Journal of value creating in Business Management

Presenting the factors that cause young consumers to distrust brands

Document Type : Original Article (Qualitative)

Authors

Nader Nosrat abadi 1
Mojtaba Afarand Khalilabad 2
MAHMOUD SAMADI 3

1 Department of Business Administration, Emirates Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

2 Department of Business Administration, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor of Management Department, Takestan Institute of Higher Education, Qazvin, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22034/jvcbm.2025.536921.1599
Abstract
The aim of this study is to present the factors of young consumers' distrust of brands. Customer distrust is one of the fundamental challenges in maintaining sustainable relationships between organizations and their stakeholders. The present study, using a qualitative approach and data-driven theory, has identified different dimensions of customer distrust and provided a theoretical framework for understanding it. Semi-structured interviews with 17 customers who had direct experience of brand distrust were used to collect data. Participants were selected purposefully and with maximum diversity, and the sampling process continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The results with maxqda software show that causal factors such as deceptive advertising, brand infringement, negative reputation, negative experience, poor service, and negative opinions of others play a key role in the formation of distrust. Also, contextual factors (such as unhealthy competitive environment and general culture of distrust), intervening factors (such as psychological characteristics and customer awareness level), coping strategies (such as avoidance, information seeking), and consequences such as negative word-of-mouth advertising play a role in this process. The extracted framework can be the basis for developing marketing strategies, customer experience management, and rebuilding trust in organizations.

Keywords

Customer distrust
advertising
negative experience
negative news
poor customer service
Subjects

  • Receive Date 27 July 2025
  • Revise Date 04 October 2025
  • Accept Date 14 October 2025

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