Brand Trust in the Digital Marketplace: Conceptual Perspectives and Emerging Dimensions

Abstract

 The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed the marketplace and created new challenges for developing and maintaining consumer trust in brands. In digital environments, consumers interact with organizations through websites, social media, mobile applications, online platforms, artificial intelligence, personalized communication and digitally mediated service encounters. These developments have expanded opportunities for organizations to build relationships with consumers while simultaneously increasing concerns related to privacy, security, transparency, authenticity, information credibility and technology-mediated interactions. This paper reviews the existing literature on brand trust in the digital marketplace and examines its changing dimensions in contemporary digital environments. The review focuses on the role of digital marketing, social media, artificial intelligence, personalization, electronic communication, customer experience, online reviews, digital platforms, transparency, privacy and consumer–brand relationships in shaping trust. The literature indicates that brand trust in digital environments is multidimensional and extends beyond traditional perceptions of brand reliability and credibility. Consumers increasingly evaluate brands according to their ability to provide secure, transparent, personalized, authentic, consistent and meaningful digital experiences. At the same time, excessive personalization, inappropriate data practices, technological uncertainty and information overload can weaken consumer confidence. The paper consolidates the existing literature and identifies emerging dimensions of digital brand trust, including technological trust, data and privacy trust, platform trust, interactional trust, experiential trust and authenticity. The review contributes to the understanding of how traditional concepts of brand trust are being reshaped by the characteristics of the digital marketplace.