Method, computer, and system

Abstract

To improve a technique for recommending a tire product for an automobile to a customer.SOLUTION: A method executed by a computer includes: executing a plurality of times first processing of outputting question information to a user and acquiring the user's answer information to the question information; executing second processing at least once while the first processing is executed a plurality of times; executing third processing of, based on at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first processing a plurality of times, estimating the purpose of use of an automobile and a customer value for the user and specifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user; and outputting information on the estimated purpose of use and customer value and information on the at least one specified tire product. The second processing includes determining the user's understanding about the tire product based on at least one answer information that has already been acquired, and determining question information to be output next and subsequent times according to the determined understanding.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to methods, computers, and systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known techniques for recommending automobile tire products to customers. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for calculating a total score for each tire by accumulating evaluation points corresponding to selected evaluation items for each tire, and determining one or more tires to recommend based on the ranking of the highest total score. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-51311 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There was room for improvement in the technology used to recommend automotive tire products to customers.

[0005] In view of the above, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technology for recommending automobile tire products to customers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method comprises: A method executed by a computer, the method including: executing a first process multiple times to output question information for a user and obtain answer information of the user to the question information; executing a second process at least once while the first process is executed multiple times; executing a third process to estimate an automobile use and customer value for the user and identify at least one tire product to recommend to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times; and outputting information indicating the estimated use and customer value and information on the identified at least one tire product, wherein the second process includes a process of determining the user's level of understanding of tire products based on at least one piece of answer information already obtained, and determining question information to be output next time or later in accordance with the determined level of understanding. According to this configuration, questions are asked according to the user's level of understanding, and the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated from the answers to the questions, and a tire product to be recommended to the user is identified. For example, questions that can be answered by a user with a relatively low level of understanding without knowledge of tire products can be asked, and questions that require a certain level of knowledge of tire products to be answered can be asked by a user with a relatively high level of understanding. This improves the accuracy of estimating the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user from the user's answers, and improves the technology for recommending automobile tire products to customers in that more appropriate tire products can be recommended.

[0007] The method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include transmitting the identification information of the user and the identification information of the at least one identified tire product to an external device. According to such a configuration, if the external device is, for example, a computer used in a tire product sales store, an employee of the sales store can smoothly handle the user's visit by referring to the information received from the terminal device. Also, if the external device is, for example, a computer used by an operator of an Internet shop selling tire products, the user can purchase the tire product through a procedure via the web.

[0008] In a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third process may be executed using a learning model that outputs output information when input information is input, the input information includes at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times, and the output information may include information indicating the use of the automobile and customer value for the user, and identification information of at least one tire product recommended to the user. According to this configuration, by using an appropriately trained learning model, the estimation accuracy in the third process may be improved compared to, for example, a rule-based method.

[0009] The method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include, when the at least one tire product recommended to the user does not include a tire product purchased by the user, training the learning model using identification information of the tire product purchased by the user as training data. With this configuration, it is possible to train the learning model to learn characteristics such as personal preferences of the user, for example, and the accuracy of the output information can be improved.

