Strengthening the Rationale of Recommendations Through a Hybrid Explanations Building Framework

Abstract

In recommender systems research, there is growing awareness of the need to make the recommendation process more transparent and persuasive. This can be achieved by providing users with explanatory information about the recommended items. In this way, recommendation generating algorithms do not act like black boxes, but provide a rationale for each recommendation. In this paper, we briefly discuss and comment on existing approaches, and propose a novel framework for explanations building in recommender systems. The proposed framework builds explanations by following a hybrid approach that incorporates collaborative filtering and sentiment analysis features into classical multi-attribute based ranking. The enhanced trustworthiness of the explanation patterns produced by our approach is demonstrated through a series of illustrative examples.

Appendix: User Reviews

User1	Great Hotel! My fiancée and I stayed at the Hotel Monaco over the recent Thanksgiving holiday. The hotel is fantastic. The rooms are very comfortable and clean. The management is very responsive. During our second night, the people in the room next to us were extremely loud. When I told the manager this in the morning, I was immediately given 1/2 off the night’s stay and moved to suite at no additional cost. The hotel location is ideal, within walking distance of the fish market, shops, bars and restaurants. I highly recommend staying here.
User2	Very Impressed! My husband and I stayed in the Monaco for 3 nights and had a wonderful time. Seattle is an amazingly clean city and the Hotel Monaco was also spotless. Our room and bathroom were quite small and quite dark but, as we were really only sleeping there, this didn’t bother us. The room however, is perfectly equipped and the bed was really comfortable. The lobby of the hotel is quite impressive and the staff was very friendly. We didn’t eat at the hotel restaurant but it was very nice and always very busy. The hotel is ideally situated for seeing all of Seattle although, everyone should be aware that Seattle is a very hilly city in parts. We had a great stay at the Monaco and I would highly recommend it and indeed Seattle.
User3	Excellent Stayed in Hotel Monaco this past w/e, found it a delight. The reception staff is friendly and professional; our room was smart with a very comfortable bed. We particularly liked the reception our small dog received, all the staff guests spoke to him, he loved it. My only mild negative is the distance (uphill) from PPMarket and restaurants on 1st. Overall a great experience.
User4	Very Nice Hotel and Staff The hotel is in a good location. My room was very comfortable and a nice size. The staff was extremely accommodating. I would definitely stay there again.
User5	Wonderful relaxing stay. Everything was a breeze, from check-into check-out. The beds were incredibly comfortable and the room (a double queen room) was spacious. I especially liked the l’occitane shampoo and conditioner; it’s a nice treat when the toiletries are nicer than what I use on a normal day. I would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants an upgrade to the other nearby downtown hotels.
User6	Great Experience. Much more interesting than staying at the bigger chains, and I’ve had good experiences with the Seattle Sheraton. Staff is very friendly, as are most people in Seattle, and rooms have a lot of cool features, including the optional gold fish and bathrobes. I’d definitely stay again.
User7	Excellent Stay! What a delightful surprise to stay at the Monaco. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The room was very comfortable, lovely amenities, and friendly staff. Especially enjoyed the hour of indulgence!! Definitely will come back!
User8	Fantastic Service! Stayed here for my girlfriend’s birthday over a weekend in June. While the rooms were on the smallish side, they were nicely decorated and the bed was extremely comfortable.. During our stay, the staff was extremely friendly, polite, and helpful. We found the concierge staff to be especially helpful. We are looking forward to another trip to Seattle and stay at the Monaco!
User9	Horrible Customer Service. My friend and I picked the Hotel Monaco because of its appealing website and online package which included champagne, late checkout at 3, free valet and a gift from the spa for the weekend … Sunday morning we called the front desk to speak to management about the sheets and they became very aggravated and rude with us. The young man we spoke to said that they would cover the food, adding that the person that changed the sheets said that it was fresh blood, in a very rude tone. Our checkout was at 3 pm because of the package that we booked. I finally packed all my things up and went downstairs to check out. Quickly signed the paper and took off. When on the way, I took a closer look at the room bill. Unfortunately they never covered the food, which they had offered and we were charged for the valet. I called the front desk to ask about the charges, the lady that answered snapped back saying that they were aware of the problem we experienced. I have never in my life been treated like this at any hotel anywhere. I am not sure if this hotel constantly has problems or if we were the lucky ones, but I would never recommend it to anybody I know.
User10	Disappointing Hotel Monaco has very little going for it except location. In fact, I would hazard to say they go out of their way to stay away from guest. We had 4 in the room including our children and staff kept leaving only 3 sets of towels. Not a big deal but for $320/night I expect better. This hotel has some management problems that need to be addressed. The restaurant was nothing but ordinary and way overpriced. The rooms are dull but spacious. The evening wine reception is a nice touch but the way the lobby is arranged makes for a poor place to try and meet other guest. Really not worth the time. At the end of the day I was sorely disappointed and would not go back.