Subjective Preference Research Articles

Modelling and Research on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Goal-Based Attack and Defence Game for Infrastructure Networks.

Network attack and defence games are gradually becoming a new approach through which to study the protection of infrastructure networks such as power grids and transportation networks. Uncertainty factors, such as the subjective decision preferences of attackers and defenders, are not considered in existing attack and defence game studies for infrastructure networks. In this paper, we introduce, respectively, the attacker's and defender's expectation value, rejection value, and hesitation degree of the target, as well as construct an intuitionistic fuzzy goal-based attack and defence game model for infrastructure networks that are based on the maximum connectivity slice size, which is a network performance index. The intuitionistic fuzzy two-player, zero-sum game model is converted into a linear programming problem for solving, and the results are analysed to verify the applicability and feasibility of the model proposed in this paper. Furthermore, different situations, such as single-round games and multi-round repeated games, are also considered. The experimental results show that, when attacking the network, the attacker rarely attacks the nodes with higher importance in the network, but instead pays more attention to the nodes that are not prominent in the network neutrality and median; meanwhile, the defender is more inclined to protect the more important nodes in the network to ensure the normal performance of the network.

Efficacy and Effectiveness of Evidence-Based Non-Self-Fitting Presets Compared to Prescription Hearing Aid Fittings and a Personal Sound Amplification Product.

In this study, we compare the efficacy and effectiveness of gain-frequency responses of evidence-based presets developed by our lab for over-the-counter hearing aids to conventional National Acoustic Laboratories' nonlinear fitting procedure, version 2 (NAL-NL2) gain-frequency response and to gain-frequency response of a personal sound amplification product (PSAP). We hypothesized that the hearing aids with our presets would perform better than a PSAP with poor frequency response and comparably to the hearing aid with NAL-NL2 frequency response. We used a single-blinded, randomized cross-over design to compare audibility, speech recognition, sound quality, listening effort, and subjective preferences in 37 participants in laboratory settings and following field trials. The presets developed in our lab showed comparable outcomes to the hearing aids with NAL-NL2 gain-frequency response in most measured domains. Performance with the presets was better than the PSAP gain-frequency response in the domains of listening effort and sound quality in laboratory testing and speech recognition in our real-world measures. We also found that most participants (54.05%) preferred our presets over the PSAPs and were willing to pay significantly more to purchase the hearing aids with our presets. Our evidence-based presets have better outcomes than a PSAP with a single, poorly suited frequency response while performing comparably to the clinical best-practice National Acoustic Laboratories condition.

Multi-objective optimization and decision making for integrated energy system using STA and fuzzy TOPSIS

Integrated energy system (IES) plays a vital role in achieving energy revolution and the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The optimal planning of IES is of great significance for improving the overall efficiency of the system and promoting its sustainable development. Focusing on this issue, this paper proposes a planning framework integrating multi-objective optimization with fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). In this framework, IES planning is modeled as a multi-objective optimization problem that, for the first time, simultaneously minimizes energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic costs. Thereafter, the optimization problem is solved by a multi-objective state transition algorithm based on decomposition (MOSTA/D), which generates a Pareto set that realizes multiple conflicting objective tradeoffs. Furthermore, to comprehensively evaluate the Pareto optimal solutions, an evaluation criteria system is established from various perspectives, and a novel MCDM approach is proposed. This approach combines the analytic network process-entropy weighting technique, which takes into account the correlation between criteria as well as subjective preference and objective information, with fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) for scientifically ranking and selecting solutions under uncertainty. The simulation results of an IES planning case study demonstrate that the optimal scheme determined by the proposed method achieves the best overall benefit for IES, with significant annual economic cost savings, primary energy savings, and carbon dioxide emission reduction rates of 2.27%, 40.36%, and 56.25%, respectively, proving the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

Taste preferences, cardiometabolic diseases and mild cognitive impairment: a prospective cohort analysis of older Chinese adults.

