Using Recommendations To Balance Demand and Supply in Two-Sided Marketplaces
Keywords: recsys, two-sided marketplace, demand, supply, fairness
TL;DR: I propose a method to modify recommender systems to balance demand and supply in two-sided marketplaces.
Abstract: We look into the application of recommender systems in two-sided markets. Current recommender systems are consumer-centric in the sense that their primary objective is to help consumers find relevant items. In other words, they help manage a high supply in the marketplace. We propose using recommender systems to solve the opposite problem: high demand. We show how recommendations can be made to help items find relevant consumers. Our hypothesis is that these item-centric recommendations can motivate producers to produce more, thus increasing supply and balancing out demand. We perform preliminary experiments to show the tradeoff between these item-centric and user-centric recommendations and construct a lever that one can use to decide whether to help demand or supply depending on the business goals. We discuss limitations and outline plans for future work.
Submission Number: 1
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