Timing and basis of online product recommendation : The preference inconsistency paradox

Online retailers employ recommendation agents (RAs) to provide product recommendations with the objectives of not only to support consumers' decision-making but also to influence their decisions of product choice. However, some empirical studies have found that product recommendations are not always well accepted by consumers. While one cause for the non-acceptance might be the poor personalization of the product recommendations as suggested by prior studies, another plausible cause would be the failure in providing a product recommendation in the wrong way and/or at the wrong time. Building on the theoretical lens of Preference Inconsistency Paradox, this study seeks to investigate how a RA could offer recommendations based on product reviews (i.e., the basis of a recommendation) and at the juncture when consumers are most receptive to (i.e., the timing). A controlled laboratory experiment was subsequently conducted. The results reveal that the basis and time of recommendations could lead to varying impacts on a consumer's decision satisfaction and decision difficulty. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.