Cognitive Parameter Based Agent Selection and Negotiation Process for B2C E-Commerce

Multi-agent paradigms have been developed for the negotiation and brokering in B2C e-commerce. Few of the models consider the mental states and social settings (trust and reputation) but rarely any model depicts their combination. In this chapter, a combined model of belief, desire, intention (BDI) for agent’s mental attitudes and social settings is used to model their cognitive capabilities. The mental attitudes also include preferences, commitments, along with BDI. These attributes help to understand the commitment and capability of the negotiating agent. In this work, we present three mathematical models. First, a cognitive computational model is used for the computation of trust, and then index of negotiation, which is based on trust and reputation. The second computation model is developed for the computation of business index that characterizes the parameters of some of the business processes, which match the buyer’s satisfaction level. On the basis of index of negotiation and business, we calculate SI (selection index) to select a seller agent with the highest value of SI. The third computation model of utility is used for negotiation between seller and buyer to achieve maximum combined utility increment (CUI), which is the difference of marginal utility gain (MUG) of buyer and marginal utility cost (MUC) of seller.