Taste preference is a pivotal predictor of nutrient intake, yet its impact on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remains poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the association between taste preferences and MCI and the role of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) in this association. The study included older adults, aged 65-90 years, with normal cognitive function at baseline who were enrolled in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) from 2008 to 2018. MCI was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination, and multivariable Cox regression models were applied. Among 6423 participants, 2534 (39·45 %) developed MCI with an incidence rate of 63·12 - per 1000 person-years. Compared with individuals with insipid taste, those preferring sweetness or spiciness had a higher MCI risk, while saltiness was associated with a lower risk. This association was independent of objective dietary patterns and was more pronounced among urban residents preferring sweetness and illiterate participants preferring spiciness. Notably, among sweet-liking individuals, those with one CMD experienced a significant detrimental effect, and those with co-occurring CMD had a higher incidence rate of MCI. Additionally, regional variations were observed: sweetness played a significant role in regions known for sweet cuisine, while the significance of spiciness as a risk factor diminishes in regions where it is commonly preferred. Our findings emphasize the role of subjective taste preferences in protecting cognitive function and highlight regional variations. Target strategies should focus on assisting individuals with CMD to reduce excessive sweetness intake and simultaneously receiving treatment for CMD to safeguard cognitive function.

Multi-attribute decision-making based on dual probabilistic interval-valued intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy weighted heronian mean aggregation operator

Probabilistic interval-valued intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy sets (PIVIHFSs) can well describe the evaluation information of decision-makers (DMs) in multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) problems. However, PIVIHFSs only depict the situation where both membership and non-membership information occur with equal probability while ignoring the situations of non-equal possibility due to DMs’ subjective preferences. In this paper, we develop dual probabilistic interval-valued intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy sets (DPIVIHFSs) concept based on the truncated normal distribution. The DPIVIHFSs overcome the shortcomings of PIVIHFSs and are more interpretable. Then, the operations and ranking method of DPIVIHFSs are introduced. Furthermore, we study MADM methods in dual probabilistic interval-valued intuitionistic hesitant fuzzy environments by aggregation operators (AOs). We propose a series of AOs including the DPIVIHF heronian mean (DPIVIHFHM) operator and the DPIVIHF weighted heronian mean (DPIVIHFWHM) operator. The basic properties of the presented are discussed and proved. Finally, a novel method for solving the MADM problem is proposed based on the DPIVIHFWHM operator and a numerical example of express company selection strategy is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. The proposed method in this article can capture more fuzzy and uncertain information when solving MADM problems and have a wider application range.

Fisher's Separation Theorem and its Limitations

When businesses make investment decisions, they often evaluate the Net Present Value (NPV) of investment projects. For investors, a project is deemed worthwhile if its NPV is greater than zero. This phenomenon can be attributed to the Fisher Separation Theorem, which asserts that in perfectly efficient capital markets without transaction costs, a single interest rate prevails. In this context, investors' production choices adhere strictly to objective market regulations aimed at maximizing attainable wealth, entirely detached from individual subjective preferences. This, in turn, enables both borrowers and lenders to base their consumption and investment decisions on the prevailing market interest rate, thereby encouraging a clear distinction between investment and financing choices. Therefore, a company's investment decisions can be discussed separately from its financing decisions. So, the enterprise's investment decision and financing decision can be discussed separately. When enterprises invest, enterprises do not have to consider the subjective consumption preferences of different investors, because investors' consumption preferences can be satisfied accordingly through perfect capital market operation. Because of Fisher's Separation Theorem, which requires the market to be transaction cost-free, it also has some limitations.

An efficiency-based interactive dynamic technique with interval-valued hesitant fuzzy constraint cone for rescue route planning

This paper develops an efficiency-based interactive dynamic technique to design the post-disaster rescue route by combining the data envelopment analysis (DEA), traveling salesman problem (TSP) and interval-valued hesitant fuzzy constraint cone (IVHFCC). The traditional DEA potentially presumes that the weights of the input (output) criteria are unrestricted, resulting in its inapplicability to some complex decision problems. To restrict the weights of input (output) criteria legitimately, this paper constructs an IVHFCC based on expert’s subjective preferences in the form of interval-valued hesitant fuzzy sets. This paper defines the additive consistent normal interval-valued hesitant fuzzy preference relation (NIVHFPR) and analyses its desirable properties. Based on these properties, three linear programming models are proposed to repair the incomplete NIVHFPR, judge the additive consistency of the repaired NIVHFPR and generate the additive consistent NIVHFPR. By incorporating the TSP, DEA and the constructed IVHFCC, an efficiency-based interactive dynamic model is originally proposed to generate the optimal rescue route for the rescue team. Some desirable properties of this efficiency-based interactive dynamic model are analyzed. The validity of this model is demonstrated with a real post-disaster rescue route planning problem of Wenchuan earthquake. Some comparative analyses are provided to show the superiorities of the proposed technique.