[0010] In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third process may be executed based on the at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first process multiple times and other information different from the answer information. With this configuration, for example, if the other information is inventory information at a tire product dealer or identification information of a tire product that the dealer preferentially wants to sell, it is possible to reflect the circumstances of the dealer when identifying a tire product to be recommended to a user.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer comprising: A computer having a control unit, wherein the control unit executes a first process multiple times to output question information for a user and obtain answer information of the user to the question information, executes a second process at least once while the first process is executed multiple times, and executes a third process to estimate an automobile use and customer value for the user and identify at least one tire product to recommend to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times, and outputs information indicating the estimated use and customer value and information on the identified at least one tire product, and the second process includes a process of determining the user's level of understanding of tire products based on at least one piece of answer information already obtained, and determining question information to be output next time or later depending on the determined level of understanding. According to this configuration, questions are asked according to the user's level of understanding, and the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated from the answers to the questions, and a tire product to be recommended to the user is identified. For example, questions that can be answered by a user with a relatively low level of understanding without knowledge of tire products can be asked, and questions that require a certain level of knowledge of tire products to be answered can be asked by a user with a relatively high level of understanding. This improves the accuracy of estimating the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user from the user's answers, and improves the technology for recommending automobile tire products to customers in that more appropriate tire products can be recommended.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the system includes: A system comprising a terminal device and an information processing device, wherein the terminal device or the information processing device executes a first process multiple times to output question information for a user and obtain answer information of the user to the question information, executes a second process at least once while the first process is executed multiple times, and executes a third process to estimate an automobile use and customer value for the user and identify at least one tire product to recommend to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times, and outputs information indicating the estimated use and customer value and information on the identified at least one tire product, and the second process includes a process of determining the user's level of understanding of tire products based on at least one piece of answer information already obtained, and determining question information to be output next time or later in accordance with the determined level of understanding. According to this configuration, questions are asked according to the user's level of understanding, and the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated from the answers to the questions, and a tire product to be recommended to the user is identified. For example, questions that can be answered by a user with a relatively low level of understanding without knowledge of tire products can be asked, and questions that require a certain level of knowledge of tire products to be answered can be asked by a user with a relatively high level of understanding. This improves the accuracy of estimating the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user from the user's answers, and improves the technology for recommending automobile tire products to customers in that more appropriate tire products can be recommended. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an improvement is provided in the art of recommending automotive tire products to customers. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of questions presented to a user. [Diagram 3]FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on a terminal device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal device. [Diagram 5] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing device; [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal device. [Figure 7] A diagram showing input and output of a learning model related to a modified example of an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0016] (Overview of the embodiment) An overview of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The system 1 includes a terminal device 10 and an information processing device 20. The terminal device 10 and the information processing device 20 are communicatively connected to a network 30 including, for example, the Internet.

[0017] The terminal device 10 is any device used by a user. For example, a general-purpose computer such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or a dedicated computer can be adopted as the terminal device 10.

[0018] The information processing device 20 is, for example, a server device, but is not limited to this and may be any computer. The information processing device 20 is capable of communicating with the terminal device 10 via a network 30.

[0019] In this embodiment, generally, a plurality of questions are sequentially presented to the user from the terminal device 10. The user answers the questions sequentially using the terminal device 10. Based on the answers by the user, the use and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated, and a recommended tire product is identified. The user can know information on the estimated use, customer value, and recommended tire product.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows an example of a flow of questions presented to a user. In this example, first, "Question 1" and "Question 2" are presented to the user in sequence. Next, for example, the user's level of understanding of tire products is determined based on the answers to at least one of "Question 1" and "Question 2", and the content and number of subsequent questions change according to the level of understanding. In this example, when the level of understanding is equal to or higher than a threshold (in other words, when the user's level of understanding of tire products is relatively high), "Question 3A", "Question 4", and "Question 5" are presented to the user in sequence. On the other hand, when the level of understanding is less than the threshold (in other words, when the user's level of understanding of tire products is relatively low), "Question 3B" and "Question 4" are presented to the user in sequence. "Question 3A" and "Question 5", which are presented only when the level of understanding is equal to or higher than a threshold, may be questions that require a certain level of knowledge about tire products (for example, knowledge about the specifications of tire products) to answer, for example. For example, questions inquiring about the size, material, type, or tread pattern type of a tire product that the user wishes to purchase may be adopted as "Question 3A" and "Question 5." On the other hand, "Question 3B," which is presented only when the level of understanding is below the threshold, may be a question that can be answered even without knowledge of tire products. For example, a question inquiring about what is important when driving a car may be adopted as "Question 3B."

