The World Wide Web (WWW) provides ample opportunities for merchants to conduct their business online. E-commerce is a new form of online exchange in which most transactions take place between people who have never met. As in traditional exchanges, trust concerns have been identified as a customer barrier to engaging in e-commerce and a barrier to e-commerce success. In the traditional market, a typical customer would be limited to choosing from a few local retailers. In the Internet age, one can choose from a variety of online retailers located anywhere in the world, which leads to the breaking down of borders. A physical separation between buyer and seller leads to an increased role of trust in online retail. While the total amount of business conducted on the Internet is growing, there is a significant attrition rate among online shoppers. Most customers hesitate to buy online or even abandon the electronic marketplace due to lack of trust and privacy concerns. Consumers are simply not willing to trust e-business with their personal information. However, most online retailers do not focus on building and maintaining trust in their websites as part of ongoing relationships with their customers. Some e-retailers do not respect the privacy of customers' personal information and secretly collect customer information and sell it to third-party marketing companies. Since my research thesis is that trust is an important factor in facilitating online transactions, it is necessary for me to investigate the role of trust in e-commerce and its impact on online purchasing decision-making. A...... middle of paper ...... far from conclusive. Further studies need to be undertaken, better measures developed and larger samples used to improve our understanding of the exact relationship between perceived risks and decision making. Despite some methodological shortcomings, the article provided some insights for retailers to reduce risks in their websites by focusing on the sources of risks and the consequences of online risk. However, the recommendations for reducing measures of perceived risks in the reviewed article are based on the author's opinion or application of other researchers' theories and not on research findings. Works Cited Gutter, M., Saleem, T. and Gross, K. (2003) 'Are there gender differences in risk tolerance or is it a question of measurement?', Consumer Interests Annual, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 1-12