Indoor thermal and visual well-being of people with autism: preliminary results from a field study in Denmark

The literature contains very little knowledge regarding the indoor well-being of people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Though, when dealing with higher autism levels and specific co-morbidities, the lack of autonomy of potential subjects makes standard comfort studies difficult or even impossible. As part of the EU-funded project “SENSEwellbeing”, the present paper shows the preliminary results of a field study on the indoor thermal and visual well-being of non-autonomous people with ASC, performed in a Danish care-center. Due to the fragility of the subjects involved and ethical issues related, we had to overcome several challenges. A determining example is the limited possibility to directly involve the subjects and make interventions in their private spaces in comfort-related experiments. For this reason, the caregivers working in the facility were involved in a semi-structured interview to indirectly characterize the thermal and visual preferences of subjects. Additionally, short- and long-term measurements of indoor quantities were taken in common rooms and empty living spaces. The interviews’ outcomes were linked to the environmental measurement, allowing a preliminary characterization of the adequacy of indoor design in terms of well-being of non-autonomous people with ASC. The study highlights the differences in perception of thermal and visual environment among people with ASC, and the necessity to find solutions to more directly involve non-autonomous subjects in studies on the indoor environment. The present research may also inspire other studies with people with special needs, whose comfort perception would otherwise be challenging to collect.

Ecosystem health risk assessment of lakes in the Inner Mongolian Plateau based on the coupled AHP-SOM-CGT model

The ecosystem health risk assessment of lake basins can provide a crucial foundation and support for the sustainable development of ecosystems in the arid regions of northern China. This study adopts the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to select evaluation indicators, and utilizes a coupled model of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-Self-Organizing Mapping Neural Network Algorithm (SOM)-Combinatorial Game Theory Algorithm (CGT) to determine the weight values of each indicator, and ultimately calculate the Ecosystem Health Index (EHI) of a typical lake basin from 1990 to 2020. AHP and SOM are employed to determine the subjective and objective weights of the evaluation indicators, respectively. While, the CGT is used to establish a balance between these two weights. This ensures that the final weight values embody both the subjective preferences of the decision-makers and the objective characteristics inherent in the data. The calculations show that the EHI of the basin fluctuated from a healthy state (69.8) in 1990 to a sub-healthy state (47.0) in 2020, although the dominant factors influencing EHI varied across different stages, the decline in the Driver and Impact health indices emerged as the primary reason for the decrease in EHI. Before 2009, driven by socio-economic development, the area of irrigated land and water withdrawals in the basin increased significantly, which led to an increase in ecosystem pressures, resulting in a rapid decrease in EHI. After 2009, the increase in per capita water resources and water-saving irrigation facilities reduced the pressure on the ecological system. the increased ecological water use and afforestation area improved the ecosystem’s status, leading to an increase in the vegetation cover within the basin and a gradual upward trend in EHI.

Comparative study on thermal comfort of sports buildings in hot and humid climates from the perspective of exercisers and non-exercisers

In this study, a thermal comfort evaluation of sports buildings in hot and humid climates from the perspective of exercisers and non-exercisers was conducted. The objective was to improve their indoor environment in terms of public use. Thermal environmental indicators, individual data and 294 valid responses form exercisers and non-exercisers to a subjective survey questionnaire were examined. The results indicated that exercisers and non-exercises performed differently in terms of physiological characteristics and subjective perception. The average values of subjective sensation in the thermal environment were different between exercisers and non-exercisers, which corresponded to their subjective preference. However, the average values of their subjective acceptability were generally within the “slightly acceptable”. In terms of the relationship between thermal environment and subjective perception, the thermal sensation of exercisers was more hot-oriented than that of non-exercisers at the same operative temperature, while their thermal acceptability was higher than that of non-exercisers since exercisers focused on sports rather than the thermal environment, making them less sensitive and more tolerant than non-exercisers. In addition, affected by the skin wetness from sweating and air velocity generated by exercise, the humidity sensation and draft sensation of exercisers were stronger than those of non-exercisers. Finally, the neutral temperature (28.3 °C and 28.7 °C), satisfactory temperature range (26.3oC–31.2 °C and 26.3oC–32.2 °C), and acceptable temperature range (27.1oC–35.9 °C and 26.3oC–34.1 °C) for exercisers and non-exercisers were derived. This study provides knowledge regarding the thermal comfort of exercisers and non-exercisers in sports buildings as well as guidance to improve the control and regulation of indoor environments.

