The dynamic nature of trust transfer: Measurement and the influence of reciprocity

Previous trust literature has provided a limited context for the study of how trust is transferred among multiple agents and how the relations among agents evolve. This paper investigates whether reciprocity helps determine future trust transfers. Furthermore, we propose that the update of trustors' expectations derived from previous interactions may moderate the relationship between reciprocity and future transfers of trust. In this context, we also address the previous literature's calls to reinforce the trust measurement; to that aim, we present two robust and comparable indexes for measuring trust transfer and its reciprocity. Our methodology relies on an experimental design with two rounds of decision making and multiple triads of agents. Our final results show evidence supporting the influence of reciprocity and the existence of a moderating effect resulting from the update of trustors' expectations.