Presentation apparatus, presentation method, and program

Abstract

To provide a presentation apparatus, a presentation method, and a program which can more effectively present a recommended genre.SOLUTION: The present invention is directed to a presentation apparatus 100 for presenting, to a shopper, a specific genre included in a genre having a hierarchical structure in an electronic market in which a transaction object is classified by a genre having a hierarchical structure and an image representing the genre is allocated to the genre. The presentation apparatus 100 has an extracting unit 130 for extracting a specific genre and a lower-order genre lower in order as compared with the specific genre in the hierarchical structure, a selection unit 160 for selecting any genre from the genres extracted by the extracting unit 130 based on a behavior of the shopper in the electronic market, and a presentation unit 170 for presenting, to the shopper, a name of the specific genre and the image allocated to the genre selected by the selection unit 160 in association with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a presentation device, a presentation method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a technique for classifying and managing trading targets including products or services traded in an electronic market by genres having a hierarchical structure (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In such a technique, a genre recommended to a shopper is presented. However, since the shopper does not necessarily fully understand the hierarchical structure of the genre, when a genre of a higher level is presented, the shopper may not know what trading targets are included in the presented genre. In this case, the shopper has no interest in the presented genre. Therefore, there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of presenting a more effectively recommended genre.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to provide a presentation device, a presentation method, and a program capable of presenting a more effectively recommended genre.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, a presentation device according to the present invention In an electronic market where trading targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each of the genres, a presentation device that presents a specific genre included in the genre having the hierarchical structure to a shopper, an extraction unit that extracts the specific genre and sub-genres lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; a selection unit that selects one genre from the genres extracted by the extraction unit based on the actions of the shopper in the electronic market; a presentation unit that presents the shopper with the name of the specific genre and the image assigned to the genre selected by the selection unit in association with each other; and includes.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a presentation device, a presentation method, and a program that can more effectively present recommended genres.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Note that this embodiment is for explanation purposes and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art can adopt embodiments in which each of these elements or all of these elements are replaced with equivalents thereof, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0010] (Overall Configuration) An example in which a presentation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a presentation system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The presentation system 1 is a system that provides a recommended genre together with a thumbnail image representing a product representing the genre when a shopper searches for a product in an electronic market. Note that the presentation system 1 is not limited to products, and may present recommended genres for services such as travel, restaurants, beauty salons, etc. on a reservation site, and for transaction targets on a financial product offering site.

[0011] The presentation system 1 includes a presentation device 100, a genre identification engine 200, and a user terminal 300, and the presentation device 100, the genre identification engine 200, and the user terminal 300 are connected via a communication network 400.

[0012] The communication network 400 may include various types of networks. For example, a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN) Internet, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a wireless network, a public switched network, a satellite network, a cellular network, a public land mobile network (PLMN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a private network, an ad hoc network, an intranet, an optical fiber-based network, and / or a combination of these or other types of networks.

[0013] The presentation device 100 is composed of one or more server computers. The presentation device 100 is, for example, operated by an operator who provides e-commerce services such as an online mall, an online shopping site, an auction site, a free market site, etc. In this e-commerce service, the goods to be traded are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure. Here, a configuration example of the genres according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in the figure, the genres are defined with a hierarchical structure (tree structure). The genre "Gourmet·Beverage" at the topmost first layer corresponds to the root node in the tree structure, and the genres are subdivided as the branches go down from here. For example, as the second layer below "Gourmet·Beverage", genres such as "Food" and "Desserts·Confectionery" are defined. Also, for example, as the third layer below "Food", genres such as "Fruits", "Seafood·Marine Processed Foods", and "Rice·Miscellaneous Grains" are defined. Further, for example, as the fourth layer below "Fruits", genres such as "Grapes", "Oranges", "Set·Assortment", "Strawberries", "Peaches", and "Apples" are defined. Note that the hierarchical structure of the genres is not limited to being composed of four layers, and may be composed of any number of layers. Also, in the following description, the genre one layer above a certain genre is also referred to as the parent genre, the genre belonging to one layer below a certain genre is also referred to as the child genre, and the genre belonging to two layers below is also referred to as the grandchild genre.

[0014] The prompting device 100 receives a specific genre, which is the genre specified as the genre to be recommended to the shopper by the genre specifying engine 200, and extracts sub-genres that are all levels of genres belonging to the received specific genre. The prompting device 100 selects any genre from among the specific genre and the sub-genres based on the browsing behavior of the shopper in the e-commerce service. The prompting device 100 changes the thumbnail image representing the product representative of the genre pre-assigned to the specific genre to the thumbnail image pre-assigned to the selected genre, and presents it to the shopper together with the name of the specific genre.

