With buyers and sellers repeatedly and constantly interacting on the Internet, there are “reputation trails” that are being created that, when compiled, give an alternative set of markers about how trustworthy a particular buyer or seller may be.
These reputation trails – gathered when you evaluate a product you’ve bought online or when you deliver the product that you’ve promised – create a picture of trust that some have argued has value that can be shaped.13 Reputational risks and cybersecurity Perhaps reputation will one day transform commerce.