Exploring the agricultural platforms: do complementarity and situational normality ameliorate farmers' trust?

Purpose Although Agtech firms have promoted digital platforms for retailing farm supplies (RFS), farmers are sceptical while purchasing them online. As a result, they struggle to generate a sustained demand. Among other approaches, these platforms onboard complementors to become full-stack farming solution providers. Whether platform complementarity can induce farmers' trust remains ambiguous. Literature on network externality theory highlights that complementarity positively affects the perceived value for buyers. The sociotechnical systems literature indicates that perceived value is an antecedent of user trust. In this vein, the authors ask: Does perceived complementarity affect farmers' trust in the RFS platform? Alternatively, the Agtech firms augment the platform's look and feel to make the digital retail setting appear “normal” to farmers. The extant research on the social cognitive theory indicates that a retail setting conforming with the generalised expectancy of buyers harbours their trust. Against this backdrop, the authors ask whether situational normality affects farmers' trust in the RFS platform. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a questionnaire survey of 212 Indian farmers using RFS platforms. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. Findings This study establishes that platforms' complementarity and situational normality ameliorate farmer trust. The authors also identify the socioeconomic factors shaping the farmers' trust in platforms. Research limitations/implications The present study has taken all RFS together as a single umbrella category, which can be considered a limitation. Also, the study is based on the cross-sectional survey of RFS platform users; the farmers' attitudes are dynamic in nature and evolve over time; however, the temporal factors shaping the farmer attitudes have not been considered in this study. Originality/value The study establishes the epistemological relationship between complementarity, situational normality and farmers' trust in agricultural platforms.