Customer trust in employees of department stores: A Study on Shahrvand Chain Stores of Tehran)

The purpose of this study is to examine the customer trust in employees of Shahrvand Chain Stores in Tehran. Trust is one of the important determinants which has positive consequences in inter-personal relationships of customers and staff of department stores. Given this significant issue based on a review of literature، four trust dimensions of competence، benevolence، integrity and predictability were chosen to be studied. A sample of 400 customers from different branches of Shahrvand stores; Kashanak، Beihaghi، Mahallati and Azadegan; were selected on a cluster sampling basis. Data was collected by using a customized questionnaire which has been derived from Dietz and Den Hartog model. The data has been analyzed by using t-test، ANOVA and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings show that the customers had put much importance to the fore-mentioned dimensions، but they were less satisfied by the way the department store staff had treated them.