perceptions of brand personalities. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that empirically derives a taxonomy from dimensions drawn from academic research (Aaker 1997). Overall, the results reveal that customers who perceive a strong BP perceive higher levels of performance in terms of brand attitude, preference and satisfaction. The second study (chapter 3) is the first to empirically investigate the applicability of the stereotype content model in the context of consumer goods brands. The review of extant research on BP shows a growing concern about the appropriateness of the Aaker scale. In order to address this issue, the study draws upon social psychology and the stereotype content model. The empirical study suggests that the stereotype content model is a viable alternative conceptualization of the BP concept. This study contributes to current research in two ways. First, it helps reducing complexity in BP measurement. Second, the results provide evidence that the consumer’s behavioral intention results from his stereotypes towards the brand, his emotions and his brand attitude. By providing a current state-of-the-art review, chapter 4 serves as a valuable source of information to enhance research concerning consumer-brand relationships. First, the overview shows that consumer-brand relationship research still is in its infancy. Second, it reveals that current research on consumer-brand relationships focuses on the interpersonal context. Chapter 5 proposes an alternative conceptualization of the brand relationship quality construct by integrating current knowledge from the relationship marketing literature. The results show that brand relationship quality is well captured by the dimensions relationship commitment, trust, and relationship satisfaction. Second, this study is the first to apply the Relational Exchange Theory by Macneil (1980) to the consumer goods brand context. It introduces the norm concept from a business perspective and shows that relational norms play a mediating role in actual relationships between consumers and brands. Hence, the present study approves the question by Johar (2005) whether norms are attached to brand behavior. Furthermore, this chapter advances the current knowledge on consumer-brand relationships by empirically testing a comprehensive framework of consumer-brand relationships. This framework includes not only consumer and brand characteristics, but also brand relationship characteristics as relevant drivers of the consumer-brand dyad. The findings indicate that consumer characteristics are especially related to relational norms and that brand relationship characteristics rather influence the degree of perceived brand relationship quality and brand loyalty. Brand characteristics on the other hand can be linked to both mediators and the out-come variable brand loyalty. Overall, this dissertation advances the understanding of the two key brand equity measures BP and brand relationship by reducing complexity: Whereas the first study develops a taxonomy of brand constellations, the remaining two empirical studies transfer existing knowledge originating from marketing or related disciplines to the brand context. As such, this thesis reduces complexity and enriches research in the two fields by adding knowledge which has proven of value in related contexts.Diese Dissertation setzt sich mit den Konzepten Markenpersönlichkeit und Konsumenten-Markenbeziehung auseinander, die zwei besonders wichtige Maße des Markenwertes sind. Diese Maße sind trotz ihrer Wichtigkeit noch nicht umfassend erforscht. Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich deshalb mit diesen Konzepten und gibt Hinweise darüber, wie Markenpersönlichkeiten zu managen und zu messen sind, und wie stabile Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen aufgebaut werden können. Dabei bietet diese Dissertation einen Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand der Konzepte Markenpersönlichkeit und Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen, und zielt darauf ab, den Wissensstand in diesen beiden Forschungsgebieten zu erweitern, indem sie aktuelle Kritikpunkte aufgreift und in neuartigen Studien berücksichtigt. Im Wesentlichen verfolgt diese Dissertation zwei Ziele: Zum Einen wird untersucht wie Markenpersönlichkeiten von Konsumenten wahrgenommen werden. Ziel ist es, die Varianz der Wahrnehmung der Markenpersönlichkeit zu erklären. Nehmen alle Konsumenten die gleiche anvisierte Markenpersönlichkeit wahr oder nehmen sie die gleiche anvisierte Markenpersönlichkeit unterschiedlich wahr? Die bestehende Skala zur Messung der Markenpersönlichkeit (Aaker 1997) wird häufig kritisiert. Aus diesem Grund stellt diese Dissertation eine alternative Konzeptionalisierung