[0015] Returning to FIG. 1, the genre specifying engine 200 executes a process of specifying a specific genre to be recommended to the shopper. The genre specifying engine 200 is implemented, for example, in a providing server (not shown) that provides an e-commerce service, and uses a predetermined recommendation algorithm to specify a specific genre to be recommended to the shopper. Specifically, the genre specifying engine 200 specifies the genre of the product that the shopper has most recently browsed as the specific genre, or specifies the genre with a high growth rate of the browsing times of all shoppers as the specific genre, and uses algorithms such as machine learning algorithms such as content-based filtering and collaborative filtering to specify the specific genre to be recommended. Note that the implementation method and the algorithm used by the genre specifying engine 200 are not limited to these, and any method and any algorithm may be appropriately combined and used.

[0016] The user terminal 300 is an information terminal (so-called computer) such as a smartphone, tablet, or PC (Personal Computer) owned by the shopper, and can communicate with the prompting device 100 via the communication network 400. The shopper installs an e-commerce application on the user terminal 300, starts the e-commerce application, and uses the e-commerce service.

[0017] The user terminal 300 displays on the display screen the name of a specific genre presented from the presentation device 100 and a thumbnail image. Here, an example of the display screen 310 displayed on the user terminal 300 is shown in FIG. 3. This display screen 310 is, for example, a screen displayed when an e-commerce application is launched and a page for searching for products from a genre is selected, and includes a section of "recommended genres" that displays genres recommended for shoppers. The section of "recommended genres" is composed of icons 340 in which the name 330 of a specific genre and the thumbnail image 320 are associated. The user terminal 300 receives the selection of the icon 340 by the shopper, and in response to the received operation of the shopper, displays on the display screen 310 a list of sub-genres of the genre corresponding to the selected icon 340. Specifically, for example, when the icon 340 of "Food" in the "recommended genres" is selected, genres such as "Fruits", "Seafood and Fishery Processed Products", "Rice and Grains",... in the hierarchy directly below "Food" are displayed in a list on the display screen 310. Note that when the genre corresponding to the selected icon 340 is a terminal genre that does not have sub-genres, list information of products classified into the genre is displayed. Then, the user terminal 300 receives the selection of a product by the shopper and displays detailed information of the selected product on the display screen 310. Note that the section of "recommended genres" may be displayed on the top page that is first displayed when the shopper launches the e-commerce application.

[0018] (Functional Configuration of Presentation Device) Next, the functional configuration of the presentation device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The presentation device 100 includes an acquisition unit 110, a genre information storage unit 120, an extraction unit 130, a product database 140, a browsing history database 150, a selection unit 160, and a presentation unit 170.

[0019] The acquisition unit 110 acquires a specific genre specified as a genre recommended for the shopper by the genre identification engine 200 and transmits it to the extraction unit 130.

[0020] The genre information storage unit 120 stores a genre table that defines the hierarchical structure of genres. Here, an example of the genre table is shown in FIG. 5. The genre table stores information in which a genre ID for uniquely identifying a genre, a "genre name" that is the name of the genre, a "parent genre ID" that is the genre ID of the parent genre which is the genre in the upper hierarchy to which each genre belongs, and an "image ID" for uniquely identifying the thumbnail image assigned to each genre are associated with each other. Specifically, since the parent genre ID of the genre name "Gourmet Drinks" is "None" indicating that there is no parent genre, it indicates that it is the root node of the topmost layer, and it indicates that the thumbnail image of the image ID "IMG00001" is assigned. Also, since the parent genre IDs of the genre names "Food" and "Sweets & Snacks" are the genre ID "J00001" of the genre name "Gourmet Drinks", these genres are shown to be sub-genres directly under "Gourmet Drinks". For "Food", it indicates that the thumbnail image of the image ID "IMG00010" is assigned, and for "Sweets & Snacks", it indicates that the thumbnail image of "IMG00011" is assigned.

[0021] Returning to FIG. 4, the extraction unit 130 extracts sub-genres indicating all sub-hierarchy genres belonging to the specific genre acquired by the acquisition unit 110. Specifically, the extraction unit 130 refers to the genre table stored in the genre information storage unit 120 and extracts the sub-genres of the specific genre. For example, in the genre configuration illustrated in FIG. 2, when "Food" is acquired as the specific genre by the acquisition unit 110, the extraction unit 130 extracts "Fruits & Berries", "Seafood & Processed Aquatic Products", "Rice & Grains",..., and the genres in the hierarchies directly under "Fruits & Berries", "Seafood & Processed Aquatic Products", "Rice & Grains",... respectively, such as "Grapes", "Oranges", "Set & Assortment", "Strawberries", "Peaches",... as sub-genres. Details of the processing by the extraction unit 130 will be described later.

