Towards a Better Understanding and Measurement Of Real Consumer Trust in Electronic Word-of-Mouth

Social media marketing still suffers from an alarming research gap concerning the adequate measurement of the disciplines key constructs. This paper advances marketers understanding of the critical role of consumer trust in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) by (a) clarifying the constructs nature, components and boundaries, (b) clearly separating eWOM trust from similar but conceptually different constructs (e.g., eWOM credibility), (c) introducing a valid, reliable and practicable new measurement instrument (the eWT-S), and (d) demonstrating the applicability of the scale for profiling eWOM trusters and segmenting online consumers. This research relies on a demanding multi-stage research process with samples from three countries.