Abstract:

Many of the existing theories in e-Commerce regarding Buyer Coalition assume that all persons involved adopt self-interested strategies by seeking their own gains using information that is available in the markets and elsewhere. In reality however, such information may not be complete. Also, the amount of each person’s knowledge may differ from others. By adopting a collaborative approach this study introduces an awareness mechanism for buyer coalitions that generates various outcomes corresponding to different levels of awareness of collaborative actors involved. The theoretical foundation of the study is an overlapping space of Game Theory, e-Commerce, and Knowledge Management.