[0022] Returning to FIG. 4, the product database 140 is a database storing information regarding products traded in the e-commerce service. Here, an example of the product database 140 is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in the figure, the product database 140 includes information such as "Product Name" indicating the name of the product, "Product ID" for uniquely identifying each product, "Classification Genre" indicating the classification genre which is the lowest-level genre for classifying each product, and "Genre ID" for uniquely identifying each genre. Note that the classification genre is information specified and set by the publisher at the time of product listing.

[0023] Returning to FIG. 4, the browsing history database 150 is a database storing the browsing history of products in the e-commerce service for each shopper. The browsing history is collected, for example, by a providing server providing the e-commerce service and transmitted to the presentation device 100. Here, an example of the browsing history database 150 is shown in FIG. 7. As shown in the figure, the browsing history database 150 includes information such as "User ID" for uniquely identifying the shopper, "Product ID" for uniquely identifying the product browsed by the shopper, and "Browsing Date and Time" indicating the date and time when the product was browsed.

[0024] Returning to FIG. 4, the selection unit 160 selects one genre based on the browsing history of the shopper from among the specific genre specified by the genre identification engine 200 and the lower-level genres extracted by the extraction unit 130. Note that hereinafter, the genre selected by the selection unit 160 is also referred to as the selected genre. Specifically, the selection unit 160 totals the number of times each genre is browsed, obtains the bias in the distribution of the number of times each genre is browsed for each hierarchy, and determines the presence or absence of a hierarchy with a bias. The selection unit 160 determines the presence or absence of a bias in the distribution in order from the lowest hierarchy. If it is determined that there is a bias, in this hierarchy, the genre with the most browsing times is selected as the selected genre. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no bias in the distribution up to the hierarchy of the child genres of the specific genre, the selection unit 160 selects the specific genre as the selected genre. Details of the processing by the selection unit 160 will be described later.

[0025] The prompting unit 170 causes the user terminal 300 to display the name 330 of the specific genre identified by the genre identification engine 200 and the thumbnail image 320 assigned to the selected genre selected by the selection unit 160. Specifically, the prompting unit 170 refers to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 and obtains the image ID of the thumbnail image 320 assigned to the selected genre selected by the selection unit 160. The prompting unit 170 associates the name 330 of the specific genre with the image ID of the thumbnail image 320 and transmits the association to the user terminal 300, causing the user terminal 300 to display an icon 340 including the name 330 of the specific genre and the thumbnail image 320 in the "recommended genre" section illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0026] (Physical Configuration of the Prompting Device) Physically, as shown in FIG. 8, the prompting device 100 having the functional configuration described above includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 that executes processing according to a program, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12 that is a volatile memory, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13 that is a non-volatile memory, a storage unit 14 that stores data, an input unit 15 that receives input of information, a display unit 16 that visualizes and displays information, and a communication unit 17 that transmits and receives information. These are connected via an internal bus 99.

[0027] The CPU 11 executes various processes by reading the programs stored in the storage unit 14 into the RAM 12 and executing them. As the main functions provided by the programs, the CPU 11 executes the processes by the extraction unit 130, the selection unit 160, and the prompting unit 170. Note that the CPU 11 may execute the processes by the acquisition unit 110.

[0028] The RAM 12 is used as a work area for the CPU 11. The ROM 13 stores control programs, BIOS (Basic Input Output System), etc. that the CPU 11 executes for the basic operations of the prompting device 100.

[0029] The storage unit 14 includes a hard disk drive, stores the programs executed by the CPU 11, and stores various data used during program execution. The storage unit 14 functions as a genre information storage unit 120, a product database 140, and a browsing history database 150.

[0030] The input unit 15 is a user interface including a keyboard, a mouse, a communication device, etc. The display unit 16 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display that visualizes and displays information.

[0031] The communication unit 17 is a network terminal device or a wireless communication device connected to a network, and a serial interface or a LAN (Local Area Network) interface connected thereto. The communication unit 17 functions as an acquisition unit 110 and a presentation unit 170.

[0032] (Presentation process) Subsequently, the operation of the presentation device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 9. When a shopper operates the user terminal 300 to start an e-commerce application pre-installed on the user terminal 300, the presentation device 100 starts the presentation process.

[0033] The acquisition unit 110 acquires the specific genre recommended for the shopper, which is specified by the genre specifying engine 200 (step S101). Specifically, when the acquisition unit 110 detects that the shopper has logged in to the e-commerce application, it notifies the user ID of the shopper to the genre specifying engine 200 and instructs it to transmit the specific genre of the shopper. Note that the genre specifying engine may detect that the shopper has logged in to the e-commerce application and transmit the specific genre to the presentation device 100.

[0034] Next, the extraction unit 130 extracts sub-genres indicating all sub-hierarchy genres belonging to the specific genre acquired by the acquisition unit 110 (step S102). Specifically, the extraction unit 130 refers to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 and extracts all genres belonging to the specific genre in each layer from the layer immediately below the specific genre to the terminal layer. For example, in the genre configuration illustrated in FIG. 2, when "Food" is acquired as the specific genre by the acquisition unit 110, the extraction unit 130 extracts "Fruits", "Seafood and Processed Aquatic Products",... from the genre table, where the genre ID "J00010" of "Food" is set in the "Parent Genre ID", as sub-genres of "Food". Next, the extraction unit 130 extracts, as sub-genres, genres in which the genre IDs "J00100", "J00101",... of the extracted sub-genres "Fruits", "Seafood and Processed Aquatic Products",... are set in the "Parent Genre ID". For example, since the genre ID "J00100" of "Fruits" is stored in the parent node ID of "Grapes", "Oranges", "Set (Packaging)", "Strawberries", and "Peaches", the extraction unit 130 extracts "Grapes", "Oranges", "Set (Packaging)", "Strawberries", and "Peaches" as sub-genres of "Food". Note that the above example is based on a genre configuration having four layers, but in the case of a genre configuration having four or more layers, the extraction process is repeatedly executed until it is determined that there is no genre in which the genre ID of the extracted sub-genre is set in the "Parent Genre ID".

[0035] Returning to FIG. 9, next, the selection unit 160 acquires the browsing history of the shopper (step S103). Specifically, the selection unit 160 extracts the browsing history of the shopper to be processed from the browsing history database 150 illustrated in FIG. 7 using the shopper's user ID as a key. Note that the browsing history may be extracted for a preset period such as one week, one month, half a year, or one year, so that the browsing history within the set period is extracted.

[0036] Next, the selection unit 160 totals the number of views for each of the specific genre obtained in step S101 and the sub-genres extracted in step S102 (step S104). Specifically, the selection unit 160 refers to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 and the product database 140 illustrated in FIG. 6, and extracts the browsing history of products belonging to the classification genre, which is the lowest-level genre among the sub-genres extracted in step S102. Next, the selection unit 160 totals the number of views of the products in the extracted browsing history by counting them for each genre to which the products belong. Here, an example of the total result by the selection unit 160 is shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows the total result when the browsing history of products belonging to the classification genres "grape", "strawberry", "peach", "tuna", and "white rice", which are the lowest-level genres with the specific genre being "food", is extracted. The selection unit 160 identifies the classification genre of each product by referring to the product database 140 using the product ID of each record included in the browsing history as a key. For example, when the product ID is "M0001", it is identified that the classification genre is "peach", and +1 is counted for "peach". Next, the selection unit 160 refers to the genre table to identify the parent genre "fruits" of "peach", and further identifies the parent genre "food" of "fruits", and counts +1 for each of them. The selection unit 160 repeats the same process for all records included in the browsing history, and totals the number of views of the specific genre and the sub-genres. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the number of views of the parent genre is the total of the number of views of the child genres. For example, the number of views of "fruits" is 45, which is the total of 5 for "grape", 5 for "strawberry", and 35 for "peach", and the number of views of "food" is 50, which is the total of 45 for "fruits", 2 for "seafood and processed fishery products", and 3 for "rice and miscellaneous grains".

[0037] Returning to FIG. 9, next, the selection unit 160 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S106 and S107 for each hierarchy for the sub-genres extracted in step S102 (step S105).

[0038] In step S106, the selection unit 160 obtains the number of views of the genre in the lowest layer among the unprocessed layers (step S106). For example, in the case of the first processing, the selection unit 160 obtains the number of views of each classification genre, which is the genre in the lowest layer. Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 10, the selection unit 160 obtains the number of views of the classification genres "grape", "strawberry", "peach", "tuna", and "white rice" in the fourth layer, respectively. Also, for example, in the case of the second processing, the selection unit 160 obtains the number of views of the genres in the lowest layer among the unprocessed layers, that is, the genres "fruit", "seafood and processed fishery products", and "rice and miscellaneous grains" in the third layer, respectively.

