An efficient recommendation system based on the optimal stopping theory

Kolomvatsos, K., Anagnostopoulos, C. and Hadjiefthymiades, S. (2014) An efficient recommendation system based on the optimal stopping theory. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(15), pp. 6796-6806. (doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2014.04.039)

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Abstract

A Recommendation System (RS) aims to deliver meaningful recommendations to users for items (e.g., music and books), which are of high interest to them. We consider an RS which directly communicates with a set of providers in order to access the information of the items (e.g., descriptions), rate them according to the user's preferences, and deliver an Item List (IL). The RS is enhanced with a mechanism, which sequentially observes the rating information (e.g., similarity degree) of the items and decides when to deliver the IL to the user, without exhausting the entire set of providers. Hence, the RS saves time and resources. We propose two mechanisms based on the theory of optimal stopping. Both mechanisms deliver an IL, which sufficiently matches to the user's needs having examined a partial set of items. That is, the number of items in the delivered IL is optimal, producing a high level of user satisfaction, i.e., Quality of Recommendation (QoR). Our simulations reveal the efficiency of the mechanisms and quantify the benefits stemming from their adoption.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Anagnostopoulos, Dr Christos and Kolomvatsos, Dr Kostas
Authors: Kolomvatsos, K., Anagnostopoulos, C., and Hadjiefthymiades, S.
Subjects:Q Science > QA Mathematics
Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
Journal Name:Expert Systems with Applications
Publisher:Elsevier Ltd.
ISSN:0957-4174
ISSN (Online):1873-6793
Published Online:13 May 2014

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