Marketing economics
Yasin Qadermarzi; Mohamad rasol Almasifard; Mohsen Yarahmadi
Abstract
The world registration of the Oramanat region as the 26th World Heritage of Iran in the UNESCO organization has doubled the importance of this region from the west of the country. Considering the many capacities of the Oramanat region to attract tourists and the proper use of the world registration point ...
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The world registration of the Oramanat region as the 26th World Heritage of Iran in the UNESCO organization has doubled the importance of this region from the west of the country. Considering the many capacities of the Oramanat region to attract tourists and the proper use of the world registration point to make this region known as a tourism hub at the international level, this research aims to find the influential factors in branding the Oramanat tourism destination in the form of a model, and it is a Model. Regarding the objective type, this study is applied research conducted using a mixed exploratory method during two qualitative and quantitative stages. In the qualitative section, interviews were conducted with 15 experts in the field of tourism, including university professors, officials, and activists in this field, first in a targeted manner and then in a snowball. In the quantitative section, paired comparisons were given to the same sample people in the qualitative section of the questionnaire. Finally, a hierarchical analysis was performed to analyze the data. Based on the research findings, nine main factors were identified for the international tourism branding of Oramanat, which obtained the most points in the order of the importance of infrastructure and facilities, attraction factor, and marketing and advertising factor. Administrative, political, and legal factors, tourists and agencies, brand building, stabilization, sociocultural, and economic factors were also placed as the following priorities. Finally, according to the results of the interviews, the factor of infrastructure and facilities is the region’s weakness. The attraction factor is its strength, so it is necessary to create facilities for accommodation, healthcare, communication, and transportation in the region and should be strengthened. Oramanat’s destination brand should be created around the attractions of the region that have the necessary capacity by using various marketing and advertising methods. Holding various conferences and forming a specialized committee to develop the branding program of the region are also essential and practical suggestions for facilitating matters.IntroductionOne of the tourist areas in Iran is the Oramanat region. Due to its historical, cultural, and natural attractions, this region can be a suitable destination for attracting tourists throughout the year, effectively empowering the people and organizing the region’s economy.Since there are few essential sources of income and economy in Oramanat, tourism can be an important source of income for the people of this area.However, the expected benefits from this industry have yet to be realized for the people of Oramanat, which may be the main reason for the improper management and planning, lack of necessary facilities, and minor and limited advertising. The combination of these factors has made the majority of tourists in the region from neighboring regions and provinces, and we have yet to see much success in attracting international tourists to this region.Due to the weakness in marketing and advertising, this region has many obstacles to introducing its tourist attractions.One of the subsets of marketing is branding. If we intend to attract international tourists, destination branding will be inevitable because there is fierce competition between different destinations to attract tourists. Our destination must create, maintain, or increase its market share in this competition. Therefore, considering the increasing importance of the tourism industry and the significant impact of this industry on necessary social, economic, and cultural fields, the importance of branding to attract tourists and the potential of Oramanat region in the field of attracting international tourists and also the global registration of the region, we decided to Let us look for the answer to this question, what branding model can lead to the development of international tourism in Oramanat region?Literature ReviewAccording to the definition of the World Organization (WTO), international tourism includes the activities of visitors who temporarily leave international borders and stay in destinations other than their place of work and residence for more than 24 hours. Although international tourism is an economic activity, it creates interaction between many people. International tourism increases the demand for services and facilities. Therefore, it creates challenges and opportunities for the host country and plays a vital role in the economic development process of many countries. The host country spends more to attract this type of tourists and earns more income through visitor expenses. One of the reasons for paying more attention to international tourism than domestic tourism is the positive impact of this tourism on economic growth through the creation of foreign exchange income and job creation.A brand is a set of communications that combines the name, sign, and symbol associated with a product. Brands convey attributes and meanings designed to enhance the value of a product beyond its functional value. The brand makes the product quickly recognized and repurchased by the customer.Branding of tourist destinations has also gained considerable popularity. The battle of customers in the destination market will not be about prices but hearts and minds. Destination branding is a way to communicate that destination’s specific and unique identity by differentiating its personality from competitor destinations. The overall objective of destination branding is to contribute to the positive image of the destination by continuously reinforcing brand elements. The brand is used as a common goal for the activities of many different actors in the tourism industry.The tourism brand should specify the attractions and capabilities of the destination for tourists. In addition to creating an emotional connection between tourists and the destination, the brand will reduce the cost of tourists' research. Suppose the brand leads to