Search supporting system, search supporting method and search supporting program

A search supporting system comprising:

• a combined product database in which attribute information of product items acquired form an image medium is accumulated for each same category;
• a combination information database in which, for each of the product items, combination information with another product item of a different category that is used in combination with the each of the product items is stored;
• a product item database in which attribute information of product items that are sold is stored;
• a similar-item searching portion that selects the image data of a product input by a user and a candidate group of the product items of which attribute information is the same as or similar to that of the image data from the combined product database;
• a combination searching portion that, in correspondence with each of the product items of the candidate group, searches for other product items that are combined with the each of the product items from the combination information database;
• and
• a product-item searching portion that searches for image data of a product item that is the same as or similar to the image data of the another product item of the combination that is selected by the user from combinations of the product item and the another product item from the product item database based on the attribute information of the image data and outputs the image data of the another product item as a recommended product.

A method of supporting a product search, the method comprising:

• a similar-item searching process for selecting a candidate group of product items that are the same as or similar to image data of a product input by a user and attribute information of the image data from a combined product database in which the attribute information of the product items acquired from an image medium are accumulated for each same category;
• a combination searching process for searching for another product item that is combined with the product item in association with each product item of the candidate group from a combination information database in which combination information between each product item and another product item of a different category that is used in combination with the each product item is stored for the each product item;
• and
• a product item searching process for searching for the product item that is the same as or similar to the image data of the another product item of the combination that is selected by the user from the combinations between the product item and the another product item based on the attribute information of the image data of the another product item and the image data from a product item database in which the attribute information of the product items is accumulated and outputs the product item as a recommend product.

A computer-executable search supporting program that allows a computer to perform the operations of:

• a similar-item searching process for selecting a candidate group of product items that are the same as or similar to image data of a product input by a user and attribute information of the image data from a combined product database in which the attribute information of the product items acquired from an image medium are accumulated for each same category;
• a combination searching process for searching for another product item that is combined with the product item in association with each product item of the candidate group from a combination information database in which combination information between each product item and another product item of a different category that is used in combination with the each product item is stored for the each product item;
• and
• a product item searching process for searching for the product item that is the same as or similar to the image data of the another product item of the combination that is selected by the user from the combinations between the product item and the another product item based on the attribute information of the image data of the another product item and the image data from a product item database in which the attribute information of the product items is accumulated and outputs the product item as a recommend product.