Patent Document ID: 7877346
Application ID: 11758877
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method of developing a model predictive of preferences of people among decision objects having one or more attributes, the method comprising the steps of: a. obtaining, at a computer, a data set indicative of characteristics and expressed affinity for attributes of the decision objects pertaining to a plurality of people; b. obtaining, at the computer, sets of predictive models based at least in part on the data set, wherein a first set comprises predictive models based on segmenting the data set by said demographic characteristics, a second set comprises predictive models based on segmenting the data set by said affinity for the attributes, and a third set comprises a non-segmented predictive model based on the data set; c. selecting a predictive model from each of the first and second sets for a person based on the person's characteristics and the person's expressed affinity for the attributes of the decision objects; d. calculating, by a computer processor, the person's predicted affinity for the attributes of the decision objects using each of the three selected models; e. calculating, by a computer processor, a weighting factor for each of the three selected models; and f. combining, by a computer processor, the calculated predicted affinities for the attributes of the decision objects based on the weighting factors to produce a predictive model for the person's affinity for the attributes of the decision objects.