presenting a positive image of the destination to the tourists. In that case, the tourists will provide the necessary grounds to attract other tourists with positive word-of-mouth advertising, and this will be effective in reducing marketing and advertising costs.MethodologyThe current research is practical in terms of its purpose. In terms of the working method, it is exploratory mixed research that was carried out in two consecutive stages, qualitative and quantitative.In the beginning and the qualitative stage, the necessary data were collected using in-depth and semi-structured interviews to identify the factors influencing the branding of the Oramanat tourist destination. Then, these data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis method, and the more conceptually related factors were placed in the same category.In the second and quantitative stage of the research, a pairwise comparison questionnaire was prepared and provided to the experts to prioritize the mentioned factors. The studied community in both qualitative and quantitative sections consist of experts, specialists, officials, and professors in the fields of management, entrepreneurship, and tourism in Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, which include faculty members of the management and entrepreneurship department of Razi University, managers and experts Organization of cultural heritage and tourism of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, as well as some tourism activists in these provinces.Sampling in this research was done in a targeted manner and then by snowball. Therefore, interviews were conducted with several experts in the field of tourism until we reached theoretical saturation. Theoretical saturation was achieved with 12 interviews, which continued until 15 people to ensure more interviews.In the quantitative part, pairwise comparisons were presented to the qualitative part of the questionnaire sample to give weight and points to the identified factors. The Expert Choice software determined each factor’s final weight and score in the final step. In this research, the reliability of the research was controlled by developing a framework for the interviews, confirming the interviews, and analyzing the results. Also, interviews were conducted with people in different positions to witness pluralism among the participants. The compatibility rate index, which should be less than 0.1, was used to measure the reliability of the paired comparisons questionnaire.DiscussionReviewing the texts and interviews shows that one of the most frequent factors related to the topic of discussion is the infrastructure and facilities of the tourist destination. A destination with many tourist attractions may need proper facilities and infrastructure to attract tourists. There may need to be more than infrastructure and facilities to build a tourism brand, but their absence effectively dose not attract tourists. Naturally, when a destination does not have the most basic facilities, it will not attract tourists, so it can eventually become a tourism brand. According to the participants’ statements in the interview, the Oramanat region lacks the necessary facilities and quality infrastructure, and this issue can be a strong reason for emphasizing this factor.The second most important factor in international tourism branding is destination attractions. Indeed, this factor, like infrastructure and facilities, is not a reason for creating a tourism brand. Every destination must have attractions to attract tourists: otherwise, it will not be a tourist destination. However, using these attractions as a prominent factor in brand building is effective. Especially if these attractions are specific to that destination, the destination brand can be formed by emphasizing that unique attraction. The destination brand is formed around its special attractions. One of the positive points of the Oramanat region is the existence of various historical, natural, and cultural attractions. The attractions alone are enough to use it in the destination brand, while Oramanat is a region rich in diverse and different tourist attractions.The first two factors, which were very important, are not directly involved in the branding process, but the marketing category is tied to branding and cannot be separated. The branding process is hidden in the marketing and advertising factor by looking at the concepts of this factor. Naturally, the destination should be evaluated at the beginning of the matter, and its potential capacities should be identified. By using a variety of marketing and advertising methods, its position should be established in the eyes of tourists as customers of the destination's tourism services. It is essential to use the unique features and attractions of the destination in advertising.One of the things that the experts mentioned about this factor and that was also available in the texts is the discussion of advertising and the use of different advertising methods due to the extensive advancement of technology. Using the multiple capacities of mass communication media and taking advantage of advanced technologies will be critical in building and introducing the destination brand. Regarding the Oramanat area, only a few advertising activities have been done. If something has been done, it has been scattered and limited, which has yet to impact significantly. Other factors also speed up the branding process according to the weight they have gained, and it is necessary to pay attention to these factors and not ignore their influence.ConclusionIn general, among the above-known factors in the Oramanat region, the lack of quality infrastructure and facilities to provide services to tourists is considered a weakness, and it is necessary to plan and take adequate measures in this regard. Let the authorities do it. Various attractions in this region are also considered to have potential and strength, and it is better to evaluate these attractions and identify the attractions that can form the region’s leading brand. Then, the marketing specialists in the tourism industry design the marketing and advertising processes based on it and create the destination brand of Oramanat. It is evident that managerial, political, legal, sociocultural, and economic factors and tourists and agencies have played a significant role in forming the region’s brand, and these factors should be mobilized to play their role in branding Oramanat.