Subtitles in VR 360° video. Results from an eye-tracking experiment

ABSTRACT Virtual and Augmented Reality, collectively known as eXtended Reality, are key technologies for the next generation of human–computer–human interaction. In this context, 360° videos are becoming ubiquitous and especially suitable for providing immersive experiences thanks to the proliferation of affordable devices. This new medium has an untapped potential for the inclusion of modern subtitles to foster media content accessibility (Gejrot et al., 2021), e.g., for the deaf or hard-of-hearing people, and to also promote cultural inclusivity via language translation (Orero, 2022). Prior research on the presentation of subtitles in 360° videos relied on subjective methods and involved a small number of participants (Brown et al., 2018; Agulló, 2019; Oncins et al., 2020), leading to inconclusive results. The aim of this paper is to compare two conditions of subtitles in 360° videos: position (head-locked vs fixed) and colour (monochrome vs colour). Empirical analysis relies on novel triangulation of data from three complementary methods: psycho-physiological attentional process measures (eye movements), performance measures (media content comprehension), and subjective task-load and preferences (self-report measures). Results show that head-locked coloured subtitles are the preferred option.

Valuation in emerging technoscience business: a case study of Finnish biobank research

PurposeThe paper contributes to the discussion on valuation in organization studies and strategic management literature. The nascent literature on valuation practices has examined established markets where producers and consumers are known and rivalry in the market is a given. Furthermore, previous research has operated with a narrow meaning of value as either a financial profit or a subjective consumer preference. Such a narrow view on value is problematic and insufficient for studying the interlacing of innovation and value creation in emerging technoscientific business domains.Design/methodology/approachThe authors present an empirical study about value creation in an emerging technoscience business domain formed around personalized medicine and digital health data.FindingsThe results of this analysis show that in a technoscientific domain, valuation of innovations is multiple and malleable, entails pursuing attractiveness in collaboration and partnerships and is performative, and due to emphatic future orientation, values are indefinite and promissory.Research limitations/implicationsAs research implications, this study shows that valuation practices in an emerging technoscience business domain focus on defining the potential economic value in the future and attracting partners as probable future beneficiaries. Commercial value upon innovation in an embryonic business milieu is created and situated in valuation practices that constitute the prospective market, the prevalent economic discourse, and rationale. This is in contrast to an established market, where valuation practices are determined at the intersection of customer preferences and competitive arenas where suppliers, producers, service providers and new entrants to the market present value propositions.Practical implicationsThe study findings extend discussion on valuation from established business domains to emerging technoscience business domains which are in a “pre-competition” phase where suppliers, customers, producers and their collaborative and competitive relations are not yet established.Social implicationsAs managerial implications, this study provides insights into health innovation stakeholders, including stakeholders in the public, private and academic sectors, about the ecosystem dynamics in a technoscientific innovation. Such insight is useful in strategic decision-making about ecosystem strategy and ecosystem business model for value proposition, value creation and value capture in an emerging innovation domain characterized by collaborative and competitive relations among stakeholders. To business managers, the findings of this study about valuation practices are useful in strategic decision-making about ecosystem strategy and ecosystem business model for value proposition, value creation and value capture in an emerging innovation domain characterized by collaborative and competitive relations among stakeholders. To policy makers, this study provides an in-depth analysis of an overall business ecosystem in an emerging technoscience business that can be propelled to increase the financial investments in the field. As a policy implication, this study provides insights into the various dimensions of valuation in technoscience business to policy makers, who make governance decisions to guide and control the development of medical innovation using digital health data.Originality/valueThis study's results expand previous theorizing on valuation by showing that in technoscientific innovation all types of value created – scientific, clinical, social or economic – are predominantly promissory. This study complements the nascent theorizing on value creation and valuation practices of technoscientific innovation.

