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Believing and acting on fake news related to natural food: the influential role of brand trust and system trust

Subhalakshmi Bezbaruah (Department of Marketing, Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad, India)
Amandeep Dhir (School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway) (Norwegian School of Hotel Management, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway) (Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa)
Shalini Talwar (KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai, India)
Teck Ming Tan (Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland)
Puneet Kaur (University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway) (Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 1 December 2021

Issue publication date: 9 August 2022

1312

Abstract

Purpose

Fake news represents a real risk for brands, particularly for firms selling essential products, such as food items. Despite this anecdotal acknowledgement, the dynamics of the relationship between fake news and brand reputation remain under-explored. The present study addresses this gap by examining the association of consumer values (universalism and openness to change), brand trust, fake news risk and system trust in the context of natural food products.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilised a cross-sectional survey design and the mall-intercept method to collect data from 498 consumers of natural food residing in India. To test the hypotheses, which were grounded in the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, the collected data were analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling in SPSS AMOS. The conceptual model proposed universalism and openness to change as stimuli, brand trust as an internal state or organism and fake news risk – captured through the tendency of consumers to believe and act on fake news – as a response.

Findings

The findings support a positive association of universalism with brand trust and a negative association with fake news risk. In comparison, openness to change has no association with either brand trust or fake news risk. Brand trust, meanwhile, is negatively related to fake news, and this association is moderated by system trust. Furthermore, brand trust partially mediates the relationship between universalism value and fake news risk.

Originality/value

Notably, the present study is one of the first attempts to understand the fake news risk associated with natural food brands by utilising the SOR framework in an emerging market setting. The study provides interesting insights for policymakers, brands and consumers.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editor, associate editors' efforts, and the reviewers for their most insightful remarks and help in improving our manuscript.

Fundng: The authors have received no funding for the present study.

Citation

Bezbaruah, S., Dhir, A., Talwar, S., Tan, T.M. and Kaur, P. (2022), "Believing and acting on fake news related to natural food: the influential role of brand trust and system trust", British Food Journal, Vol. 124 No. 9, pp. 2937-2962. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-02-2021-0190

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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