Objective: The present study aims to identify and rank the trust-building marketing factors for investors in crowdfunding platforms within the Iranian market, seeking to provide a deeper understanding of the shift from “soft trust” to “hard trust” dynamics in high-risk financial environments.
Method: This research employed a mixed-methods approach. Initially, through a systematic literature review (2015-2024), 12 key factors were extracted and categorized into three main dimensions. In the quantitative phase, the Best-Worst Method (BWM), a prominent multi-criteria decision-making technique, was utilized. Data were collected via a standard questionnaire using judgmental purposive sampling from a panel of 18 industry experts (comprising platform executives, venture capitalists, and academics). A linear optimization model minimizing the consistency ratio was applied to calculate the final optimal weights.
Findings: The BWM analysis revealed a significant gap between the top and bottom factors. “Institutional validation and official licenses” ranked first with the highest weight (0.1830.1830.183). This was closely followed by “Risk management and investor protection” (0.1610.1610.161) and “Operational and financial transparency” (0.1370.1370.137) in the second and third positions, respectively. Conversely, aesthetic and social interaction factors, notably “User experience and site design (UX)”, ranked at the very bottom (12th). The mean consistency ratio (0.0420.0420.042) confirmed the high reliability of these findings.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate a critical contextual contrast with global trends; Iranian investors adopt a non-compensatory evaluation model where no amount of UI/UX enhancement or social proof can compensate for the absence of legal licenses and financial guarantees. Consequently, it is recommended that crowdfunding platforms shift their strategies from emotional marketing toward an information architecture strictly based on regulatory transparency and “institutional trust.”