Non-symmetric matching information for negotiation support in electronic markets

Electronic markets are virtual meeting places where buyers and sellers meet and interact to trade products or services. In this paper, we consider an agent-based information system to support the ongoing negotiations among the traders in such a market. The information system's agents are active within certain market categories of which they carry a multi-criteria description. This enables the specification of a Request for Quotes (RFQ)/Request for Proposals (RFP) protocol through which the negotiations are conducted. We illustrate this approach for the specific case of an electronic market for diamonds, and we motivate the importance of providing relevant matching information to the market participants. We explore a nonsymmetric matching technique based on the composition of fuzzy relations first proposed by Bandler and Kohout. We show how these compositions allow us to express various significant matching relations among the market participants and the market products. We argue that this information is crucial to improve the effectiveness of market negotiations.