Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-mgxrv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-16T10:25:50.844Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

From online reviews to Kano model: a large language model method and case study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2026

Filippo Chiarello*
Affiliation:
Università di Pisa, Italy
Vito Giordano
Affiliation:
Università di Pisa, Italy
Gabriele Marconcini
Affiliation:
Università di Pisa, Italy

Abstract:

We introduce a method that turns online customer reviews into design insights. By analysing smartphone reviews, we extract the product features customers talk about and identify the sentiment linked to them. The approach combines Large Language Models (LLMs) with the Kano model, showing how specific features influence satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The results are coherent with the dimensions of the Kano model. The work demonstrates that LLMs can be informed and constrained by established design frameworks, bridging LMMs and design reasoning to provide theory-grounded insights.

Information

Type
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2026
Figure 0

Table 1. Coefficient estimates and significance levels from the multivariate regression model, indicating how positively or negatively evaluated product features (and their corresponding sentiment) influence the overall star rating

Figure 1

Figure 1. Kano-inspired classification of product features based on their estimated positive and negative impacts on overall customer satisfaction; each feature’s position reflects its contribution to satisfaction when present (vertical axis) and its penalty when lacking (horizontal axis)

Figure 2

Figure 2. Kano-inspired classification of product features using adjusted parameter settings with altered α, β, and r; this example illustrates how modifying these thresholds affects the placement of features into the “Attractive,” “Performance,” “Must-Have,” and “Indifferent” categories, thereby highlighting the sensitivity of the classification to parameter selection