Have Your Agent Call Mine: Software Agents, the Internet, and Marketing

In this paper, we present a detailed description of intelligent software agents. We depict both search as well as negotiation agents and show how the use of theoretical concepts previously exclusive to the economic theory of bargaining and auctions can immensely improve their performance. We investigate the implications and challenges of adopting this new technology to several marketing practices on the Internet. We advocate the use of flexible dynamic agents that employ a strategy only after careful consideration of the specific environment.