JP2013171418A - Reward management system, reward management server, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reward management system in which an effect of a word-of-mouth communication of a connection service is accurately evaluated so as to appropriately manage a reward in a connection service.SOLUTION: An EC server 4 transmits to a reward management server 2 a purchaser, an advertiser and a purchase amount (S7). The reward management server 2, on receiving from the EC server 4 the purchaser, the advertiser and the purchase amount, inquires an SNS server 3 of a relationship between the purchaser and the advertiser (S8). The SNS server 3, on receiving the inquiry on the relationship between the purchaser and the advertiser, retrieves user-relationship information so as to identify a relationship between the purchaser and the advertiser (S9), and transmits to a reward management server 2 the relationship between the purchaser and the advertiser (S10). The reward management server 2, on receiving the relationship between the purchaser and the advertiser, determines a reward recipient, and records reward management information (S11).

Description

  The present invention relates to a reward management system that manages rewards such as affiliates that consider connections between users such as SNS (Social Network Service).

  Conventionally, advertisements called affiliate programs (hereinafter simply referred to as “affiliates”) have been used on the Internet. A performance-based affiliate is a publisher (website viewer) who browses advertisements installed on a website and purchases advertisers' products, etc. To pay a success fee. In a general affiliate, an identifier for specifying an advertisement publisher is embedded in a URL. When a consumer clicks on an advertisement (such as a banner advertisement or blog part), an identifier is sent to an advertising agency (affiliate service provider) and recorded. Then, when the consumer purchases a product or the like, a success fee is paid to the advertisement publisher.

  In recent years, affiliates can also be realized by SNS. In SNS, since there is a certain trust relationship between users, the word-of-mouth effect is high. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for generating a social graph representing the relationship between users participating in SNS.

JP 2011-170471 A

  However, if a conventional affiliate mechanism is simply introduced to SNS, it is not possible to accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect unique to SNS. The word-of-mouth effect peculiar to SNS is that there is a high possibility of purchasing not only products recommended by direct friends but also products recommended by friends of friends.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the social graph 100. The social graph 100 is a diagram showing the relationship between participants of a certain SNS. A to F are SNS participants. C is an advertisement publisher who advertises products sold on a certain EC (Electronic Commerce) site. A is a purchaser who browses advertisements posted by C and purchases products on the EC site. In this case, in the conventional affiliate system, only the advertising publisher C is paid. However, the reason why the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher C is the common friend B. That is, as with the advertisement publisher C, the common friend B also affects the purchase behavior of the purchaser A. If this is correctly evaluated, it is appropriate to pay a certain reward to the common friend B as well.

  In addition, there is a system that introduces family members, friends, etc. (= member introduction system) when issuing corporate membership cards (for example, airline mileage cards), etc. . Also in the member referral system, if there is a person who affects the membership behavior (for example, the introducer of the introducer) in addition to the introducer, it is appropriate to pay a certain amount of compensation to that person as well. .

  Hereinafter, a service that pays a reward to some users on the premise of connection between users including such a member introduction system and SNS is referred to as a “connection service”. In addition, customers in the connection service, including members and SNS users in the member introduction system, are referred to as “connection service users”. Also, the publisher of the advertisement and the introducer of the member are collectively referred to as “introducer”. In addition, a purchaser of a product and a person who is introduced and becomes a new member are collectively referred to as “referred person”.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and its purpose is to accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect of the connection service and appropriately manage the reward in the connection service. Etc. is to provide.

  A first invention for achieving the above-described object is a reward management system for managing a reward for a connection service, and a user relation information storage means for storing user relation information indicating a relation between connection service users. And receiving a query of the connection between the introducer and the introducer, searching for the user relevance information, specifying a connection between the introducer and the introducer, and the introducer and Reward recipient information determining means for determining a plurality of reward recipients based on the connection with the introducer, and reward management information for storing reward management information indicating a list of the introduced person, the introducer, and the reward recipient A reward management system comprising storage means. According to the first invention, it is possible to accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect unique to the connection service and appropriately manage the reward for the connection service.

  In the first invention, the reward recipient determining means counts each level counted from the introducer when the number of layers of connection between the introduced person and the introducer is greater than a predetermined number of reward recipients. The connection service users are ranked, and the connection service users up to the predetermined number of reward recipients are determined as the reward recipients. As a result, the connection between the introducer and the introducer can be accurately evaluated, and as a result, the reward for the connection service can be appropriately managed.