[0039] Next, the selection unit 160 determines whether there is a bias in the distribution of the number of views of the genres obtained in step S106 (step S107). Specifically, when the ratio of the number of views of a certain genre to the total number of views of each genre obtained in step S106 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold such as 50%, it is determined that there is a bias in the distribution of the number of views. In the example shown in FIG. 10, since the ratio of the number of views of the classification genre "peach" to the number of views of the genres in the same layer, which is 50 times, is 70% and is equal to or greater than the threshold of 50%, the selection unit 160 determines that there is a bias in the distribution of the number of views (step S107; Yes), and proceeds to step S109.

[0040] In step S109, the selection unit 160 determines the genre with the most views as the selected genre (step S109). Specifically, in the above example, the selection unit 160 determines "peach" as the selected genre.

[0041] On the other hand, when returning to step S107 and the selection unit 160 determines that there is no bias in the distribution of the number of views (step S107; No), it is determined whether the processing of loop 1 including steps S106 and S107 has been executed for all layers of the lower-level genres extracted in step S102 (step S108). When the selection unit 160 determines that there is an unexecuted layer, it returns to step S106 and obtains the number of views of the genre in the layer above.

[0042] On the other hand, in step S108, when it is determined that the process of loop 1 is executed for all the hierarchies of the sub-genres extracted in step S102, that is, when it is determined that there is no bias in the distribution of the number of views in any hierarchy, the selection unit 160 determines the specific genre acquired in step S101 as the selected genre (step S110).

[0043] Next, the selection unit 160 acquires the image ID of the thumbnail image assigned to the selected genre (step S111). Specifically, the selection unit 160 refers to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 to acquire the image ID of the selected genre. For example, when "peach" is determined as the selected genre by the process of step S109, the selection unit 160 acquires the image ID "IMG01004". Also, when the specific genre "food" is determined as the selected genre by the process of step S110, the selection unit 160 acquires the image ID "IMG00010". The selection unit 160 transmits the name 330 of the selected genre determined in step S110 and the acquired image ID to the presentation unit 170.

[0044] Next, the presentation unit 170 transmits the name 330 of the specific genre acquired in step S101 and the image ID of the thumbnail image acquired in step S111 to the user terminal 300 (step S112), and in the recommended genre section of the display screen 310 illustrated in FIG. 3, an icon 340 composed of the name 330 of the specific genre and the thumbnail image 320 is displayed to end the presentation process. For example, when the specific genre "Food" is acquired by the process of step S101 and "Peach" is determined as the selected genre by the process of step S109, the presentation unit 170 displays an icon 340 composed of the name 330 of the specific genre, which is "Food", and the thumbnail image 320 of the image ID "IMG01004" assigned to "Peach" on the display screen 310. Also, when the specific genre "Food" is acquired by the process of step S101 and the specific genre "Food" is determined as the selected genre by the process of step S110, the selection unit 160 causes the presentation unit 170 to display an icon 340 composed of the name 330 of the specific genre, which is "Food", and the thumbnail image 320 of the image ID "IMG00010" assigned to "Food" on the display screen 310.

[0045] In the "recommended genre" section of the display screen 310 presented by the prompting unit 170, when an icon 340 is selected by the shopper, the prompting unit 170 refers to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 and determines whether the specific genre associated with the selected icon 340 has sub-genres. When the prompting unit 170 determines that there are sub-genres, it extracts the sub-genres from the genre table and displays a list of the sub-genres on the display screen 310. For example, when the specific genre is "food", the prompting unit 170 displays "fruits", "seafood and processed fishery products", "rice and grains",... which are the sub-genres of "food" as a list on the display screen 310. On the other hand, when the prompting unit 170 determines that the specific genre has no sub-genres, it refers to the product database 140 illustrated in FIG. 6 and displays on the display screen 310 the list information of the products classified into the genre corresponding to the selected icon 340. Then, when a product is selected by the shopper, the detailed information of the selected product is displayed on the display screen 310.

[0046] As described above, the prompting device 100 selects one genre from the specific genre specified by the genre specifying engine 200 and the sub-genres belonging to the specific genre according to the bias of the distribution of the browsing times. When there is a bias in the distribution of the browsing times, the sub-genre with the most browsing times is selected, and together with the name 330 of the specific genre, the thumbnail image 320 assigned to the selected sub-genre is presented to the shopper. Therefore, the shopper can know what kind of products belong to the recommended specific genre. For example, when the recommended genre is a higher-level genre such as "gourmet beverages" or "food", by displaying the thumbnail images 320 such as "grapes" and "peaches" together, the shopper can know more specifically the products belonging to the recommended specific genre.

