Interpersonal Trust (General)

What it measures

Six seven-point Likert-type items measure a consumer's trust in a service provider or organisation, drawing on dimensions of sincerity, honesty, fairness, dependability, helpfulness, and consideration. The scale was adapted from Morgan and Hunt (1994) and ultimately traces to Larzelere and Huston's (1980) Dyadic Trust Scale. It has been used with consumers in banking and services contexts with the provider's name inserted in the blanks.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I feel that I can trust my __________ completely.
• My __________ is truly sincere in its promises.
• My __________ is honest and truthful with me.
• My __________ treats me fairly and justly.
• I feel that __________ can be counted on to help me when I need it.
• I feel that __________ does not show me enough consideration. (r)

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Bansal, Irving, and Taylor (2004) used items 1–5 (alpha=.94); Bansal, Taylor, and James (2005) used all six items (alpha=.91). Originally developed for couple relationships by Larzelere and Huston (1980) and adapted by Morgan and Hunt (1994) for business relationships. The name of the service provider or organisation should be placed in the blanks. Note that trust and satisfaction showed non-significant discriminant validity in one study.

Citation

Bansal, H. S., Irving, P. G., & Taylor, S. F. (2004). A three-component model of customer commitment to service providers. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(3), 234–250.

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