Inequalities in undergraduate participation and performance in Irish higher education

AbstractThis paper focuses on two aspects of gender inequality in Irish higher education: inequality in participation by gender and inequality of performance by gender, institution and subject. We use a rich set of data from the Higher Education Authority of Ireland which detail inter alia enrolment in institutions of higher education—Universities and Institutes of Technology—and record the class of degree received by graduating students, by subject and gender. The first aspect was the participation of women. Although more women enrolled as full‐time undergraduates in universities than did men, the reverse was the case in the Institutes of Technology. This had much to do with the subject structure of universities vis‐à‐vis the Institutes of Technology in tandem with the subject preferences of women and men. The second issue was inequality in performance. A major conclusion of this paper is that after enrolment there was little difference between the success rates of women and men in receiving first‐class degrees in the different subjects but there was considerable difference between the institutions.

Customer preferences heterogeneity toward avocado: a latent class approach based on the best–worst scaling choice modeling

Consumption of the avocado fruit and its availability in the retail market has increased in recent decades and with it the desire to learn more about the market and consumer choices. This research aims to explore the consumers' preference heterogeneity toward avocado fruit in Italy assessing their personal eating orientation and socio-demographic factors. To achieve this purpose, the answers of 817 Italian consumer of avocado were collected using a structured questionnaire shared online at national level. A survey based on the best–worst method was conducted to assess the declared preferences of individuals toward a set of intrinsic, extrinsic and credence attributes of avocado, as well as a latent class analysis of subject preferences indexes was applied to identify different clusters of individuals. The distribution of preferences indexes was investigated among latent classes, which were regressed on the socio-demographic variables covariates using multinomial logistic regression. The results suggest that the desirable attributes for choosing avocado were taste, consistency (ready to eat) and affordable price. In addition, five consumer profiles in the Italian context were defined (named Hedonistic, Avocado fruit lovers, Sustainability sensitive, Value for money and Health sensitive) and characterized in terms of preferences and socio-demographic features. The study addresses a topic that has already been explored, but with an unexploited approach (latent class analysis combined with best–worst choice modeling). Therefore, the results help fill the gap in the existing literature by enriching it with a study that characterizes avocado consumers' preferences considering their heterogeneity in terms of perception and socio-demographic characteristics.

Version [1.1]- [Crispyn — A Python library for determining criteria significance with objective weighting methods

This paper presents an extension of the developed crispyn Python package providing weighting methods for multi-criteria decision analysis. The crispyn package, including until now eleven objective methods for determining criteria weights, was supplemented with four subjective weighting methods. The extension of the crispyn package significantly expands its scope of applications for decision problems requiring considering subjective criteria preferences of decision-makers’ for example, in reliable sustainability assessment.

잠재프로파일분석을 적용한 고등학생의 물리 교과 선호 유형 분류에 대한 영향 요인 고찰

Objectives This study aimes o designate evidence for the effective learning strategy at the beginning of the high school credit system in 2025.
 Methods The effect factors were checked that were related to the classified group membership of the physics subject preference with 22, 407 of 2nd grades Korean high school students in 2022. The responses of the physics part among the Korean college major interest inventory(KCMII)were used for the study, and latent profile analysis was applied for classifying groups.
 Results By the results, the 2-group solution was the most proper way for data. Three factors, which are the prefer-ence for physics activities, physics-related jobs, and gender, were supposed to effect factors to membership. The analysis results showed that activity- preference, and gender were statistically significant without job preference.
 Conclusions Through the results, we proposed the necessity that gender and activities should be considered when developing of effective learning strategies such as the variable and capable teaching methods.

PT-TOPSIS methods for multi-attribute group decision making under single-valued neutrosophic sets

Multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) is a flexible and complex problem due to multiple factors. Decision makers have different preferences in the face of different risks and benefits. In this paper, it proposed that the extended single-valued neutrosophic TOPSIS method based on the prospect theory (SVN-PT-TOPSIS) can be widely applied to MAGDM. It provides decision-makers with more rigorous decision-making methods. The purpose is to make the results more objective and fair and to reduce subjective errors. This paper is applied in a single-value neutrosophic sets (SVNSs) environment, which contains membership value, uncertainty value and non-membership value, and can effectively reflect the fuzzy decision state of decision makers. It also combines the CRITIC method to determine the weights and considers the psychological state of decision makers according to the prospect theory, which can effectively reduce the influence of subjective preferences on decision making. The innovations of this paper are mainly as follows. Firstly, after the score function determines the positive and negative ideal values, using the distance formula reflects the distance between each single-value neutrosophic number (SVNN) and the positive and negative ideal values. We will feel the overall quality of each scheme more directly. Secondly determine the weights using the CRITIC method based on the distance matrix of each SVNN from the negative ideal. This is not a subjective decision weight, so the influence of personal preferences on the decision can be avoided. Thirdly, the composite profit value and the composite loss value are confirmed based on the prospect theory (PT), taking into account the decision maker’s risk preferences. Finally, use the relative profit loss ratio to rank the programs. After case analysis, other classical decisionmaking methods are selected for comparative analysis of the extended TOPSIS It is confirmed that the SVN-PT-TOPSIS method is reasonable and effective, which is suitable for MAGDM problems.

