The influence of trustworthiness on brand love for news media brands: a cross-cultural examination of the Netherlands and Brazil

ABSTRACT

The impact of perceived trustworthiness on love for news media brands needs further understanding, given that brand love brings significant business benefits. This article argues that perceived trustworthiness influences brand love for news media brands. More specifically, we explored the following: how much of the variance in brand love can be explained by the factors of perceived trustworthiness of a brand (integrity, benevolence, and ability), whether perceived trustworthiness relates differently to brand love in countries with different levels of trust in the media, and what is the relationship between political leaning and the perception of specific news media brands’ trustworthiness. The data were collected through an online survey in the Netherlands (N = 292) and Brazil (N = 239). Among the main findings, data indicated that brand love is influenced by perceived trustworthiness, and integrity is its best predictor. This study provides evidence of the importance of each factor of perceived trustworthiness for brand love, confirms the relation between political leaning and trust, and reveals the differences between these two countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Brand trust
• brand love
• trust in the media
• selective exposure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samara Sampaio de Oliveira

Samara Sampaio de Oliveira, is a marketing and advertising sales executive who had worked for companies like Shell and Abril, Brazil's leading media organization. Samara holds a Master's Degree in Media Innovation from the Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands and an MBA from Coppead Business School/ UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. https://www.linkedin.com/in/samarareijnders.

Michelle Helena Kovacs Grigg

Dr. Michelle Helena Kovacs Grigg,  holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Federal University of Pernambuco – UFPE / PROPAD, Ph.D. Sandwich (internship) from City University (Cass Business School) in London, England (UK). Post-Doctorate by CAPES/NUFFIC in Consumer Behavior/Marketing. Master in Business Administration and MBA in Marketing from UFPE, Brazil. Lecturer/researcher at Breda University of Applied Sciences, Academy of Digital Entertainment (NL).

Miruna Doicaru

Dr. Miruna Doicaru,  holds a Doctorate in Communication Studies from the Amsterdam School of Communication Studies (UvA). She is a lecturer in research methods and researcher at Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Academy of Digital Entertainment, under the professorship of Digital Media Concepts. https://www.linkedin.com/in/miruna-doicaru-03b1b023/