Study on the Mechanisms Through Which Perceived Homogeneity in Recommendations Influences Consumers’ Search for Diversity

Based on the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model, this study explores the mechanism by which perceived recommendation homogeneity influences consumers’ diversity-seeking behavior and tests the mediating role of aesthetic fatigue between the two. The study sampled young consumers aged 18-30 who had frequently used Taobao and browsed women’s clothing content within the past three months. A total of 270 valid responses were collected via a questionnaire survey. SPSS 27.0 was used to conduct descriptive statistics, reliability tests, common method bias tests, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and Bootstrap mediation tests. The results indicate that perceived recommendation homogeneity has a significant negative impact on consumers’ diversity-seeking behavior and a significant positive impact on aesthetic fatigue; aesthetic fatigue has a significant negative impact on diversity-seeking behavior; simultaneously, aesthetic fatigue partially mediates the relationship between perceived recommendation homogeneity and diversity-seeking behavior, with the mediating effect accounting for 40% of the total effect. This study explains the pathway through which algorithmic recommendation homogenization influences consumer exploration behavior from the perspective of micro-psychological mechanisms, providing a theoretical basis and managerial insights for e-commerce platforms to strike a balance between recommendation accuracy and content diversity.