A Study on Automated Negotiation Methodology for Multi-lateral Concurrent Negotiation

Though studies on negotiations have actively been conducted in the field of e-Commerce so far, some problems have yet to be solved and many application fields of negotiation systems exist. Currently, many businesses shift from various fields to e-Commerce market, due to recent social changes and expansion of e-Commerce market; however, we need to develop the study of automated agents to resolve the issue of negotiation, which is an essential element in the e-Commerce, by minimizing human interference under the e-Commerce environment. In this study, we intend to propose a new negotiation protocol considering the negotiation alternatives through continuous negotiation rounds in relation to an automated negotiation issue whose participants are one to N (seller to buyers). We also present an agent-facilitated negotiation methodology by which negotiation alternative generation process is automated, in consideration of buyer's negotiation attributes and strategies in the negotiation system.