No readily available scales exist that are appropriate to the measurement of trust in direct selling. This paper presents a conceptualization of trust that focuses on it nature and presents it as an effect – that is, a combination of attitudes and emotions. To develop a scale that reflects this approach, a two-country study was conducted looking at the perceptions of buyers regarding the trust they place in direct selling salespeople. Three distinct measures of trust and two related measures, based on scales developed for use in contexts other than direct selling, are utilized. The measurement properties of all five are shown to be adequate; however differences are apparent in their robustness and in the pattern of responses in the two countries. Moreover, one measure (Trust 3) is clearly inferior to the other measures.

Keywords: Consumers, Salespeople, Statistical Analysis