[0047] (Modification example) In the above-described embodiment, the presentation device 100 was set to present the specific genre specified by the genre identification engine 200 to the shopper, but it is not limited to this. For example, the specific genre may be changed to a sub-genre according to the bias in the distribution of the number of views in a sub-genre lower than the specific genre. Details of the specific genre change process for changing the specific genre in this case will be described with reference to FIG. 11. This specific genre change process is a process executed between step S111 and step S112 of the presentation process shown in FIG. 9.

[0048] Specifically, in step S201, the selection unit 160 determines whether the selected genre determined by the process of step S109 or step S110 is a sub-genre of the specific genre obtained in step S101 or a genre lower than the sub-genre, with reference to the genre table illustrated in FIG. 5 (step S201).

[0049] Next, the selection unit 160 acquires the number of views of the genre in the hierarchy higher than the selected genre (step S202). For example, in the example of the aggregation result shown in FIG. 10, when the specific genre is "Food" and the selected genre is "Peach", the number of views of the sub-genres "Fruits", "Seafood and Fishery Processed Products", and "Rice and Grains", which belong to the hierarchy one level above "Peach" and to "Food", are acquired respectively.

[0050] Next, the selection unit 160 determines whether there is a bias in the distribution of the number of views of the genre acquired in step S202, by the same process as in step S107 (step S203). Note that the threshold value used for the determination may be the same as the threshold value in step S107, or a different threshold value may be used.

[0051] When the selection unit 160 determines that there is a bias in the distribution of the number of views of the genres acquired in step S202 (step S203; Yes), it changes the genre with the highest number of views among the genres acquired in step S202 to the specific genre (step S204). For example, in the aggregation result illustrated in FIG. 10, the specific genre “Food” is changed to “Fruits”, which has the highest number of views. Then, in step S112, the presentation unit 170 may display an icon 340 including the name 330 of the specific genre, “Fruits”, and the thumbnail image 320 of the selected genre, “Peach”, on the display screen 310 of the user terminal 300.

[0052] On the other hand, when the selection unit 160 determines that there is no bias in the distribution of the number of views of the genres acquired in step S202 (step S203; No), it decides not to change the specific genre (step S205) and proceeds to step S112. In this way, the presentation device 100 may change the specific genre specified by the genre identification engine 200 to a lower-level genre and present it as the genre recommended to the shopper.

[0053] Also, in the above embodiment, the genre identification engine 200 has been described as identifying one specific genre, but it may identify a plurality of specific genres. In that case, the presentation device 100 may execute a presentation process for each of the specific genres specified by the genre identification engine 200, select the selected genre for each, and display each icon 340 including the name 330 of the specific genre and the thumbnail image 320 assigned to the selected genre on the display screen 310.

[0054] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the selection unit 160 determines that there is a bias in the browsing count distribution when the ratio of the browsing count of a certain genre to the total browsing count of all genres in the same hierarchy is equal to or greater than a threshold value. However, the determination method is arbitrary. For example, in the hierarchy to be processed, the average information amount (entropy) of the ratio of the browsing count for each genre to the total browsing count within the hierarchy may be obtained. Specifically, when there are N genres to be processed and each is browsed evenly, the average information amount H is -N×(1 / N)log(1 / N) = logN. On the other hand, when only one of the genres is browsed, the average information amount H is 0. The selection unit 160 may determine whether the average information amount H is less than (the maximum average information amount logN)×(a constant less than 1), and if it is less, determine that there is a bias in the distribution.

[0055] Also, the product itself can be adopted as the leaf node (terminal genre) of the genre hierarchy structure. In this case, when a specific product is repeatedly browsed, the representative image of the product is adopted as the thumbnail image 320 associated with the specific genre. For example, in the example of FIG. 10 showing the aggregation result when the specific genre "Food" is specified, if the product on the product page with the most views among the 35 views of the classified genre "Peach" is Peach Y of store X, then Peach Y of store X can be selected as the selected genre, and presented to the shopper together with the name of the specific genre "Food" and the representative image of Peach Y of store X. The representative image in this case is an image used on the sales page for selling Peach Y in store X, and it is desirable that the image represents Peach Y itself without character information, other than the banner or advertisement image of store X. The extraction of the representative image may use techniques such as machine learning or deep learning, for example, to detect the presence or absence of character information and the presence or absence of the target product (Peach Y) or an object (Peach) belonging to the category of this product among the multiple images included in the sales page, and then extract the representative image. In this way, by using the representative image of the sales page of the product that the shopper has browsed many times as the thumbnail image of the upper-level genre, the shopper can be made to recall the connection between their past actions and the recommended genre.

