In this study, a novel and flexible recommender system was developed, based on product taxonomy and usage patterns of users. The proposed system consists of the following four steps : (i) estimation of the product-preference matrix, (ii) construction of the product-preference matrix, (iii) estimation of the popularity and similarity levels for sought-after products, and (iv) recom- mendation of a products for the user. The product-preference matrix for each user is estimated through a linear combination of clicks, basket placements, and purchase statuses. Then the preference matrix of a particular genre is constructed by computing the ratios of the number of clicks, basket placements, and purchases of a product with respect to the total. The popularity and similarity levels of a user’s clicked product are estimated with an entropy index. Based on this information, collaborative and content-based filtering is used to recommend a product to the user. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an empirical study was conducted by constructing an experimental e-commerce site. Our results clearly showed that the proposed hybrid method is superior to conventional methods.

• 임헌상(삼성전자) | Heonsang Lim
• 김용수(경기대학교 산업경영공학과) | Yong Soo Kim Corresponding Author