Towards the measurement of consumer trust in media brands—scale development and validation

Steffen Heim, Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Claudia Fantapié Altobelli, Michael Fretschner and Lisa-Charlotte Wolter

Journal of Media Economics, 2025, vol. 37, issue 1, 20-45

Abstract: Media brands in today’s digitized economy are facing growing competition and the increasing need for valid parameters to measure success and the perception of their brand. Trust in media brands is one of the most important factors in that regard, influencing the decision for and against certain media brands and driving factors, such as brand equity and usage intention. While research on trust in corporate, product and service brands is abundant, trust research specifically focusing on media brands has been widely neglected. Due to the strong possible impact of singular events particularly on trust in media brands and the connected high variance in consumer trust, a valid tool to track consumer perceptions over time thus would add a worthwhile contribution to media management. Due to significant differences between brands and media brands based on divergent business models, business partners and sources of revenue, currently available brand trust scales, however, cannot simply be applied in the media sector. In our study, we are conducting quantitative, multinational research to establish a valid and reliable media brand trust scale. We aim for the empirically based development of the focal construct building on the framework of media brand trust. The framework results from 11 components derived from previous studies. With this development, we are providing actors of the media economy with a scale to measure consumers’ trust in the media brand and generating an understanding of the specific elements required to improve media brands’ business operations.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/08997764.2024.2433739

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