Is my opinion useful for others?

An analysis on stimulus

Abstract

The restaurant you visited was good? The lecture you took last year was interesting? We are often consulted with others such as friends about matters of tastes. In these situations, how can we give useful opinions? Recently, giving one’s own tastes have attention as a promising tool. In addition, a previous study proposed the cognitive method which enhances the usefulness of opinions. Especially, the method which makes people to produce quasi-crowds’ opinions has been proposed: participants simulated others’ taste for items, in addition to answer their own tastes. It should be noted that the previous study conducted the analysis across items. Therefore, in this paper, we re-conducted computer analysis to take a closer look at the effect of items. As a result, we found that the method worked better when a participant felt difficult to answer whether s/he likes or dislikes an item. To use the method in our daily lives, it is important to identify the conditions under which the effectiveness of it changes.