Repeated response execution and inhibition alter subjective preferences but do not affect automatic approach and avoidance tendencies toward an object.

Repeated action or inaction toward objects changes preferences for those objects. However, it remains unclear whether such training activates approach-avoidance motivation toward the objects, which leads to actual behavior. We conducted a pre-registered online experiment to examine whether approach and avoidance tendencies were affected by the experience of having executed or withheld a button-press response to a stimulus. Participants (N = 236) performed a Go/NoGo task in which they were asked to repeatedly execute a response to a picture of a mug (i.e., Go-primed stimulus) and suppress a response to another picture of a mug (i.e., NoGo-primed stimulus). They then received one of two manikin tasks, which were implicit association tests designed to assess approach-avoidance tendencies. One manikin task measured the reaction times of moving a manikin toward or away from the Go-primed stimulus and the other picture of a mug (i.e., unprimed stimulus). The other manikin task measured the reaction times of moving a manikin toward or away from the NoGo-primed stimulus and the unprimed stimulus. The participants then rated their preference for the Go-primed, NoGo-primed, and unprimed items. The Go-primed item was evaluated as more highly preferable than the unprimed item in the Go condition, while the NoGo-primed item was evaluated as less preferable than the unprimed item in the NoGo condition. In contrast, the mean approach/avoidance reaction times in the manikin task showed no difference between the Go-primed and unprimed stimuli or between the NoGo-primed and unprimed stimuli. When participants repeatedly responded or inhibited their responses to an object, their explicit preference for the object increased or decreased, respectively. However, the effect did not occur in approach-avoidance behaviors toward the object.

Uncertainty induced and preference involved aggregation in relative basic uncertain information decision environment

Uncertainty exists in numerous evaluation and decision making problems and therefore it also provides space for the subjective preferences of decision makers to affect the aggregation and evaluation results. Recently, relative basic uncertain information is proposed to further generalize basic uncertain information, but currently there is no research on how to apply this type of uncertainty in both theory and practices. There is also a paucity of decision methodology about how to build systematic preference involved decision model considering this new type of uncertainty. The relative basic uncertain information can serve as a general frame to enable the possibility for simultaneously handling heterogeneous uncertain information including interval information, basic uncertain information, and relative basic uncertain information. Different types of bipolar subjective preferences commonly should be taken into consideration in practical decision making. With the individual heterogeneous uncertain information and the involved two types of subjective preferences, namely bipolar preferences for uncertainties and bipolar optimism-pessimism preferences, the evaluation and decision making become more complex. This work proposes a systematic intersubjective decision model which can effectively and reasonably deal with the decision scenario with such complex uncertainty, in which Yager preference induced weights allocation is applied. Some novel preference conversion and transformation functions, specified techniques, and the related decision making procedures and sub-modules are proposed and analyzed. An application is also presented to showthe practicality of the proposed decision models and related conversion and transformation functions.

Interactive Content Diversity and User Exploration in Online Movie Recommenders: A Field Experiment

Recommender systems often struggle to strike a balance between matching users’ tastes and providing unexpected recommendations. When recommendations are too narrow and fail to cover the full range of users’ preferences, the system is perceived as useless. Conversely, when the system suggests too many items that users don’t like, it is considered impersonal or ineffective. To better understand user sentiment about the breadth of recommendations given by a movie recommender, we conducted interviews and surveys and found out that many users considered narrow recommendations to be useful, while a smaller number explicitly wanted greater breadth. Additionally, we designed and ran an online field experiment with a larger user group, evaluating two new interfaces designed to provide users with greater access to broader recommendations. We looked at user preferences and behavior for two groups of users: those with higher initial movie diversity and those with lower diversity. Among our findings, we discovered that different levels of exploration control and users’ subjective preferences on interfaces are more predictive of their satisfaction with the recommender.