Recommendation engines: What they are, an empirical investigation of frequency and type of use, and a guide for managers

In 1998, Net Perceptions was one of the first technology providers to offer recommendation engine technology to an online book retailer-Amazon.com. Amazon.com has since become famous for the book and movie recommendation it provides. Today, numerous technology providers offer recommendation engines as stand alone products, as modules to e-commerce systems, and as one of many products included in whole CRM solutions. However, few scholarly journals have reviewed recommendation engine technology. Four years after the dotcom hype ended, little current research has been published that discusses the use and effectiveness of recommendation engines as a marketing tool. This article will include an examination of current recommendation engine technology and its current uses as amarketing tool