Title: An exploratory study of the impact of perceived fake news on brand attachment: mediating role of brand trust and consumer-brand identification

Authors: Piyush Gupta; Vivek Mishra; Sudhir Rana

Addresses: Birla Global University, Idco Plot No. 2, Institutional Area, Gothapatna, Bhubaneswar –751029, Odisha, India ' Birla Global University, Idco Plot No. 2, Institutional Area, Gothapatna, Bhubaneswar –751029, Odisha, India ' Gulf Medical University, P.O. Box 4184 – Ajman, United Arab Emirates

Abstract: Fake news has created a nightmare for companies and brands. Fake news not only affects a brand's reputation but also consumer behaviour. However, no scale is available to measure perceived fake news (PFN) in literature. Brand attachment (BA) is one of the important constructs in predicting consumer behaviour. This study aims to explore how PFN influences BA. The mediating role of consumer-brand identification (CBI) and brand trust (BT) have been studied in the relationship between PFN and BA. The results suggest that PFN has an impact on CBI and BA. However, it does not affect BT. Also, CBI partially mediates the relationship between PFN and BA while BT shows no mediation. This study contributes a three-item scale to measure perceived fake news. Brands can use brand attachment and brand trust as the mitigating strategy to reduce the harm of fake news.

Keywords: fake news; brand attachment; brand trust; consumer-brand identification; CBI; brand; social media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2024.137485

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2024 Vol.15 No.3, pp.329 - 346

Received: 21 Nov 2023
Accepted: 19 Dec 2023
Published online: 20 Mar 2024 *