  Further, the reward recipient determining means in the first invention is such that even if the number of hierarchies of connection between the introducer and the introducer is smaller than a predetermined number of reward recipients, The total remuneration rate received by the recipient is the fixed rate. This makes the reward rate constant and facilitates accounting processing.

  A second invention is a reward management server for managing a reward for a connection service, user relevance information storage means for storing user relevance information indicating a relevance between connection service users, an introduced person, and an introducer. When the connection inquiry is received, the user relevance information is searched, the connection specifying means for specifying the connection between the introduced person and the introducer, and the connection between the introduced person and the introducer A reward recipient determining means for determining a plurality of reward recipients; and a reward management information storage means for storing reward management information indicating a list of the introduced person, the introducer and the reward recipient. It is a management server. According to the second invention, it is possible to accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect unique to the connection service and appropriately manage the affiliate reward in the connection service.

  The third invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the reward management server of the second invention. By installing the program of the third invention on a general-purpose computer, the reward management server of the second invention can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a reward management system or the like that can accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect unique to a connection service and appropriately manage the reward of the connection service.

The figure which shows the outline | summary of the reward management system 1 Hardware configuration diagram of the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, the EC server 4, and the terminal 5 The figure which shows the social graph 20 The figure which shows the user relevance information 30 Flow chart showing the flow of reward management processing The figure which shows the reward management information 40 Diagram showing an example of a social graph

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, an example of an affiliate in SNS (Social Network Service) will be described as an example of a connection service. SNS (Social Network Service) is a service for building a human network on the Internet. An EC (Electronic Commerce) site is a website for buying and selling goods and services through electronic information communication on the Internet. An advertisement publisher is an individual who places an advertisement for a product sold on an EC site and receives an affiliate reward. The purchaser is a person who views the advertisement of the advertisement publisher and purchases a product on the EC site. The reward is a consideration for the advertisement obtained in proportion to the purchase price of the product.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the reward management system 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a reward management system 1 includes a reward management server 2, an SNS server 3, an EC server 4, a terminal 5, and the like connected via a network 6.

  The reward management server 2 is a server that manages affiliate rewards in the SNS. The SNS server 3 is a server that manages the SNS. The EC server 4 is a server that manages EC sites. The terminal 5 is a computer used by the SNS user.

Typically, the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, and the EC server 4 are server OSs (Operating
System), DBMS (DataBase Management System), and the like are installed. The terminal 5 may be a variety of computers such as a desktop PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a mobile phone terminal, and a game terminal.

  The EC server 4 has a conventional affiliate mechanism. An identifier for identifying the advertisement publisher is embedded in a web page on which the advertisement publisher places an advertisement for the product. When the purchaser selects an advertisement (such as a banner advertisement or a blog part), the terminal 5 requests the EC server 4 for a product page related to the advertisement. The information transmitted to the EC server 4 includes an identifier that identifies the advertisement publisher. When the purchaser purchases the product, the EC server 4 transmits the purchaser, the advertisement publisher, the purchase price of the product, and the like to the reward management server 2.

  The SNS server 3 stores user relevance information indicating relevance between SNS users. When the SNS server 3 receives an inquiry from the reward management server 2 regarding the connection between the purchaser of the product in the EC server 4 and the advertisement publisher of the advertisement viewed by the purchaser, the SNS server 3 searches for user relevance information and purchases The connection between the publisher and the advertiser.

  When the reward management server 2 receives the purchaser, the advertisement publisher, and the purchase price from the EC server 4, the reward management server 2 inquires of the SNS server 3 about the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher. Moreover, when the reward management server 2 receives the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher from the SNS server 3, the reward management server 2 determines a plurality of reward recipients based on the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher. The reward management server 2 stores reward management information indicating a list of purchasers, advertisement publishers, purchase amounts, and reward recipients.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, the EC server 4, and the terminal 5. Note that the hardware configuration in FIG. 2 is an example, and various configurations can be adopted depending on the application and purpose.

  A computer that realizes the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, the EC server 4, and the terminal 5 is connected to the control unit 11, the storage unit 12, the input unit 13, the display unit 14, the communication control unit 15, and the like via the bus 16 Is done.

