Considerations

In relation to my Trading project (actually it's a project based on Trust and Reputation...) - I've had cause to question a few assertions I made earlier on in the year, even though they were backed up by some credible sources.

Some items for consideration which I, at least, find really interesting at the moment:

When trading online, how much do the opinions of others about a potential trading partner influence your decisions, if you already have experience trading with that partner before?

Is there a limiting point as to how much others can influence you? Consider that you've had a bad experience with a trading partner. Would 100 people saying 'this partner is good' be any more influential than 50? Than 25? Than 5?

When trading online, how much does a potential trading partner's reputation (eg, eBay rating) influence your decisions, if you already have experience trading with that partner before?

How good is your memory of people you've traded with in the past? How much does this depend on how the community is set up? Do very good or very bad experiences stay in memory much longer? How much longer?

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I've got some good answers for most of the above, but any thoughts are always appreciated. Any academically referenced thoughts are really appreciated :P

Now for the hard part - expressing all this mathematically. Ouch.