Exploring Ethical Meaning and Professional Resilience in Building Consumer Trust through Sustainable Brand Communication

Abstract

Brand sustainability communication has become a critical concern in contemporary marketing, reflecting increasing expectations for ethical transparency, authenticity, and accountability in digital environments. However, the linkage between sustainability messages and the actual development of consumer trust remains underexplored. While prior studies have mainly used quantitative models to examine brand credibility and consumer attitudes, limited research has illuminated how individuals subjectively experience and construct trust in response to sustainability communication on social media. This study aims to bridge that gap by precisely exploring how consumers interpret, emotionally engage with, and ethically evaluate sustainability messages. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA), in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve active social media users, and the data were thematically analyzed to identify key experiential patterns of trust formation. Findings reveal three interconnected dimensions of trust: (1) authenticity, manifested through transparent and value-consistent messages; (2) dialogical interaction, shaped by perceived openness and reciprocity between brand and audience; and (3) moral resonance, emerging when brand ethics align with consumers’ personal moral frameworks. Trust thus evolves as a relational and emotional process rather than a fixed cognitive judgment. This refined understanding contributes to theory by clarifying how emotional and ethical engagement underpin trust in digital sustainability communication. Practically, it guides brands toward fostering credible and value-driven relationships through consistent, transparent storytelling. The study further recommends future comparative research on cultural variations in the lived experience of digital trust to enrich cross-contextual insights.