Development and Validation of a Brand Trust Scale

To enrich the limited and recent work in existence on relational phenomena in the consumer-brand domain, the authors focus on the concept of brand trust. The non-existence of a wider accepted measure of this concept is surprising given that: (1) trust is viewed as the cornerstone and one of the most desired qualities in a relationship; and (2) it is the most important attribute a brand can own. In this context, this research reports the results of a multi-step study to develop and validate a multidimensional brand trust scale drawn from the conceptualisation of trust in other academic fields. Multi-step psychometric tests demonstrate that the new brand trust scale is reliable and valid. Both theoretical and managerial implications are presented.