[0021] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen 40 displayed on the terminal device 10. Information 41 indicating an estimated use, information 42 indicating an estimated customer value, and information 43 relating to at least one identified tire product are output on the screen 40. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the estimated use is "daily driving for commuting to work or school, shopping, etc." The estimated customer value is "a safe and high-quality car life." The identified tire product is "tire product α."

[0022] First, an overview of the present embodiment will be described, and details will be described later. The terminal device 10 executes a first process multiple times. The first process includes a process of outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information of the user to the question information. The terminal device 10 executes a second process at least once while the first process is executed multiple times. The second process includes a process of determining the user's understanding of a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward according to the determined understanding. The terminal device 10 executes a third process based on at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first process multiple times. The third process includes a process of estimating the use and customer value of an automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user. The terminal device 10 then outputs information indicating the estimated use and customer value, and information on the identified at least one tire product.

[0023] Thus, according to this embodiment, questions are asked according to the user's level of understanding, and the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated from the answers to the questions, and a tire product recommended to the user is specified. For example, a question that can be answered without knowledge of tire products (e.g., "Question 3B" in FIG. 2) can be asked to a user with a relatively low level of understanding, and a question that requires a certain level of knowledge of tire products to be answered (e.g., "Question 3A" and "Question 5" in FIG. 2) can be asked to a user with a relatively high level of understanding. This improves the accuracy of estimating the purpose and customer value of the automobile for the user from the user's answers, and improves the technology for recommending tire products for automobiles to customers in that more appropriate tire products can be recommended.

[0024] Next, each component of the system 1 will be described in detail.

[0025] (Terminal Device Configuration) As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 10 includes a communication unit 11, an output unit 12, an input unit 13, a storage unit 14, and a control unit 15.

[0026] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. The communication interface corresponds to, for example, a mobile communication standard such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation), a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, or a wireless LAN standard, but may correspond to any communication standard without being limited thereto. In this embodiment, the terminal device 10 communicates with the information processing device 20 via the communication unit 11 and the network 30. The communication unit 11 may also include a receiver corresponding to a satellite positioning system such as GPS. In this case, the terminal device 10 can acquire location information of the terminal device 10 based on information received via the receiver.

[0027] The output unit 12 may include one or more output devices that output information to notify the user. The output devices may be, for example, but are not limited to, a display that outputs information as a video or a speaker that outputs information as a sound. The output unit 12 may include an interface for connecting an external output device.

[0028] The input unit 13 may include one or more input devices that detect user input. The input devices may be, but are not limited to, physical keys, capacitive keys, a touch screen that is integrated with a display, a microphone that accepts voice input, a camera, etc. The input unit 13 may include an interface for connecting an external input device.

[0029] The storage unit 14 includes one or more memories. The memories are, for example, but not limited to, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, or optical memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 14 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 14 stores any information used in the operation of the terminal device 10. For example, the storage unit 14 may store system programs, application programs, embedded software, and the like.

[0030] The control unit 15 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination of these. The processor is, for example, but is not limited to, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The programmable circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The dedicated circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 15 controls the operation of the entire terminal device 10.

[0031] (Configuration of information processing device) As shown in FIG. 5, the information processing device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit .

[0032] The communication unit 21 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. The communication interface corresponds to, for example, a mobile communication standard, a wired LAN standard, or a wireless LAN standard, but is not limited to these, and may correspond to any communication standard. In this embodiment, the information processing device 20 communicates with the terminal device 10 via the communication unit 21 and the network 30.

[0033] The storage unit 22 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 22 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 20. For example, the storage unit 22 may store a system program, an application program, a database, and the like.

[0034] The control unit 23 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The control unit 23 controls the operation of the information processing device 20 as a whole.

[0035] (Operation flow of terminal device) The operation of the terminal device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. This operation can be executed, for example, via a dedicated application program stored in the terminal device 10 or a general-purpose web browser application. Information used in each step can be appropriately acquired from the information processing device 20 via the network 30, for example, or can be stored in advance in the storage unit 14 of the terminal device 10.

