Author(s) :

Yusman Yacob, Jati Kasuma Ali, Nelson Lajuni, Hiram Ting, Muhd Khairul Azhar Ahmad.

Volume :

Abstract :

This study attempts to examine the dimensions of cooperative characteristics towards trust in cooperative brand. Although there are abundance of studies on brand’s trust in the marketing literature, little has been done on the factors leading to brand’s trust in the cooperative context. Specifically, the present study serves as a groundwork to examine the dimensions of cooperative characteristics and its relation towards trust in the cooperative brand among cooperative members with a focus on Sarawak consumer cooperatives as a research site of the study. Cooperative integrity, cooperative reputation, perceived motives of cooperative, and trust in cooperative as a dimension of cooperative characteristics are looked into so as to assess their impact on trust in the cooperative brand. A quantitative approach was adopted using self-administered questionnaire. By using field data collected from 135 consumer cooperative members in Sarawak, all postulated relationships are examined using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that cooperative characteristics, namely cooperative integrity, perceived motives of cooperative and trust in cooperative have significant effect on trust in cooperative brand. However, cooperative reputation shows insignifcant impact on trust in cooperative brand. The study highlights the need to inculcate cooperative members’ with adequate knowledge about cooperative as well as to provide platform for them to acquire their experience with the cooperative so as to transform into their trust in the cooperative brand. The study also provides the managerial implications to cooperative as a retail provider as well as cooperative members’ and future directions of the research .

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