Applying the Apriori Algorithm for Investigating the Associations Between Demographic Characteristics of Iranian Top 100 Enterprises and the Structure of Their Commercial Websites

Abstract

This study was conducted with the main aim to investigate the relationships between the demographic<br><br>characteristics of companies and the facilities required for their commercial websites. The research<br><br>samples were the top 100 Iranian companies as ranked by the Iranian Industrial Management Institute<br><br>(IMI); the method applied is data-mining, using the Association Rules through the A-priori algorithms. To<br><br>collect the data, an author-modified checklist has been utilized covering the three areas of the facilities<br><br>within commercial websites, i.e. fundamental, information–providing, and service-delivering facilities.<br><br>Having extracted the association rules between the mentioned two sets of variables, 68 rules with a<br><br>confidence rate of 90% and above were obtained and, based on their significance, classified into two<br><br>groups of must-have and should-have requirements; a recommended package of facilities is hitherto<br><br>offered to other companies which intend to enter e-commerce through their commercial websites with<br><br>regards to each company’s unique demographic characteristics.