Development and Validation of a Brand Trust Scale

To enrich the limited and recent work existing about 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 due to the fact 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 any brand can own. In this context, this article reports the results of a multistep study to develop and validate a multidimensional brand trust scale drawn from the conceptualizations of trust in other academic fields. Multistep psychometric tests demonstrate that the new brand trust scale is reliable and valid. 4 The ultimate goal of marketing is to generate an intense bond between the consumer and the brand, and the main ingredient of this bond is trust (Hiscock 2001 p.1). Despite increased attention and relevance drawn by the relationship principles in both theory and practice during the past decade, applications of the relationship notion at the level of brand have been scant (Fournier 1998). The lack of theoretical and empirical research on this subject is remarkable due to the fact that relationship thinking guides today's brand management practices to leverage consumer-brand bonds, especially due to the increasing unpredictability and heightened competitive pressures characterizing the current marketplace (Shocker, Srivastava, and Ruekert 1994). Furthermore, on a theoretical level the understanding of consumer-brand relationships is viewed to have critical importance to the development of marketing and consumer behavior theories (Miller 1995), and it also has implications to other relevant areas such as brand loyalty and brand equity. The idea that a relationship between the person and his/her possessions exists is not novel (Blackston 1992). In this connection, consumer researchers have demonstrated that these relationships contribute to the consumer's sense of self, and in turn they may mediate a person's social or identity relationships (e. studies that are informative about consumer-object interactions undoubtedly Fournier's research (Fournier 1995, 1998; Fournier and Yao 1997) is a valuable 5 exception in this matter. On the basis of her research, Fournier describes the relationship consumers have with brands as a multifaceted construct to capture the richness of the fabric from which brand relationships arise (Fournier 1998). As such, what matters in the meaning and, in turn, the construction of consumer-brand bonds include such aspects as commitment, intimacy, love/passion, interdependence, self-connection, and brand partner …