Cultural perspectives on advertising perceptions and brand trustworthiness

The creation of a trustworthy brand identity through advertising has received relatively little attention in European marketing research. Thus, in this chapter, we explore this relationship by undertaking focus group research in the UK and Italy to identify the characteristics of print advertisements perceived as portraying a trustworthy image. The results show that advertisements that are simple, straightforward and clear are perceived as being more trustworthy. However, findings in this chapter also show some differences between our national samples in relation to factors such as colour perception and consumer ethnocentrism. Young consumers are also quite critical of current advertising efforts in building a trustworthy brand image. A discussion of potential solutions and future research directions is provided.