The researchers found that people who like to think and solve problems for themselves — a personality type the researchers describe as “high need for cognition” — find content-based recommendations more persuasive…
As more people go online for shopping, understanding how they rely on e-commerce recommendation systems to make purchases is increasingly important. Penn State University researchers suggested that it’s not just what is recommended, but how and why it’s recommended, that helps to shape consumers’ opinions.
Through the study published in the Journal of Advertising, the researchers investigated how people reacted to two product recommendation systems. The first system generated recommendations based on the user’s earlier purchases — often referred to as content-based recommendation systems.
The second provided recommendations based on what other people bought — called collaborative recommendation systems.
The researchers found that people who like to think and solve problems for themselves — a personality type the researchers describe as “high need for cognition” — find content-based recommendations more persuasive.
However, those who are low in their need for cognition are more persuaded by collaborative recommendation systems, which may serve as a signal that other buyers have already vetted the product for them.
The nature of the recommendation system and its degree of confidence in suggesting the right products can be very important in guiding people when making online purchases, said S. Shyam Sundar, James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory.
“In the pre-Internet era, before artificial intelligence, we would ask another person at a cocktail party, ‘I heard you went to Italy, can you give me some recommendations, I’m going there next month,’ as a way of gathering information for making our decisions,” said Sundar, who is also an affiliate of Penn State’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences.
“Now, we go online and can access information from just about everybody who has gone to Italy last month, not just the friend you ran into at the cocktail party. You are now able to get that information about the collective experience of others, as well as how it squares with your own background and prior travels.”
Source – https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/study-says-consumers-decision-to-buy-product-is-based-on-its-recommendation-online/82401139