Development of a Knowledge Market Based on Reputation and Absorption of Uncertainty in Electronic Commerce

We explore the basic model of a virtual marketplace for information goods and knowledge. We propose the 3-R model—reputations, relationships, and recommendations—as a framework for understanding the future network society. We assert that the mechanism that governs a knowledge market is the explicit circulation of reputation. Next, we analyze the differences between a knowledge market and other knowledge acquisition processes, and examine the range over which a knowledge market forms. We find that, in a knowledge market, the “know who” and “know where” information circulates. With the development of the network society, we can now obtain a lot of information. However, it is difficult to evaluate and judge what is important among this mass of information and where the relevant information is. Moreover, information sharing systems in many enterprises have failed. We searched for a structure that could overcome this limit and found that the knowledge market has this potential. This paper discusses the feasibility of a knowledge market and its mechanism. We analyze the requirements for a knowledge market to develop and the domain of objects that it can treat.