[0036] Step S100: The control unit 15 of the terminal device 10 executes a first process. The first process includes a process of outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information of the user to the question information.

[0037] Specifically, the control unit 15 outputs the question information to the output unit 12. The output unit 12 outputs the question information in the form of video or audio. The question information is, for example, information that asks the user about the user's gender, age or generation, family members living together, the manufacturer and model (category and name) of the car used, the mileage per specified period, or whether the desired tire performance is clear when selecting a tire product, but is not limited to these. Note that, as described below, step S100 is executed multiple times, and the question information output at least in the first step S100 is information indicating a question that can be answered even if the user has no knowledge about tire products.

[0038] Then, the control unit 15 acquires answer information input by the user from the input unit 13. The answer information may be, for example, information indicating one or more options selected by the user from a plurality of options prepared in advance, may be text information in a natural language, or may be information indicating a result of recognizing the text information by natural language processing.

[0039] Step S101: The control unit 15 determines whether or not to end the processing loop. If it is determined that the loop is to be ended (step S101-Yes), the process proceeds to step S102. On the other hand, if it is determined that the loop is not to be ended (step S101-No), the process proceeds to step S105.

[0040] Specifically, the control unit 15 determines whether a predetermined end condition is satisfied, and when it is determined that the end condition is satisfied, it determines to end the loop. The end condition is, for example, a condition that acquisition of answer information for all question information presented to the user is completed, but is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the question information presented to the user differs depending on whether the user's understanding of the tire product is equal to or greater than a threshold. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, when the user's understanding is equal to or greater than a threshold, the question information determined to be presented to the user is "Question 1", "Question 2", "Question 3A", "Question 4", and "Question 5". When acquisition of answer information for these five question information is completed, the control unit 15 determines to end the loop, and when acquisition of answer information is not completed, it determines not to end the loop. On the other hand, when the user's understanding is less than the threshold, the question information determined to be presented to the user is "Question 1", "Question 2", "Question 3A", and "Question 4". The control unit 15 determines to end the loop when the acquisition of answer information for these four pieces of question information is completed, and determines not to end the loop when the acquisition of answer information is not completed. However, the present embodiment is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2, and it is sufficient that step S100 is executed multiple times.

[0041] Step S102: When it is determined in step S101 that the loop is to be ended (step S101-Yes), the control unit 15 executes a third process based on at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first process multiple times. The third process includes a process of estimating the use and customer value of the automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user.

[0042] Any method can be adopted for executing the third process. For example, in the present embodiment, a method based on a rule base is adopted. Specifically, the control unit 15 may store in advance in the storage unit 14 information indicating the use of the automobile, the customer value, and the recommended tire product for each combination of answer contents that at least two pieces of answer information can indicate. Specifically, for example, when the answer contents that each of the two pieces of answer information can indicate are "1", "2", or "3", there are 3 x 3 = 9 combinations of answer contents that the two pieces of answer information can indicate. In this case, the storage unit 14 stores information indicating the use of the automobile, the customer value, and the recommended tire product in association with each of the 9 patterns. Then, the control unit 15 may acquire information indicating the use of the automobile, the customer value, and the recommended tire product corresponding to the combination of answer contents indicated by the acquired at least two pieces of answer information from the storage unit 14.

[0043] Here, the control unit 15 may execute the third process based on both at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first process multiple times and other information different from the answer information. The other information may be, for example, inventory information at a tire product retailer, or identification information of a tire product that the retailer preferentially wants to sell, but is not limited to these. The other information may be acquired, for example, from a computer used at the tire product retailer via the network 30. For example, the control unit 15 may specify, as tire products to be recommended to the user, a tire product corresponding to a combination of answer contents indicated by the at least two pieces of acquired answer information, and a tire product with a large or small inventory based on the inventory information, or a tire product that the retailer preferentially wants to sell. With this configuration, it is possible to reflect the circumstances of the retailer when specifying a tire product to be recommended to the user.

