Consumer Responses to Preference Elicitation Processes in Destination Recommendation Systems

A total of 401 subjects participated in a Web-based experiment which involved using a destination recommendation system for Spring Break vacation destinations. The data was analyzed primarily using a structural equation modeling methodology. The results suggest that the content of the questions asked during the course of the preference elicitation process does not matter much. In contrast, form of measurement---and to some extent the number of questions asked---have small but significant direct effects on the evaluation of the recommendation provided by the system. Gender, need for cognition, and trust in recommendation systems are identified as important aspects to consider when examining the persuasive potential of the preference elicitation process. Importantly, the results indicate that explicit measurement seems to persuade more than implicit measurement and lead subjects to make more favorable judgments based on explicit attitudes constructed at the time of preference measurement. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed, followed by potential limitations and directions for future research. Specifically, it is argued that preference measurement in recommendation systems plays an important role and that especially its impact on trust and perceived personalization needs to be more extensively considered in recommendation system design.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communications

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Gretzel, Ulrike

Contributors dc:contributor

• Daniel Fesenmaier

• Computer Science

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3153305

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86568