Tourism planning
Nima Khademi; Abbas Abbasi; Kazem Askarifar
Abstract
Local event tourism is one of the types of tourism that can play an essential role in the sustainable economic and social development of communities. However, this issue has received less attention. Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival is one of these events held every year in the spring season. This ...
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Local event tourism is one of the types of tourism that can play an essential role in the sustainable economic and social development of communities. However, this issue has received less attention. Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival is one of these events held every year in the spring season. This study aims to identify the factors that attract tourists to this event. For this purpose, the factors attracting tourists to the events were extracted by qualitative content analysis and then the tourists' opinions. Finally, a conceptual framework ofinfluencing factors on customers' tendencies, including 50 indicators in 15 components, was presented. Also, the quantitative analysis of Q data shows that accessibility, hospitality, and spending time with friends were essential for the first group of tourists, social interactions and event quality were necessary for the second group, patriotic and learning motives were important for the third group, and experience and enjoyment of the event were necessary for the fourth group. At the same time, natural attractions and enjoyment of the festival environment have been essential for all tourists, and these results can be a basis for formulating marketing strategies for local tourism events.IntroductionDuring the last two decades, the tourism industry has increasingly strengthened the local economy due to its high diversity and convenient access. In addition, the development of the tourism industry causes benefits such as increasing the employment and income of residents, improving transportation, and, most importantly, protecting the cultural heritage of local communities. One of the types of tourism is event tourism, which has grown significantly in recent years. Event tourism is a form of travel with special interests in which people visit a special event to attend or along with their trip. One of the important products in tourism development has been an event in the form of cultural festivals. In this regard, local festivals as a branch of cultural events are considered one of travelers’ actions in rural areas. On the other hand, due to its various natural, historical, and cultural attractions, Iran is considered one of the most capable countries in the world for organizing such events. For this reason, practical steps can be taken toward the successful development of this type of tourism by more closely examining the events and festivals held in the country. One of these local festivals is the Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival, held every year at the beginning of the rose-picking season for one month in the Meymand Fars region. In this regard, it will be beneficial to identify the effective factors in attracting tourists to this annual local event, to get a more detailed understanding of the affairs and a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, and economic realities of the region and to plan for the sustainable development of this region. However, this issue has received less attention despite its clarity and necessity. On this subject, the current research seeks to identify the indicators and components influencing the tendency of tourists to visit rural events by using the qualitative content analysis method and providing a conceptual framework of these factors. Then, by analyzing the data of Meymand Flower and Rose Festival tourists based on the conceptual model, the types of tourists of this local event were identified.Materials and MethodsThis research aims to identify the factors that attract event tourists to local festivals using the Q method in Meymand Flower and Rose Festival, Fars. In terms of purpose, this research is practical, and according to the approach and type of data, it can be categorized as mixed research. The current research was carried out in 2023 in Fars province regarding time and place. In this research, first, the qualitative content analysis method with a directional approach has been used to identify and determine the existing indicators. Then, to know the mentality of participants in the Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival and collect data (using the Q method), all the customers who participated in this festival in 2023 were studied.Discussion and ResultsIn the first step, based on the content analysis of the screened studies, the researchers reviewed the final studies several times to determine titles or themes. At this stage, the researchers identified the factors affecting tourists' tendency towards events. Since some words had the same meaning, the necessary overlaps were made, and some indicators were removed. In the next step, the content validity ratio of Lawshe was used to check the validity of indicators in rural tourism. After this step, the number of 50 indicators was finalized and categorized into 15 concepts. Then, in the quantitative part, the data obtained from the Q factor analysis methodology was used to identify and extract the mentality of tourists. For this purpose, the tourists' opinions about the factors affecting their attendance at the Meymand Flower and Rose Festival 2023 were collected. With exploratory factor analysis, the participants were selected based on the shared values and the role of