以信任为导向的算法解释机制：电商平台价格算法风险的治理研究

A Trust-Oriented Algorithm Explanation Mechanism: A Governance Study on Price Algorithm Risks of E-Commerce Platforms

摘要: 电子商务平台利用价格算法提高运作效率的同时，也带来了价格形成机制不透明、价格波动过快、“杀熟”现象与歧视性定价等风险。这些风险可归纳为规则隐匿、用户意思自治被剥夺以及平台责任真空三重表现，其背后动因来自于电子商务平台过度追逐利润的效率导向，进而导致了正常交易的异化及信任破裂。作为信任裂缝弥补措施的价格算法透明面临信任悖论、部分不可透明的技术壁垒以及透明假设的对抗性消失等困境，因此应当转向以信任为导向的价格算法解释。以信任重塑为目的，通过行业协会自治与平台内部规制的融合、全生命周期场景化算法解释机制的构建、走出全有或全无规制误区的解释边界，具体落实电子商务平台的价格算法解释。

Abstract: While e-commerce platforms use pricing algorithms to improve operational efficiency, they are also accompanied by risks such as opaque pricing mechanisms, excessively rapid price fluctuations, “big data price discrimination against returning customers” (shashu), and discriminatory pricing. The risks brought by e-commerce platforms in using pricing algorithms can be summarized in three manifestations: hidden rules, the deprivation of user autonomy, and a vacuum of platform responsibility. The underlying drivers of these issues stem from the platforms’ efficiency orientation driven by excessive profit-seeking, which leads to the alienation of normal transactions and the breakdown of trust. The transparency of pricing algorithms, as a remedy for trust gaps, faces dilemmas including the trust paradox, partial technical barriers to transparency, and the adversarial disappearance of transparency assumptions. Therefore, it is necessary to shift toward trust-oriented explanations of pricing algorithms. With the goal of rebuilding trust, the explanation of pricing algorithms on e-commerce platforms can be concretely implemented through the integration of self-regulation by industry associations and internal platform regulation, the construction of a full lifecycle scenario-based algorithm explanation mechanism, and avoiding the regulatory pitfall of all-or-nothing approaches to define clear explanatory boundaries.