Online advertising and brand relationship outcomes: the mediating role of brand trust and the moderating effect of ad stickiness

Abstract This study examines how YouTube advertising influences brand trust, brand loyalty, and brand stickiness, while also assessing the mediating role of brand trust and the moderating role of advertising stickiness. Integrating advertising value dimensions, Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) logic, and relationship marketing, the study develops a coherent framework for explaining how YouTube advertising evaluations are translated into downstream relational outcomes. A comparative quantitative design was employed across three service industries; telecommunications, banking, and airways, yielding 428, 430, and 419 usable questionnaires, respectively. The findings show that entertainment, informativeness, irritation, and credibility shape brand trust, which in turn influences brand loyalty and brand stickiness. Credibility emerges as the most consistent antecedent of brand trust across sectors, while the effects of other advertising dimensions vary by industry. The moderating role of advertising stickiness is supported only for the relationship between brand trust and brand loyalty in the telecommunications sector, indicating a limited and context specific boundary effect. The study contributes by offering an integrated explanation of how YouTube advertising evaluations influence relational outcomes, clarifying brand trust as the central mediating mechanism, distinguishing brand loyalty from brand stickiness, and positioning advertising stickiness as a conditional boundary factor. Managerially, the findings suggest that brands should prioritise credibility and informativeness in YouTube advertising and align promotional claims closely with service delivery to strengthen trust and its downstream effects.