the data in explaining the total explanatory variance, and finally, the Varimax rotation divided the rest into four groups after removing 30 of them.ConclusionsIn this research, an attempt was made to use a mixed approach; firstly, with the help of qualitative content analysis, the indicators and components of local festivals were identified, and then the mentality of the tourists of Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival was extracted as a study. Finally, a conceptual framework of influencingfactors on customers' tendencies, including 50 indicators in 15 components, was presented. Then, based on the results of the quantitative method, four groups of customers were identified in Meymand Rose and Rose Festival. Enjoying nature, weather, and flowers and plants are among the motivations that are common among all four groups; in other words, it was the common feature of all visitors to this festival. However, in the separated groups, the factors have a significant dispersion.In the first group, the three factors of accessibility, hospitality of the destination, and spending time with friends are among the unique factors that have attracted them to this festival. This group constituted almost 37 percent of the participants in the research.The second group, which included almost 27 percent of the sample of festival tourists, with a sense of loyalty to the event and satisfaction, considers this festival a platform for social interactions and feels a sense of national pride by attending it.The third group is attracted to this festival with patriotic motives and the aim of learning, excitement, and making memories, and the festival’s popularity has been one of the main reasons for them. Finally, the fourth group of this festival has chosen a suitable place for photography and a space to enjoy holidays and relaxation with the intention of diversity in experience.In this context, the most significant difference between the present research and the previous studies is related to the classification of factors affecting the tendency of tourists, so that in none of the mentioned researches, the factors influencing the attraction of event tourists to local festivals have not been reported in a comprehensive category.Therefore, it is recommended to relevant provincial and national policymakers and patriot service providers to pay attention to the extracted effective indicators as the most key factors in their service strategy by recognizing the important characteristics of each category of tourists.
Marketing economics
Nader Seyed kalali; kamyar Raissifar; Elham Heydari
Abstract
In recent years, the economic potential of the tourism industry has attracted the attention of economic players. Studying the performance of active businesses in this industry and identifying effective factors in it has become more important. One of the variables that have been studied in this regard ...
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In recent years, the economic potential of the tourism industry has attracted the attention of economic players. Studying the performance of active businesses in this industry and identifying effective factors in it has become more important. One of the variables that have been studied in this regard has been entrepreneurial orientation. Most studies have shown that entrepreneurial orientation positively affects performance as a unidimensional construct. However, scholars have urged to investigate the effects of the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation on performance separately due to the existence of contradictory results and different conceptualizations. Moreover, adding other variables as moderators or mediators of this relationship has been helpful. In the present research, the effects of innovativeness, proactiveness, and riskiness on the performance of Iran's tourism sector firms, considering the mediating effect of marketing capabilities and the moderating effect of learning culture, have been studied.IntroductionDespite the vast potential of tourism in Iran, this industry has yet to grow enough. One of the reasons for this is the conditions of the enterprises working in this sector. Growth occurs when companies make a profit and capital increase becomes possible. The profits of travel agencies in Iran are usually low, and their managers need help to grow their businesses. Managing these firms is a critical factor in their success, and understanding how travel agencies in Iran can perform better than their competitors is of major importance.The strategic management domain is concerned with studying how organizations grow. Various factors can have an impact on the performance of firms. Among them, strategic orientations can be named. Entrepreneurial orientation is one of the major strategic orientations. Many empirical studies have shown that firms with entrepreneurial orientation have high-performance levels.The question is how entrepreneurial orientation can affect performance. Drawing on the capability theory of the firm, we study how the entrepreneurial orientation strengthens organizational capabilities, including marketing capabilities, and these capabilities affect performance. Marketing capabilities are organizational capabilities that target current and potential customers of the firm and encompass functions such as pricing, promotion, distribution, product/service development, communications, and marketing planning.Contextual factors such as organizational culture should also be taken into account. Companies have different characteristics that reflect their culture. This research studied the effects of entrepreneurial orientation and learning culture on business performance with the mediating effect of marketing capabilities.MethodsThis study looks at travel agencies in Teheran and uses a questionnaire to gather data. The survey has been piloted to ensure the questions are clear and comprehensible. