The impact of shifting decision focus in personalized recommendations

Purpose Personalized recommendation is a dynamic interaction mechanism between systems and users. While previous research has primarily focused on recommendations tailored to individual consumers, little attention has been given to leveraging consumers’ social relationships for recommendation purposes. Building on mental accounting theory, this study examines how shifting the focus of personalized recommendations, such as prompting consumers to consider purchasing for others after shopping for themselves, influences their willingness to make additional purchases in sequential decision-making contexts. Design/methodology/approach This study includes one field experiment and four controlled experiments. Data were primarily analyzed using chi-square tests and general linear models (GLM) to obtain the results. Findings Shifting decision focus increases consumers’ willingness to purchase post-decision products compared to no shift. This effect is mediated by consumers’ expected post-affect balance and moderated by the closeness to the decision focus. Originality/value Compared to studies that adopt an individual-centered perspective, this research expands the foundation of personalized recommendation by incorporating social relationship cues.