[0044] In addition, the answer information used in the third process may be all or a part of the multiple answer information corresponding to the multiple question information respectively (i.e., all the answer information obtained as a result of the first process being executed multiple times), so long as there are two or more pieces of answer information.

[0045] Step S103: The control unit 15 outputs information indicating the use and customer value estimated in step S102, and information regarding the identified at least one tire product.

[0046] Specifically, the control unit 15 outputs each piece of information to the output unit 12. The output unit 12 outputs each piece of information as video or audio. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, information 41 indicating the use, information 42 indicating the customer value, and information 43 related to the tire product are output on a screen 40 displayed on the display of the output unit 12. The information 43 related to the tire product includes, but is not limited to, information indicating the name of the tire product, for example, and may further include information indicating the performance and the reason for recommending the tire product, and information (for example, URL, etc.) of a store or Internet shop where the tire product can be purchased. When there are multiple stores where the tire product can be purchased, information on some stores selected from the multiple stores (for example, one or more stores whose distance from the position indicated in the position information of the terminal device 10 or the position information designated by the user is less than a threshold) may be included in the information 43 related to the tire product. Here, the expression mode of each piece of information to be output may differ depending on whether the user's understanding of the tire product is less than a threshold. Typically, when the user's level of understanding is below the threshold, there are fewer expressions indicating the specifications of the tire product compared to when the level of understanding is equal to or above the threshold.

[0047] Step S104: The control unit 15 transmits the user's identification information (for example, the user's name or membership number) and the identification information of at least one tire product identified in step S102 to the external device.

[0048] The external device may be, for example, a computer used by a retailer of tire products. The control unit 15 may transmit the user's identification information and the tire product's identification information to the retailer's computer shown in the information 43 output in step S103, and may also carry out a procedure for making a reservation to visit the retailer. The procedure for making a reservation to visit the retailer may be carried out, for example, by transmitting and receiving information indicating a time slot available for reservation and information indicating a scheduled time of visit desired by the user between the terminal device 10 and the retailer's computer. In such a case, an employee of the retailer can smoothly handle the user's visit by referring to the information received from the terminal device 10. Alternatively, the external device may be a computer used by an Internet shop operator. The control unit 15 may transmit the user's identification information and the tire product's identification information to the computer used by the Internet shop operator shown in the information 43 output in step S103, and may also carry out a procedure for purchasing the tire product. The purchase procedure may be carried out, for example, by transmitting and receiving information necessary for an electronic payment procedure using, for example, a credit card, electronic money, or cryptocurrency between the terminal device 10, the retailer's computer, and a predetermined electronic payment server. In such a case, the user can purchase a tire product by a procedure via the web. However, the external device is not limited to this example and may be determined arbitrarily. Furthermore, the transmission of information to the external device is performed, for example, via the communication unit 11 and the network 30, but is not limited to this and may be performed by any method. For example, the control unit 15 may transmit information by displaying a two-dimensional code on the display of the output unit 12 and having the two-dimensional code read by a code scanner of the external device. Note that, for example, when the terminal device 10 itself is a computer used in a dealership, step S104 may be omitted.

[0049] Step S105: If it is determined in step S101 that the loop is not to be ended (step S101-No), the control unit 15 determines whether or not to execute the second process. The second process includes a process of determining the user's level of understanding of a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward according to the determined level of understanding. If it is determined that the second process is to be executed (step S105-Yes), the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if it is determined that the second process is not to be executed (step S105-No), the process returns to step S100.

[0050] Specifically, the control unit 15 determines whether a predetermined condition is satisfied, and when it is determined that the condition is satisfied, it decides to execute the second process. The condition is, for example, but is not limited to, a condition that acquisition of answer information to all question information required for determining the user's understanding of a tire product is completed. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the second process is executed when acquisition of answer information to "Question 1" and "Question 2" is completed.

