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.