  The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The CPU calls a program stored in the storage unit 12, ROM, recording medium, etc. to a work memory area on the RAM, executes it, drives and controls each device connected via the bus 16, and is described later by the computer. Realize processing. The ROM is a non-volatile memory and permanently holds a computer boot program, a program such as BIOS, data, and the like. The RAM is a volatile memory, and temporarily stores a program, data, and the like loaded from the storage unit 12, ROM, recording medium, and the like, and includes a work area used by the control unit 11 to perform various processes.

  The storage unit 12 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, and stores a program executed by the control unit 11, data necessary for program execution, an OS (Operating System), and the like. As for the program, a control program corresponding to the OS and an application program for causing a computer to execute processing to be described later are stored. Each of these program codes is read by the control unit 11 as necessary, transferred to the RAM, read by the CPU, and executed as various means.

  The input unit 13 inputs data and includes, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, and an input device such as a numeric keypad. The user can perform operation instructions, operation instructions, data input, and the like on the computer via the input unit 13. The display unit 14 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL, and a logic circuit or the like (video adapter or the like) for realizing the video function of the computer in cooperation with the display device. The input unit 13 and the display unit 14 may be integrated like a touch panel display.

  The communication control unit 15 includes a communication control device, a communication port, and the like, is a communication interface that mediates communication between the computer and the network 9, and controls communication with other computers via the network 9. The network 9 may be wired or wireless. The bus 16 is a path that mediates transfer of control signals, data signals, and the like between the devices.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the social graph 20. The social graph 20 is a diagram showing the relationship between SNS users managed by the SNS server 3. The social graph 20 has a graph structure in which an SNS user is represented by a “node” (node) and a connection between two SNS users is represented by an “edge” (branch). A to F are SNS users. A and B, A and D, A and E, B and C, B and E, and C and F are friends and families, respectively.

  C, E, and F are advertisement publishers who place advertisements for products sold on EC sites managed by the EC server 4. A is a purchaser who browses advertisements posted by C, E, and F and purchases products on an EC site. Below, the detail of the reward management system 1 is demonstrated using the relationship between users shown in FIG. 3 as an example.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the user relevance information 30. FIG. 4 shows an edge (connection of two SNS users) in the social graph 20 of FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the user relevance information 30 includes items such as a first user 31, a second user 32, and a relationship 33. The first user 31 and the second user 32 are SNS users. The relationship 33 indicates the human relationship between the first user 31 and the second user 32.

  For example, “A” and “B” are “good friends”. In the example of FIG. 4, there are three types of human relationships: “good friends”, “family”, and “friends”. The types of human relationships are not limited to the example of FIG. 4, and various examples such as “classmates”, “colleagues”, “neighborhoods”, “circles”, and the like can be considered.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the reward management process. In the following, it is assumed that the terminal 5 is used by a purchaser (“Purchaser A” in the example of FIG. 3). The terminal 5 displays the page of the advertisement publisher according to the purchaser's instruction (S1), and requests the product page from the EC server 4 (S2). The request in S2 includes the information of the advertisement publisher as well as the location information of the product page.

  When receiving the request from the terminal 5, the EC server 4 stores the advertisement publisher (S3) and transmits the requested product page to the terminal 5 (S4).

  The terminal 5 and the EC server 4 perform merchandise purchase processing (S5 and S6). A publicly-known technique may be used for the product purchase process on the EC site.

  When the product purchase process is completed, the EC server 4 transmits the purchaser, the advertisement publisher, and the purchase price to the reward management server 2 (S7). At this point, the connection between the purchaser and the advertiser is unknown.

  When the reward management server 2 receives the purchaser, the advertisement publisher, and the purchase price from the EC server 4, the reward management server 2 inquires of the SNS server 3 about the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher (S8). Needless to say, it is assumed that the purchaser or the advertisement publisher agrees to provide information to the reward management server 2 in advance. The information provided here is not information that can identify an individual such as a name and age, but only a connection between SNS users.

  When the SNS server 3 receives an inquiry about the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher from the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3 searches the user relevance information and specifies the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher (S9).