[0051] Step S106: If it is determined in step S105 that the second process is to be executed (step S105-Yes), the control unit 15 executes the second process. After that, the process returns to step S100.

[0052] Specifically, the control unit 15 determines the user's level of understanding of tire products based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determines question information to be output next time or later according to the determined level of understanding. Any method can be adopted for determining the level of understanding. For example, the control unit 15 assigns a score to the content of each piece of acquired answer information based on a predetermined algorithm, and acquires the total score as the user's level of understanding. Here, it is assumed that the higher the total score, the higher the user's level of understanding of tire products. If the level of understanding is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 15 determines that the user's level of understanding of tire products is high, and if the level of understanding is less than the threshold, the control unit 15 determines that the user's level of understanding of tire products is low. Note that the level of understanding of the user may be determined using a plurality of thresholds with different values.

[0053] Then, the control unit 15 determines the question information to be output next time onwards, depending on the user's level of understanding. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 2, when the control unit 15 determines that the level of understanding is equal to or higher than the threshold, it determines "Question 3A", "Question 4", and "Question 5" as the question information to be output next time onwards. On the other hand, when the control unit 15 determines that the level of understanding is lower than the threshold, it determines "Question 3B" and "Question 4" as the question information to be output next time onwards.

[0054] As described above, the terminal device 10 according to the present embodiment executes the first process multiple times. The first process includes a process of outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information of the user to the question information. The terminal device 10 executes the second process at least once while the first process is executed multiple times. The second process includes a process of determining the user's understanding of a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward according to the determined understanding. The terminal device 10 executes the first process multiple times and executes the third process based on at least two pieces of answer information acquired. The third process includes a process of estimating the use and customer value of an automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user. The terminal device 10 then outputs information indicating the estimated use and customer value, and information on the identified at least one tire product.

[0055] According to this configuration, questions are asked according to the user's level of understanding, and the use and customer value of the automobile for the user are estimated from the answers to the questions, and a tire product recommended to the user is specified. For example, a question that can be answered without knowledge of tire products (e.g., "Question 3B" in FIG. 2) can be asked to a user with a relatively low level of understanding, and a question that requires a certain level of knowledge of tire products to be answered (e.g., "Question 3A" and "Question 5" in FIG. 2) can be asked to a user with a relatively high level of understanding. This improves the accuracy of estimating the use and customer value of the automobile for the user from the user's answers, and improves the technology for recommending tire products for automobiles to customers in that more appropriate tire products can be recommended.

[0056] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0057] For example, in the above-described embodiment, a modified example is possible in which the configuration and operation of the terminal device 10 are distributed among a plurality of computers that can communicate with each other. Also, for example, a modified example is possible in which the information processing device 20 executes a part or all of the operation of the terminal device 10.

[0058] In the above-described embodiment, the third process may be executed using a learning model that outputs output information when input information is input. Specifically, the storage unit 14 of the terminal device 10 (or the storage unit 22 of the information processing device 20) stores, for example, a learning model shown in FIG. 7. The input information of the learning model includes at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times. According to this configuration, by using an appropriately trained learning model, the estimation accuracy in the third process can be improved compared to the method based on the rule base as in the above-described embodiment. The input information may further include other information different from the answer information (for example, inventory information at a tire product dealer, or identification information of a tire product that the dealer preferentially wants to sell, etc.). The output information includes information indicating the use and customer value of the automobile for the user, and identification information of at least one tire product recommended to the user.

[0059] In the above modification in which the third process is executed using a learning model, the control unit 15 of the terminal device 10 may acquire identification information of a tire product actually purchased by the user. The identification information may be acquired from a computer of a dealer via the network 30, for example, or may be input by the user or an employee of the dealer via the input unit 13. If the at least one tire product identified by the third process (i.e., at least one tire product recommended to the user) does not include a tire product actually purchased by the user, the control unit 15 may train the learning model using the identification information of the tire product actually purchased by the user as teacher data. With this configuration, for example, the characteristics of the user's personal preferences can be learned by the learning model, and the accuracy of the output information can be improved.

