An Evaluation Approach of Subjective Trust Based on Cloud Model

Abstract

As online trade and interactions on the internet are on the rise, a key issue is how to use simple and effective evaluation methods to accomplish trust decision-making for customers. It is well known that subjective trust holds uncertainty like randomness and fuzziness. However, existing approaches which are commonly based on probability or fuzzy set theory can not attach enough importance to uncertainty. To remedy this problem, a new quantifiable subjective trust evaluation approach is proposed based on the cloud model. Subjective trust is modeled with cloud model in the evaluation approach, and expected value and hyper-entropy of the subjective cloud is used to evaluate the reputation of trust objects. Our experimental data shows that the method can effectively support subjective trust decisions and provide a helpful exploitation for subjective trust evaluation.