  This will be described with reference to the example of FIG. The shortest path is considered as the connection path. For example, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher C and purchases a product, the connection between the buyer A and the advertisement publisher C is “A-> B-> C”. Further, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher E and purchases a product, the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher E is “A-> E”. Further, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher F and purchases a product, the connection between the buyer A and the advertisement publisher F is “A-> B-> C-> F”.

  When the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher is specified, the SNS server 3 transmits the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher to the reward management server 2 (S10).

  When the reward management server 2 accepts the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher from the SNS server 3, the reward management server 2 determines the reward recipient and records the reward management information (S11).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the reward management information 40. FIG. 6 shows an affiliate reward based on the social graph 20 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the reward management information 40 includes items such as a purchaser 41, an advertisement publisher 42, a purchase amount 43, a first reward recipient 44, and a second reward recipient 45, for example. The purchaser 41 is a person who purchased a product on the EC site. The purchase amount 43 is the amount of goods on the EC site. The first reward receiver 44 and the second reward receiver 45 are persons who receive a reward as consideration for the purchaser 41 purchasing the product.

  The first reward recipient 44 is an advertisement publisher and has a higher reward than the second reward recipient 45. For example, if the reward rate of the first reward recipient 44 is a% and the reward rate of the second reward recipient 45 is b%, then a> b.

  Below, the process which determines the reward recipient by the reward management server 2 is demonstrated, referring FIG.3 and FIG.6. The reward management server 2 stores a predetermined number of reward recipients in advance. In the following example, the predetermined number of reward recipients is described as “2”. The predetermined number of reward recipients is the same as the number of reward recipients stored in the reward management information 40.

<Pattern 1: When the number of hierarchies between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher matches the predetermined number of payees>
When the number of hierarchies of the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher matches the predetermined number of reward recipients, the reward management server 2 treats all SNS users included in the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher as the reward recipients. And decide.

  In the example of FIG. 3, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher C and purchases a product, the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher C is “A-> B-> C”. That is, the number of layers of connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher C is “2”. This is consistent with a predetermined number of reward recipients. Therefore, the reward management server 2 determines two persons “SNS user B” and “SNS user C” included in the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher C as the reward recipients.

  In the case of pattern 1, the reward management server 2 sets the first reward recipient 44 as “SNS user C” and the second reward recipient 45 as “SNS user B”, and stores the reward management information 40.

<Pattern 2: When the number of layers of connection between the purchaser and the advertiser is smaller than the predetermined number of reward recipients>
The remuneration management server 2 sets the total remuneration rate received by the remuneration recipients as a fixed rate even when the number of layers of connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher is smaller than the predetermined remuneration recipients. As a result, the remuneration rate paid by the EC site becomes constant and the accounting process becomes easy.

  In the example of FIG. 3, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher E and purchases a product, the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher F is “A-> E”. That is, the number of layers of connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher F is “1”. This is less than the predetermined number of payees. Therefore, the reward management server 2 determines one of “SNS user E” included in the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher C as a reward recipient, and “SNS user E” is the first reward recipient. It is determined that both the reward rate of 44 and the reward rate of the second reward recipient 45 are received.

  In the case of Pattern 2, the reward management server 2 sets the first reward recipient 44 as “SNS user E” and the second reward recipient 45 as “SNS user E”, and stores the reward management information 40.

<Pattern 3: When the number of layers of connection between the purchaser and the advertiser is greater than the predetermined number of reward recipients>
The remuneration management server 2 ranks the SNS users of each tier by counting from the advertisement publisher when the number of layers of the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher is larger than the predetermined number of reward recipients, and the predetermined reward SNS users up to the number of recipients are determined as reward recipients.

  In the example of FIG. 3, when the purchaser A browses the advertisement of the advertisement publisher F and purchases the product, the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher F is “A-> B-> C-> F”. is there. That is, the number of layers of connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher F is “3”. This is greater than the predetermined number of payees. Therefore, the remuneration management server 2 provides the advertisement publisher F to the three users “SNS user B”, “SNS user C”, and “SNS user F” included in the connection between the purchaser A and the advertisement publisher F. SNS user F is ranked first, SNS user C connected next is ranked second, SNS user B connected next is ranked third, and "SNS user F" and "SNS" Two of “User C” are determined to be payees.

  In the case of pattern 3, the reward management server 2 sets the first reward recipient 44 as “SNS user F” and the second reward recipient 45 as “SNS user C”, and stores the reward management information 40.

