Authors
Ignacio Rios, Daniela Saban, Fanyin Zheng
Publication date
2023/7
Journal
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
Volume
25
Issue
4
Pages
1304-1323
Publisher
INFORMS
Description
Problem definition: Motivated by our collaboration with an online dating company, we study how a platform should dynamically select the set of potential partners to show to each user in each period in order to maximize the expected number of matches in a time horizon, where a match is formed only after two users like each other, possibly in different periods. Academic/practical relevance: Increasing match rates is a prevalent objective of online platforms. We provide insights into how to leverage users’ preferences and behavior toward this end. Our proposed algorithm was piloted by our collaborator, a major online dating company in the United States. Methodology: Our work combines several methodologies. We model the platform’s problem as a dynamic optimization problem. We use econometric tools and exploit a change in the company’s algorithm in order to estimate the users’ preferences and the causal …
Total citations
20222023202481312
Scholar articles
I Rios, D Saban, F Zheng - Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2023