der Markenpersönlichkeit vor, die aus der Sozialpsychologie stammt. So wird in einem empirischen Modell die Rolle der Emotionen analysiert, die die Beziehung zwischen der Wahrnehmung der Markenpersönlichkeit, der Einstellung gegenüber der Marke und der Kaufabsicht mediiert. Zum Anderen besteht das Ziel dieser Dissertation darin, zu verstehen wie Konsumenten Beziehungen zu Marken aufbauen. Zunächst wurde eine detaillierte Literaturrecherche unternommen, um bisherige Forschungserkenntnisse abzubilden. Anschließend wurden die aus theoretischer Sicht als sinnvoll erachteten Variablen in einem empirischen Modell getestet. In Anlehnung an das erste Ziel dieser Dissertation wird in der ersten Studie (Kapitel 2) die existierende Skala zur Messung der Markenpersönlichkeit angewendet. Im Rahmen einer empirischen Untersuchung wird eine Taxonomie entwickelt, deren Dimensionen auf akademischen Forschungsergebnissen beruhen (Aaker 1997). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Konsumenten, die eine starke Markenpersönlichkeit wahrnehmen, eine positivere Einstellung gegenüber der Marke haben, eine größere Präferenz für sie aufweisen und zufriedener mit der Marke sind. Die zweite Studie (Kapitel 3) untersucht erstmalig die Anwendbarkeit des Stereotype-content Modells im Zusammenhang mit Konsumgütermarken. Bestehende Studien zum Thema Markenpersönlichkeiten zweifeln an der Angemessenheit der Skala von Aaker. Daher beruht diese Studie im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Untersuchungen auf dem Stereotype-content Modell der Sozialpsychologie. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Stereotype-content Modell eine wertvolle Alternative zum Konzept der Markenpersönlichkeit darstellt. Die Studie leistet in zweierlei Hinsicht einen Forschungsbeitrag: Erstens zeigt sie auf wie die Komplexität der Messung der Markenpersönlichkeit reduziert werden kann. Zweitens zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die Kaufabsicht der Konsumenten von den Stereotypen gegenüber der Marke, von Emotionen sowie von der Einstellung gegenüber der Marke abhängt. Im Hinblick auf das zweite Hauptziel dieser Dissertaton gibt Kapitel 4 einen Überblick über den Stand der Forschung zum Thema Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen und zeigt aktuelle Forschungslücken auf. So wird zunächst festgestellt, dass das Forschungsfeld um Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen noch in seinen Anfängen steckt. Zweitens wird aufgezeigt, dass sich bisherige Studien zu Markenbeziehungen ausschließlich auf den Kontext zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen beziehen. Da Studien über Markenbeziehungen aufgrund ihres Vergleiches mit zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen häufig kritisiert wurden, schlägt Kapitel 5 eine alternative Konzeptionalisierung vor, die Erkenntnisse aus der Literatur zum Beziehungsmarketing in den Konsumgüterbereich überträgt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen erstens, dass das Konstrukt Markenbeziehungsqualität durch die Dimensionen Commitment, Vertrauen und Zufriedenheit gebildet wird. Zweitens wendet diese Studie erstmalig die Relational Exchange Theory von Macneil (1980) im Zusammenhang mit Konsumgütermarken an. Das Normkonstrukt wird eingeführt und die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass relationale Normen eine mediierende Rolle in Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen haben. Somit beantwortet diese Studie die von Johar (2005) gestellte Frage, ob Normen im Markenverhalten relevant sind. Außerdem erweitert dieses Kapitel den Kenntnisstand über Konsumenten-Markenbeziehungen, indem es ein umfassendes Modell empirisch testet. Dieses Modell schließt nicht nur Konsumenten- und Markencharakteristika mit ein, sondern berücksichtigt auch Charakteristika der Markenbeziehung als relevante Treiber der Beziehung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Konsumentencharakteristika einen signifikanten Einfluss auf relationale Normen haben, und dass die Charakteristika der Markenbeziehung vor allem das Ausmaß der wahrgenommenen Markenbeziehungsqualität und der Markentreue beeinflussen. Insgesamt bereichert diese Dissertation den Kenntnisstand über die zwei zentralen Maße des Markenwertes, Markenpersönlichkeit und Konsumenten-Markenbeziehung, wie folgt: Während die erste Studie eine Taxonomie von Markenkonstellationen entwickelt, übertragen die beiden übrigen empirischen Studien bestehendes Wissen einer Marketingdisziplin oder verwandter Disziplinen in den Markenkontext. Somit reduziert diese Dissertation einerseits Komplexität und bereichert andererseits die Forschung, indem sie Wissen, das sich in einem verwandten Kontext bewährt hat, in dem neuen Kontext anwendet