[0060] In the above modified example in which the third process is executed using a learning model, the output information of the learning model may further include, for example, information indicating the user's satisfaction with the recommended tire product. In such a case, the control unit 15 of the terminal device 10 may obtain information indicating the user's satisfaction with the tire product from, for example, the results of a questionnaire conducted on the user after the purchase of the tire product. Then, when there is a difference of a predetermined threshold or more between the satisfaction level indicated in the output information of the learning model and the satisfaction level obtained from the questionnaire result, the control unit 15 may train the learning model using the information indicating the satisfaction level obtained from the questionnaire result as teacher data. With this configuration, the estimation accuracy of the user's satisfaction with the recommended tire product may be improved.

[0061] Also, for example, an embodiment is possible in which a general-purpose computer functions as the terminal device 10 according to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing contents for realizing each function of the terminal device 10 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the memory of the general-purpose computer, and the program is read and executed by a processor. Therefore, the invention according to this embodiment can also be realized as a program executable by a processor, or a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores the program. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1 System 10 Terminal Equipment 11 Communications Department 12 Output section 13 Input section 14 Storage section 15 Control section 20 Information processing device 21 Communications Department 22 Memory section 23 Control Unit 30 Network 40 screens 41 Information indicating use 42 Information that indicates customer value 43 Tire Product Information

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information from the user to the question information; executing a second process at least once while the first process is executed a plurality of times; Executing a third process of estimating a use and a customer value of the automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information acquired by executing the first process multiple times; and outputting information indicative of the estimated use and customer value and information regarding the identified at least one tire product; Including, the second process includes a process of determining a level of understanding of the user regarding a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward depending on whether the determined level of understanding is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, The third process is executed using a learning model that outputs output information when input information is input, the input information includes at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times; The method, wherein the output information includes information indicative of a vehicle's use and customer value to a user, and an identification of at least one tire product recommended to the user.

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , The method further includes transmitting an identification of the user and an identification of the identified at least one tire product to an external device.

3. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The method further includes, when at least one tire product recommended to the user does not include a tire product purchased by the user, training the learning model using identification information of the tire product purchased by the user as training data.

4. 4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: The method, wherein the third process is executed based on the at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process a plurality of times and other information different from the answer information.

5. A computer including a control unit, The control unit is outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information from the user to the question information; A second process is executed at least once while the first process is executed a plurality of times; executing a third process of estimating a use and a customer value of the automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process a plurality of times; outputting information indicative of the estimated use and customer value and information regarding the identified at least one tire product; the second process includes a process of determining a level of understanding of the user regarding a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward depending on whether the determined level of understanding is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, The third process is executed using a learning model that outputs output information when input information is input, the input information includes at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times; The computer, wherein the output information includes information indicative of the vehicle's use and customer value to the user, and identification of at least one tire product recommended to the user.

6. A system including a terminal device and an information processing device, The terminal device or the information processing device, outputting question information for a user and acquiring answer information from the user to the question information; A second process is executed at least once while the first process is executed a plurality of times; executing a third process of estimating a use and a customer value of the automobile for the user and identifying at least one tire product to be recommended to the user based on at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process a plurality of times; outputting information indicative of the estimated use and customer value and information regarding the identified at least one tire product; the second process includes a process of determining a level of understanding of the user regarding a tire product based on at least one piece of answer information already acquired, and determining question information to be output from the next time onward depending on whether the determined level of understanding is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, The third process is executed using a learning model that outputs output information when input information is input, the input information includes at least two pieces of answer information obtained by executing the first process multiple times; The system, wherein the output information includes information indicative of the vehicle's use and customer value to the user, and an identification of at least one tire product recommended to the user.

Images