Three-dimensional dynamic trust-driven consensus model for social network group decision-making with application to sustainable supplier selection in a circular economy

The trust degree between individuals plays an important role in social network group decision-making (SNGDM). The majority of current literature assumes that the trust degree between individuals is constant. However, the trust values among decision-makers (DMs) are subject to change over time. Thus, it is necessary to identify potential dynamic trust that is compatible with the actual SNGDM to support the consensus reaching. For this purpose, this article investigates consensus building that considers dynamic trust among DMs in SNGDM with linguistic distribution assessments (LDAs). Firstly, the three-dimensional trust degree among DMs is constructed from three perspectives: the trust relationship from social networks, the confidence level of DMs, and the similarity of DMs' preferences. Secondly, an optimization model is developed with the objective of maximizing consensus to determine how trust degree is assigned to each perspective, thereby determining the weights of DMs. Then, a double feedback-based consensus mechanism incorporating both opinion evolution and trust evolution is developed. Under the guidance of consensus mechanism, an improved SNGDM approach with LDAs is presented. Finally, we demonstrate our proposed approach through a case study of sustainable supplier selection in a circular economy. Comparative analysis and sensitive analysis verify our approach’s effectiveness.