Highlight Similarity between Users or Similarity between Products? The Impact of Recommendation Interpretation Frameworks on Consumer Click Intention

Wang Yonggui, Liu Dongmei

Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 46, Issue 03, pp. 3 - 17 (2024)  DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.20230610.102

Summary

Based on the social influence theory, this paper examines the impact of frameworks that highlight similarity between users and similarity between products on consumer click intention through three experiments, and analyzes the mediating effect of perceived product matching and the moderating role played by product types and recommendation quantity. The study shows that compared to frameworks that highlight similarity between products, frameworks that highlight similarity between users can generate higher perceived product matching among consumers, thereby enhancing their click intention. But this framing effect is moderated by product types: For hedonic products, frameworks that highlight similarity between users are often more effective; for practical products, frameworks that highlight similarity between products are more effective. Moreover, the framing effect of recommendation interpretation only occurs when the number of recommendations is one; when the number of recommendations is multiple, there is no significant difference in perceived product matching and click intention between the two recommendation interpretation frameworks. This paper not only advances the research progress of personalized recommendation, but also expands the application research of the social influence theory and the framework effect theory in the field of marketing, and provides important practical inspiration for enterprises to implement personalized recommendation strategies.

Keywords

personalized recommendation; interpretation frameworks; perceived product matching; recommendation quantity; product types