[0056] Also, in the above embodiment, the selection unit 160 is configured to obtain the bias in the distribution of the number of views. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the bias in the distribution of the number of times of other action histories such as the number of purchases and the number of times registered as a favorite may be obtained, or the bias in the distribution of the number of action times obtained by summing the number of times of a plurality of action histories may be obtained. In this case, instead of the browsing history database 150 illustrated in FIG. 7, an action history database that stores a plurality of types of action contents may be stored. In step S104, the number of action times for each genre may be tabulated based on the action history database. Further, weighting may be performed according to the action content, and the number of action times for each genre may be tabulated.

[0057] Note that the presentation device 100 according to the above embodiment can be realized not only by a dedicated device but also by using a normal computer. For example, by installing the program for executing any of the above on a computer from a recording medium storing the program, the presentation device 100 that executes the above processing may be configured. Further, the presentation device 100 may be configured by a plurality of computers operating in cooperation.

[0058] Also, when the above functions are realized by sharing between an OS (Operating System) and an application or by cooperation between the OS and the application, only the part other than the OS may be stored in a medium.

[0059] It is also possible to superimpose a program on a carrier wave and distribute it via a communication network. For example, the program may be distributed in an application store (App Store), or the program may be posted on a bulletin board (BBS, Bulletin Board System) on the communication network and distributed via the network. Then, these programs may be started and configured to execute the above processing by being executed in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the operating system.

[0060] In addition, the information stored in the storage unit 14 may be collectively managed by a cloud server existing on the network, and the presentation device 100 may access the cloud server as necessary to read and write information. In this case, the presentation device 100 may not include the genre information storage unit 120, the product database 140, and the browsing history database 150. Further, the presentation process by the presentation device 100 may be executed on the cloud based on the information stored in the cloud server.

[0061] Hereinafter, various aspects of the present disclosure will be collectively described as appendices.

[0062] (Appendix 1) A presentation device that presents a specific genre included in the genre having a hierarchical structure to a shopper in an electronic market in which transaction targets are classified by the genre having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each genre. An extraction unit that extracts the specific genre and sub-genres lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure. A selection unit that selects any genre from the genres extracted by the extraction unit based on the behavior of the shopper in the electronic market. A presentation unit that associates the name of the specific genre with the image assigned to the genre selected by the selection unit and presents it to the shopper. A presentation device comprising:

[0063] (Appendix 2) The selection unit obtains, for each hierarchy, the bias of the distribution of the browsing frequencies of the sub-genres extracted by the extraction unit based on the number of times the shopper has browsed the transaction target, and when it is determined that there is a bias in the distribution, selects the sub-genre with the highest browsing frequency in the hierarchy where the bias is determined. The presentation device according to Appendix 1.

[0064] (Appendix 3) When there is a sub-genre with a number of views equal to or greater than a predetermined ratio to the total number of views in the hierarchy of the processing target, the selection unit determines that there is a bias in the distribution. The presentation device according to Supplementary Note 2.

[0065] (Supplementary Note 4) The selection unit obtains the average information amount of the ratio of the number of views of the sub-genre to the total number of views in the hierarchy of the processing target, and determines that there is a bias in the distribution when the obtained average information amount is less than the threshold value. The presentation device according to Supplementary Note 2.

[0066] (Supplementary Note 5) When the selection unit determines that there is no bias in the distribution in all hierarchies of the processing target, it selects the specific genre extracted by the extraction unit. The presentation unit presents the name of the specific genre to the shopper in association with the image assigned to the specific genre. The presentation device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 2 to 4.

[0067] (Supplementary Note 6) When the presented specific genre is selected, the presentation unit determines whether there is a sub-genre in the specific genre. When it is determined that there is a sub-genre, a list of sub-genres, which are the genres in the immediately lower hierarchy belonging to the specific genre, is presented to the shopper. When it is determined that there is no sub-genre, a list of the transaction targets classified into the specific genre is presented to the shopper. The presentation device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 5.

[0068] (Supplementary Note 7) When the selected sub-genre is a grandchild genre of the specific genre or a genre lower than the grandchild genre in the hierarchical structure, the selection unit obtains the bias of the distribution of the number of views in the hierarchy higher than the selected sub-genre. If it is determined that there is a bias in the distribution, the genre with the highest number of views in the higher hierarchy determined to have a bias is changed to the specific genre. The presentation unit presents the name of the specific genre changed by the selection unit and the image assigned to the selected genre to the shopper in association with each other. The presentation device according to any one of Appendices 2 to 5.

[0069] (Appendix 8) In an electronic market in which trading targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each genre, a computer which is a presentation device that presents a specific genre included in the genres having the hierarchical structure to a shopper extracting the specific genre and sub-genres lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; selecting any genre from the extracted genres based on the actions of the shopper in the electronic market; presenting the name of the specific genre and the image assigned to the selected genre to the shopper in association with each other; A presentation method for executing.

