The research prototype was called TruckTown. TruckTown is a demonstration project that illustrates the use of a series of simulated personalities to guide customers to a purchase decision on a new pickup truck. The prospective customer gets information from and answers posed by one of several “personalities” (e.g., one of the personalities is “Craig Lynch, owner of Hillside Garage”). An algorithm based on Bayesian statistics continuously narrows the list of candidate trucks by asking relevant questions. Check boxes and trade-off sliders let each customer describe how he or she will be using his or her truck and what features are most important. Ultimately, the advisor provides a recommended truck model. During the research project, the vast majority of test subjects who have used the advisor ascribed a high level of trust to it and even indicated that they would be willing to pay about $100 for such an advisory service.