Creative Intelligence glossary
Brand Trust
Brand trust is confidence that a brand is credible, reliable and likely to behave consistently with expectations.
Why trust matters
Trust can reduce perceived risk and influence willingness to consider a brand, particularly when the decision is consequential. It should not be reduced to one creative score.
Signals that influence trust
Experience, product quality, reputation, social proof, customer service, history and consistency can all matter. Creative can influence perceived trust through clear claims, appropriate proof and a credible tone.
Trust versus familiarity and credibility
Familiarity means recognition; credibility concerns whether a specific claim seems believable. Trust is broader confidence developed across interactions. These concepts overlap without being identical.
Illustrative example
A fictional health-service ad that names qualifications, explains limits and avoids exaggerated promises may support credibility. Whether the provider is trusted also depends on the service experience and reputation.
How trust is researched
Surveys, qualitative research, brand studies and experiments can assess trust-related perceptions in defined contexts. Creative-only evaluation cannot establish the whole customer relationship.