Shopping Decisions Made in a Virtual World: Defining a State-Based Model of Collaborative and Conversational User-Recommender Interactions

A three-dimensional (3-D) virtual world (VW) facilitates users? interactions as they immerse and engage themselves in a shared virtual space. This type of interface may be especially useful when consumers utilize home electronics for accessing personalized online services. Previous research has focused on a collaborative conversational recommender (CCR) framework, in which a synchronous online 3-D interface for multiple consumers integrates with a recommender. In this article, a state-based model of user-recommender interaction that allows users to move from different states of interaction (i.e., individual and collaborative) among users, is defined. It is then evaluated by users and compared with an individual approach. The results from this research demonstrate that the collaborative capacities proposed in the framework improve user experience and significantly increase the performance of the recommendation process, i.e., users take less time in achieving the desired service.