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized for data analysis. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) method was used because its characteristics have led to its increasing application in strategy and entrepreneurship research. One hundred three surveys were collected from travel agency managers in Teheran.ResultsThe survey results indicate that proactiveness and innovativeness significantly impact and marketing capabilities mediate this relationship. The impact of riskiness on performance is not significant. In addition, although the moderating effect of the learning culture is not confirmed, its positive effect, as an independent variable on marketing capacities, is significant.ConclusionThis study aims to evaluate the connection between research variables in the tourism sector of Iran through the use of the capability theory of the firm. The results indicate that the performance of travel agency firms is influenced by the resources and capabilities of firms. The managers of these firms are involved with the day-to-day administration of their firms’ issues. They need to pay more attention to their business’s innovative, proactive, and risky nature, which may impact their performance. This research emphasizes the role of strategic orientation, capabilities, and cultural dimensions in improving business performance. The sample of this research is limited to the managers of the travel agencies and the geographical area of Tehran in Iran. Therefore, prospective researchers may conduct studies in other industries and geographic areas. They may also utilize larger samples. Future research may explore the role of other cultural dimensions in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Prospective researchers may also study the role of several marketing capabilities separately in mediating the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on performance.
Marketing economics
Ameneh Khadivar; Maryam Golestani; Fahimeh Golshani
Abstract
The main goal of the current research is to predict the ethical purchase intention of sustainable products in the circular business model through the behavior of customers/tourists using artificial neural network (ANN). The statistical population of the present study are customers/tourists who have used ...
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The main goal of the current research is to predict the ethical purchase intention of sustainable products in the circular business model through the behavior of customers/tourists using artificial neural network (ANN). The statistical population of the present study are customers/tourists who have used the products/services of Gargop restaurant. Sampling was done based on Morgan's table and 384 people were examined through a questionnaire. The results indicate that as much as the input variables include attitude (willingness to pay more money, attitude towards circular business models), perceived value (social value, functional value and value) and awareness (awareness of ethical product/service and brand awareness) have a higher value; it is expected that the ethical purchase intention will be stronger. The present study by examining the behavioral factors of customers to the collection of literature related to circular business models and also sustainable development helps.IntroductionTourism has many positive and negative economic, social, cultural, and environmental effects. These dimensions have always been and will be discussed in most sources as essential areas of destination sustainability in sustainable development issues. In the world, the tourism industry is known as a smoke-free industry. According to those mentioned above, the expectation from this industry without smoke is that all these active businesses will operate in line with sustainable development goals. On the other hand, the rapid growth of the world's population and urbanization increases consumption significantly, while natural resources are limited and scarce (De Angelis, 2018). The world's population is estimated to reach about nine billion people by 2050, and it consumes resources more than three times the current rate (Planning, 2015). The current linear economy, characterized by "take-produce-do things in order," accelerates the depletion of resources and energy (Boken et al., 2017).The concept of circular or circular economy, inspired by nature in the late 1970s, means that nothing is wasted and all outputs are inputs to other processes (Ellen McArthur, 2018). The circular economy is a strategy to oppose the traditional market system, aiming to deal with the challenge of lack of resources and waste disposal in a win-win approach with an economic and value perspective (Homrich et al., 2018). The ethical purchase intention of customers/tourists is essential for the successful implementation of circular business models and sustainable development. However, few researchers have focused on the role of customers/tourists in activating circular business models and sustainable development.The current research fills this gap by identifying the essential factors that affect the ethical purchase intention of customers/tourists for circular business models and sustainable products/services in the tourism industry in restaurants and catering centers. According to the research of researchers of this article, no research has been done on the mentioned subject in this way in