Trust

Questions
1) What does this meant by the following statements?


Trust is not associative (non-symmetric)

A description of trust being not associative implies that it does not apply to the same extent to two sides of a relationship. For instance, in a trade, the buyer can have greater trust in the seller, than the seller has in the buyer and vice versa. The disequilibrium of trust between two parties can imply that one of the parties can abuse the lack of trust.

Trust is not transitive

Trust is not transitive implies that trust cannot be transferred from one party to another then further on like in a chain. This is because if party A trust party B while party B trust party C, this cannot necessarily imply that party A will trust party C. Trust cannot be moved down the line as such.

Trust is always between exactly 2 parties

In most cases of human interaction, trust will be shared among two parties only. However, in the complex world we live in, such trust can be extended to groups of members in communities we share. Thus trust can exists among more than two parties, however, the level of trust will certainly not be the same.

Trust will involve either direct trust or recommender trust

Trust can be depicted as either direct trust or recommender trust. Direct trust implies that the trust emerges from a direct relationship or experience whereas a recommender trust relates to trust built around the experience of someone else’s word on a relationship or experience.

2a) Have a look at the following websites. What are some of the elements that have been incorporated to increase your trust in the sites? If there are also some aspects which decrease your level of trust describe them as well.

http://www.eBay.com.au

The website eBay has presented me with various features that increases my trust in it as a website and as a service and these include:
1) PayPal insurance
2) Sellers rating
3) Members recommendation
4) Advice services given by eBay

http://www.anz.com.au

Being a bank, the website of ANZ bank offers the maximum possible level of trust. Its use of various information protection procedures as well as extensive encryption to ensure that security is at its highest level during any visit on the website. This is why I would always use such a website without of any fear of abuse of trust.

http://www.thinkgeek.com

Thinkgeek is a website that looks fairly unorganized as compared to many other website. It does include many security features such as contact details and extensive description of its product. However, the design of the website makes me doubt if my details would receive extensive protection from any hacking if I were to transact there.

http://www.paypal.com.au

PayPal is according to me on of the safest website that is available on the web. Due to its extensive privacy features along with its insurance guarantee, any user of this website can transact over the website with absolute peace of mind. I trust it and would never hesitate to use it for any of my transactions.

2b) Find a web site yourself that you think looks untrustworthy.

http://www.bidrivals.com/au due to its lack of privacy information and security options.