  The predetermined number of reward recipients is not limited to “2” but may be “3” or more. However, it is desirable to set an upper limit on the number of payees. This is because the word-of-mouth effect peculiar to SNS cannot be accurately evaluated unless an upper limit is set for the number of payees, and as a result, affiliate rewards in SNS cannot be properly managed. For example, when the number of layers of the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher is enormous, the purchaser does not always follow the connection and reach the page of the advertisement publisher. That is, it can be said that the connection between the purchaser and the advertisement publisher can be accurately evaluated by setting an upper limit on the number of reward recipients. The upper limit of the number of payees is desirably determined as appropriate according to the function of each SNS.

  As described above, according to the reward management system 1 in the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to accurately evaluate the word-of-mouth effect peculiar to the SNS and appropriately manage the affiliate reward in the SNS. In particular, not only the advertiser but also the common friend who gave the opportunity to view the advertisement of the advertiser by the purchaser is structured to pay, so it affects the purchase behavior of the buyer. It can be said that the person who gave it is correctly evaluated.

  In the above description, an affiliate in SNS is taken as an example, but the present invention is applicable to other connection services such as a membership introduction system for membership cards (= service that pays some users on the premise of connection between users). It is also possible to apply. For example, when applied to a member card membership introduction system, the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, and the EC server 4 shown in FIG. 1 are often all managed by the same business entity. Therefore, the functions of the reward management server 2, the SNS server 3, and the EC server 4 may be logically provided by a single server (physically a plurality of computers may be used).

  The reward management server when applied to the member introduction system manages the connection of introduced members as user relevance information 30 shown in FIG. 2 instead of managing the association of SNS users. In addition, the reward management server provides a member membership service instead of providing a sales service for products and the like. The reward management server provides a function corresponding to the reward management server 2.

  That is, the present invention is a reward management system that manages rewards for connection services. The reward management server in the reward management system stores user relevance information indicating the relevance between connection service users. When the reward management server receives an inquiry about the connection between the introducer and the introducer, the reward management server searches the user relevance information and identifies the connection between the introducer and the introducer. The reward management server determines a plurality of reward recipients based on the connection between the introducer and the introducer. The reward management server stores reward management information indicating a list of introducers, introducers, and reward recipients. Thereby, the word-of-mouth effect of the connection service can be accurately evaluated, and the reward for the connection service can be managed appropriately.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment, such as a reward management system concerning the present invention, was described, referring to an accompanying drawing, the present invention is not limited to this example. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea disclosed in the present application, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

1 ……… Reward management system 2 ……… Reward management server 3 ……… SNS server 4 ……… EC server 5 ……… Terminal 6 ……… Network 20, 100 ……… Social graph 30 ……… User related Sex information 40 ……… Remuneration management information

Claims (5)

A reward management system for managing a reward for a connection service,
User relevance information storage means for storing user relevance information indicating relevance between connection service users;
Upon receiving an inquiry about the connection between the introducer and the introducer, a connection specifying unit for searching the user relevance information and specifying the connection between the introducer and the introducer;
Reward recipient determining means for determining a plurality of reward recipients based on the connection between the introduced person and the introducer;
Reward management information storage means for storing reward management information indicating a list of the introduced person, the introducer, and the reward recipient;
A reward management system comprising: When the number of layers of connection between the introduced person and the introducer is greater than a predetermined number of reward recipients, the reward recipient determining unit counts the connection service user at each level counted from the introducer. The reward management system according to claim 1, wherein the connection service users up to the predetermined number of reward recipients are determined as the reward recipients. The reward recipient determining means is a total reward received by the reward recipient even when the number of hierarchies of connection between the introducer and the introducer is less than a predetermined number of reward recipients. The reward management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rate is a fixed rate. A reward management server for managing a reward for a connection service,
User relevance information storage means for storing user relevance information indicating relevance between connection service users;
Upon receiving an inquiry about the connection between the introducer and the introducer, a connection specifying unit for searching the user relevance information and specifying the connection between the introducer and the introducer;
Reward recipient determining means for determining a plurality of reward recipients based on the connection between the introduced person and the introducer;
Reward management information storage means for storing reward management information indicating a list of the introduced person, the introducer, and the reward recipient;
A reward management server.   The program for functioning a computer as a reward management server of Claim 4.

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