Iran, so the value and innovation of the present research are also evident. Therefore, the main problem of the current research is that only some customers or tourists may buy and use sustainable products/services; for example, tourists interested in using luxury restaurants may need to be more attractive to them. In this regard, the main goal of the current research is to identify the behavioral factors that determine customers'/tourists' intention to purchase sustainable products in circular business models ethically.For this purpose, artificial neural network (ANN) has been used as a prediction method, and Python software has been used for analysis. The network's output in this research is ethical purchase intention, and its inputs are the behavioral factors of customers/tourists. The statistical population of this research is the customers/tourists who use the products/services of Gargop restaurant, the first wooden recycled restaurant in Iran, which has all its facilities, products, and services in line with sustainable development near Khorkhoran International Wetland in the coastal city of Bandar Khmeir, Hormozgan province. Sampling was done based on the table of Morgan and Krejcie, and 384 people were examined through a questionnaire. Materials and MethodsThe present research is quantitative; firstly, primary information was collected using a questionnaire, then analyzed using an artificial neural network (ANN) prediction method and Python software. The output of the network in this research is ethical purchase intention. Its inputs are the behavioral factors of customers/tourists, including attitude (willingness to pay more money - attitude towards circular business models), perceived value (social value - functional value - cognitive value) is awareness (biological awareness - environmental awareness - awareness of ethical product/service - brand awareness).The statistical population of this research is the customers/tourists who use the products/services of Gargop restaurant, the first wooden recycled restaurant in Iran, which has all its facilities, products, and services in line with sustainable development near Khorkhoran International Wetland in the coastal city of Bandar Khmeir, Hormozgan province. Sampling was done based on the table of Morgan and Krejcie, and 384 people were examined through a questionnaire.Discussion and ResultsThe specifications of the model are as follows:Due to the lack of balance of the data classes, that were 339 in category one (ethical purchase intention) and only 45 in category zero (no ethical purchase intention) the SMOTE algorithm (Chawla et al., 2002) have used to solve this problem and the increase of the data of the lower class (not intending to buy ethically). Therefore, the neural network was built with an equal number of 339 in class one (ethical purchase intention) and 339 in class zero (no ethical purchase intention). The data were divided into three categories: 70% training, 20% testing, and 10% validation. ConclusionsAccording to the research results, when x variables include attitude (willingness to pay more money (x1), attitude towards circular business models (x2)) - perceived value (social value (x3), functional value (x4) and cognitive value (x5)) and awareness (awareness of ethical product/service (x6) and brand awareness (x7)) get a higher value, variable y means ethical purchase intention also increases, gives that, of course, this relationship is not linear and is formed in the form of a network, and the hidden layer is also essential. By examining the issue from the customers' point of view, the present research contributes to the collection of literature related to ethical purchase intention and circular business models, and consequently to sustainable development, especially in the restaurant and tourism industry, and it provides valuable guidelines for businesses to be more successful in the current market. Considering that businesses have shifted from a linear economy to a circular economy, the vital role of customers/tourists should not be ignored.Therefore, understanding the essential behavioral factors of customers can pave this path, and by predicting their ethical purchase intention through these important behavioral factors, it is possible to predict their behavior and influence their behavior change because the behavior is not formed by itself and is the result of the customer's intention to buy ethically. The current research expands the role of customers and explains how different factors can collectively affect customers' acceptance and purchase intention of the circular business model. Business managers can apply the circular business model in their business and adjust the type of their offers according to the customers they want to target. The present research results help them better understand the behavior of customers who pay more attention to sustainable development goals and are concerned in some way.The intention (intention) and customers' buying behavior are essential to implement the circular business model successfully. Customers' different personal characteristics and changes over time make it difficult for businesses to fully understand their expectations and behavior. This is even more important given the drastic changes from linear to circular economies. Therefore, businesses should do deep market research about their target customers in different time frames and consider many characteristics in a categorized manner. Finally, to successfully brand and protect the brand, as a business that operates with sustainability goals, it should take special measures and stabilize this brand in customers' minds in the long term.
