Il ruolo delle comunità omofiliche nella promozione e vendita di prodotti agroalimentari sul web

This paper starts from the desire to explore the purchasing behavior of connected consumers in the Marche region. The focus on digital is given by the fact that in contemporary digital communication through the social web shows us ways through which we can get informed and meet through the affordances of its spaces. From this derive new modes of consumption and purchasing processes that have to do with the technosocial nature of the network. The research questions to which the paper aims to answer therefore touch on several points, starting from more general aspects related to purchasing habits: RQ1: What elements describe the purchasing habits of the Marche food and agriculture consumer online? RQ1.1: Which elements influence the trust of the Marche food and agriculture consumer? Furthermore, a focus was added on homophilic networks, that is to say networks of users with similar interests, values, beliefs or points of view who are encouraged to meet and aggregate from the logic underlying the networking platforms. From this point of view, we wanted to investigate the persuasive power of these user groups on purchasing choices by answering the following question: RQ2: What is the impact of homophilic networks on agri-food purchasing choices for consumers in the Marche region? To answer the questions, a quantitative exploratory survey was conducted, through an online questionnaire that was chosen to distribute through the sponsorship service of the social networking platform Facebook. The non-representative sample was targeted according to the geographical variable, which the platform collects on the basis of self-reported data. From the research results, which bring out some characteristic traits such as localism, the centrality of experience and the weakness of the trust ties built through digital platforms, a list of guidelines has been drawn up with possible actions for a Marche-based company who intends to sell agri-food products online.