Exploratory modelling and ranking of the trust factors of messages about organic foods in social networks

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore a model and note the ranking of the trust factors of messages about organic food in social networks.Design/methodology/approachThe research was divided into four phases. The first employed the literature review about Trust, Trust of products, Trust of organic foods and Trust in the social networks. This review was prepared as some hypothesis about the trust of messages about organic food in the social network. The second employed a focused interview to supplement the mentioned hypothesis to 31 factors that affect the trust of messages about organic food in social networks. In the third phase, 300 forms were used to collect information from Iranian consumers for exploratory factor analysis. Finally, neural networks were used to determine the ranking of the mentioned factors.FindingsThe results show 31 factors that affect the trust of messages about organic food in social networks. The results of this study showed that Iranian and international organic foods producers may be able to spread messages of trust about their products in social networks by attending to these 31 factors. This study also explored a model constructed using EFA that showed that six factors have a positive effect on the level of trust of messages about organic food in social networks.Practical implicationsThis research effectively helps organic food producers to better understand the trust factors and ways to improve that trust in cyberspace marketing plans and to increase their sales.Originality/valueFor the first time, this research seeks a model for the factors affecting consumer trust in organic foods in social networks, and in the next step, it ranks these factors with artificial neural networks.