Development of Citizens’ Trust through Social Media Platforms in a Public Food Standards Agency in Pakistan: Role of Transparency and Responsiveness

Abstract

The problem of citizens’ mistrust in government institutions has been prevailing in various countries around the world. Nowadays, government institutions attempt to curb this issue by narrowing the gap of communication with citizens through online channels such as social media, which allows citizens to access timely and authentic information. The purpose of this paper is to assess citizens’ perceptions about transparency and responsiveness in the context of social media use of a public agency in Pakistan and to investigate whether the perception about transparency and responsiveness helps in the development of citizens’ trust in a government agency. An empirical investigation is conducted by employing a quantitative survey design. The survey data was taken randomly from 393 social media followers of a government agency in Pakistan (Punjab Food Authority), which was then analyzed by using the structural equation modeling technique (CB-SEM) to obtain the findings. The results indicate that the transparency of information and active responsiveness ensured by the Pakistani agency on social media contributes to the development of followers/citizens’ trust in that agency. This study contributes to the literature and provides empirical evidence for practical implications. Multiple government institutions in Pakistan and elsewhere, particularly in developing countries, can practically implement such practices in their online communication with citizens to gain citizen trust.