Measuring brand trust in the social media context

Abstract

To increase brand awareness and survive in this ever-changing environment, it is vital for companies to leverage their social media presence to build trust. Although there are tools for measuring trust, existing scales do not account fully for the unique social interactions and follow-up effects specific to social media platforms. This paper addresses this challenge by presenting a carefully selected, ten-item, one-dimensional scale, informed by a series of tests and analyses, to measure brand trust in the social media context. This scale contributes to the theoretical understanding of trust for companies that want to develop their brand on social media platforms. It also provides a practical tool for managers to assess and improve consumer trust. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.