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How can I help you? : the role of recommendation agents in collaborative online shopping

University of British Columbia

This research examines two important, understudied questions: whether or not recommendation agents (RAs) assist collaborative online shopping (COS), in which two or more shoppers communicate directly and synchronously, and whether or not this depends on how restrictively the RA provides its service. Results from a laboratory experiment show that compared to the use of no RA or a restrictive RA, the use of a flexible RA leads to higher perceived shopping enjoyment (hedonic value). Compared to the use of no RA, the use of a flexible RA or a restrictive RA is associated with higher perceptions of usefulness. However, no difference was found among the three conditions (no RA, flexible RA, and restrictive RA) in terms of perceived purchase decision quality (utilitarian value), nor did restrictiveness significantly affect perceived usefulness. To look beneath the surface of these results, I examined protocols of the social interactions that took place during the task and I analyzed them with Interaction Process Analysis (IPA). The results suggest that flexible RAs were preferred over no RAs or restrictive RAs because they strike a balance between leadership and empowerment during the social encounter.

Text

2016-08-11

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/58736

Business Administration - Management Information Systems

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/