A study of gender and personality on the effectiveness of online personalised recommendations

Abstract

The internet provides an alternative shopping experience for consumers to shop around and avail of increased worldwide competition. This newly competitive medium has resulted in online business's using techniques that provide a personalised shopping experience for customers that cannot be matched in the "real world". One of the most popular persuasive techniques used online is a Personalised Recommendation service. Past research has not examined the factors that persuade a shopper to buy a Personalised Recommendation. This study examined gender and cognition levels as potential factors in the use of Online Personalised Recommendations. Quantitative data was collected from 138 participants to test the possible relation between these factors. Results indicate that gender and cognition are not factors that affect the participation of Online Personalised Recommendations.