Bridging the Gap: Usability's Role in Connecting Simplicity, Interactivity, and Brand Trust

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The rapid increase in mobile device usage worldwide presents a significant challenge for brands aiming to attract and retain customers. Building customer trust in a brand is essential for achieving this goal. However, the wide variety of mobile devices and intense competition compel manufacturers to incorporate more features into a single device, often resulting in complexity and reduced interactivity, which adversely affects the device's usability. Moreover, mobile devices have profoundly transformed customers' lifestyles, complicating the task of marketers to measure buying behavior trends accurately. Consequently, a deep understanding of customers is necessary for effective segmentation. This research aims to fill this gap by providing a roadmap for academics and practitioners to build brand trust in mobile devices, thereby enhancing the user experience by improving usability and brand trust. This quantitative, cross-sectional, and explanatory study utilized an adapted scale to collect data from a population of mobile device users. A sample size of 534 respondents was gathered through online sources and self-administered questionnaires. The study hypothesized that simplicity, interactivity, and brand trust impact usability, which in turn leads to increased brand trust. Additionally, the study examined the direct impact of simplicity and usability on brand trust. It also sought to explore the mediating effect of usability between its antecedents (simplicity and interactivity) and the consequent brand trust. All hypotheses were accepted, except for the direct impact of simplicity on brand trust. Unlike most existing marketing studies that focus primarily on the direct relationship between brand trust and loyalty, this study introduced a novel model. This model elucidates the relationships between simplicity, interactivity, and usability, demonstrating how these factors collectively influence brand trust.