abstract
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Software agents are computer programs that run in the background and perform tasks autonomously as delegated by the user. Although there has been much research on this topic recently, usable software agents are at an early stage of development, and are only now starting to appear in real applications. A fruitful application area for software agents is in the area of electronic commerce where agents can help buyers and sellers deal with the flood of information that can be exchanged and processed. Current developments in agent technology are reviewed, however this paper takes a product focused approach to examine the functions that agents can perform in the commerce process. A model of decision support systems is used to classify agents as providing search support, choice support and interface support. In order to delegate activities to software agents, the user must trust that the agent will perform in a predictable and controllable manner. A framework based on marketing research is used to identify purchasing situations where this trust can develop and where agent technology is therefore likely to be adopted.