Integrated model of brand trust and brand loyalty from digital, ethical, and operational perspectives: an empirical study in the Vietnamese commercial bank sector

In rapidly digitizing emerging countries, the enhancement of brand loyalty (BL) is essential to drive growth and create a sustainable business. To achieve this, this study empirically tests an integrated digital, ethical, and operational framework. The study examines how three contemporary antecedents, consumer-generated social media communication (CGSC), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and service accessibility (SA), foster BL through brand trust (BTR) within the Vietnamese commercial banking sector. Data collected from 420 Vietnamese commercial bank customers via online convenience and snowball sampling were analyzed using PLS-SEM to test the model. The findings reveal that CGSC, CSR, and SA significantly and positively predict BTR, with accessibility exerting the strongest influence. In turn, BTR powerfully determines BL. Significantly, the analysis substantiates the full mediating role of BTR in these relationships. Hence, our results provide an actionable blueprint for business practitioners to build sustainable customer loyalty. Banking executives should strengthen BTR through CGSC, CSR, and SA, as it serves as the essential bridge for business success. This novel research also contributes significantly by revealing the complete mechanism from digital, ethical, and operational perspectives to customer BL through BTR.