Skip to main content

A Fuzzy Constraint Based Model for Automated Purchase Negotiations

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 4452))

Abstract

This paper presents a fuzzy constraint based model for bilateral multi-attribute agent purchase negotiations in competitive trading environments. Fuzzy constraints are used to capture requirements and to express proposals. The proposed interaction protocol is a dialogue game protocol where argumentation is used as a key mechanism to improve agreements in contrast to other fuzzy constraint based models which are limited to quantitative offers and counter-offers. A set of locutions and decision mechanisms which fire them are fully specified, so that each agent may decide its degree of cooperation and its degree of expressiveness, which in turn may have effects on the quality of the agreement. The notions of similarity and expected valuations of products are used in order to design efficient decision mechanisms. An example of a purchase scenario and a summary of statistical tests are presented to demonstrate the proposed model.

This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology grant MCYT-TIC2003-09192-C11-05, and by the University of Alcalá grant UAH-PI-2003/001.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Lomuscio, A., Wooldridge, M., Jennings, N.R.: A classification scheme for negotiation in electronic commerce. In: Sierra, C., Dignum, F.P.M. (eds.) AgentLink 2000. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1991, pp. 19–33. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Luo, X., et al.: A fuzzy constraint based model for bilateral, multi-issue negotiations in semi-competitive environments. Artificial Intelligence 148(1-2), 53–102 (2003)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Lai, K.R., Lin, M.W.: Modeling agent negotiation via fuzzy constraints in e-business. Computational Intelligence 20(4), 624–642 (2004)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Kowalczyk, R., Bui, V.: On constraint-based reasoning in e-negotiation agents. In: Dignum, F.P.M., Cortés, U. (eds.) AMEC 2000. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 2003, pp. 31–46. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. Castro-Schez, J.J., et al.: Acquiring domain knowledge for negotiating agents: a case of study. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 61(1) (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Luo, X., et al.: Prioritised fuzzy constraint satisfaction problems: axioms, instantiation and validation. Fuzzy Sets and Systems 136(2), 151–188 (2003)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. Faratin, P., Sierra, C., Jennings, N.R.: Using similarity criteria to make issue trade-offs in automated negotiations. Artificial Intelligence 142(2), 205–237 (2002)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Jennings, N.R., et al.: On argumentation-based negotiation. In: Proc. Int. Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems, pp. 1–7 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  9. McBurney, P., et al.: A dialogue game protocol for agent purchase negotiations. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 7(3), 235–273 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. McBurney, P., Parsons, S., Wooldridge, M.: Desiderata for agent argumentation protocols. In: AAMAS ’02 Proceedings, pp. 402–409. ACM Press, New York (2002)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Dubois, D., Fargier, H., Prade, H.: Propagation and satisfaction of flexible constraints. In: Fuzzy Sets, Neural Networks and Soft Computing, pp. 166–187 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dubois, D., Fargier, H., Prade, H.: Possibility theory in constraint satisfaction problems: Handling priority, preference and uncertainty. Applied Intelligence 6(4), 287–309 (1996)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Maria Fasli Onn Shehory

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

López-Carmona, M.A., Velasco, J.R. (2007). A Fuzzy Constraint Based Model for Automated Purchase Negotiations. In: Fasli, M., Shehory, O. (eds) Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce. Automated Negotiation and Strategy Design for Electronic Markets. TADA AMEC 2006 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4452. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72502-2_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72502-2_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-72501-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-72502-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics