Dynamic pricing by software agents
Computer Networks: The International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking - electronic commerce
Electronic Commerce Research
The Role of Middle-Agents in Electronic Commerce
IEEE Intelligent Systems
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Information marketplaces enable entities to buy and sell information; these buying and selling entities can be humans, or automated agents that represent them. In this paper, we introduce a new type of participant into electronic information marketplaces, namely the InfoCenter agent, which can not only buy and sell information, but can also procure and sell manipulated (i.e., processed) information. We explore the effects that InfoCenters have on the marketplace and on the other agents that participate in it. We show that the benefits of extending an information e-marketplace with InfoCenter agents are twofold. First, InfoCenters can help buyers obtain better information; second, InfoCenter agents can help sellers gain higher profits. Furthermore, we empirically test the influence of different pricing algorithms and payment methods on the buyers', sellers', and InfoCenters' behaviors.