[0070] (Appendix 9) In an electronic market in which trading targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each genre, to a computer which is a presentation device that presents a specific genre included in the genres having the hierarchical structure to a shopper a process of extracting the specific genre and sub-genres lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; A process of selecting any genre from the extracted genres based on the actions of the shopper in the electronic market, A process of presenting the shopper with the name of the specific genre and an image assigned to the selected genre in association with each other, A program for causing the above to be executed.

[0071] The present disclosure can be implemented in various embodiments and variations without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Also, the above-described embodiments are for explaining this disclosure and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. That is, the scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the claims rather than the embodiments. And various modifications made within the scope of the claims and within the scope of the meaning of the disclosure equivalent thereto are considered to be within the scope of this disclosure.

Industrial Applicability

[0072] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a presentation device, a presentation method, and a program that can more effectively present recommended genres.

Explanation of Signs

[0073] 100 Presentation device, 200 Genre identification engine, 300 User terminal, 400 Communication network, 110 Acquisition unit, 120 Genre information storage unit, 130 Extraction unit, 140 Product database, 150 Browsing history database, 160 Selection unit, 170 Presentation unit 170 Output unit, 310 Display screen, 320 Thumbnail image, 330 Specific genre name, 340 Icon, 11 CPU, 12 RAM, 13 ROM, 14 Storage unit, 15 Input unit, 16 Display unit, 17 Communication unit, 99 Internal bus

Claims

1. In an electronic market where trading targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each of the genres, a presentation device that presents a specific genre included in the genre having the hierarchical structure to a shopper, an extraction unit that extracts the specific genre and sub-genres lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; a selection unit that selects any one genre from the genres extracted by the extraction unit based on the actions of the shopper in the electronic market; a presentation unit that presents the name of the specific genre and the image assigned to the genre selected by the selection unit to the shopper in association with each other; A presentation device comprising:

2. The selection unit obtains, for each hierarchy, the bias of the distribution of the number of views of the sub-genres extracted by the extraction unit based on the number of views of the trading target by the shopper, and when it is determined that there is a bias in the distribution, selects the sub-genre with the highest number of views in the hierarchy where the bias is determined. The presentation device according to claim 1.

3. The selection unit determines that there is a bias in the distribution when there is a sub-genre with the number of views equal to or more than a predetermined ratio to the total number of views in the hierarchy to be processed. The presentation device according to claim 2.

4. The selection unit obtains the average information amount of the ratio of the number of views of the sub-genre to the total number of views in the hierarchy to be processed, and when the obtained average information amount is less than a threshold value, determines that there is a bias in the distribution. The presentation device according to claim 2.

5. When the selection unit determines that there is no bias in the distribution in all hierarchies to be processed, the selection unit selects the specific genre extracted by the extraction unit, and the presentation unit presents the name of the specific genre to the shopper in association with the image assigned to the specific genre. The presentation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. When the presented specific genre is selected, the presentation unit determines whether there are sub-genres in the specific genre, and when it is determined that there are sub-genres, presents a list of child genres, which are the genres in the hierarchy immediately below the specific genre, to the shopper. When it is determined that there is no such lower genre, a list of the transaction targets classified into the specific genre is presented to the shopper. The presentation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. When the selected lower genre is a grandchild genre of the specific genre or a genre lower than the grandchild genre in the hierarchical structure, the selection unit obtains the bias of the distribution of the number of views in the hierarchy higher than the selected lower genre. If it is determined that there is a bias in the distribution, the genre with the highest number of views in the higher hierarchy determined to have the bias is changed to the specific genre. The presentation unit presents to the shopper the name of the specific genre changed by the selection unit and the image assigned to the selected genre in association with each other. The presentation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

8. In an electronic market in which transaction targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each genre, a computer which is a presentation device for presenting a specific genre included in the genres having the hierarchical structure to a shopper extracting the specific genre and a lower genre lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; selecting any genre from the extracted genres based on the behavior of the shopper in the electronic market; presenting to the shopper the name of the specific genre and the image assigned to the selected genre in association with each other; A presentation method for executing.

9. In an electronic market in which transaction targets are classified by genres having a hierarchical structure, and an image representing each genre is assigned to each genre, to a computer which is a presentation device for presenting a specific genre included in the genres having the hierarchical structure to a shopper a process of extracting the specific genre and a lower genre lower than the specific genre in the hierarchical structure; a process of selecting any genre from the extracted genres based on the behavior of the shopper in the electronic market; a process of presenting to the shopper the name of the specific genre and the image assigned to the selected genre in association with each other; A program for executing.

Images