Social Marketing Mix Dimensions as Determinants of Brand Loyalty: A Case Study

Abstract

1. IntroductionOne of the most important goals for brand owners is to develop brand loyalty in their customers. Loyal customers are regarded as a certain source of profitability for companies and given the environment of uncertainty, it brings a suitable margin of safety for them (Harris & Goode, 2004; Woodside & Walser, 2007). On the other hand, social marketing mix is a group of tools used to control and, if combined, that allow organizations to respond to the target market and audience (Kotler & Armstrong, 2000). This study aims to explore the relationship between social marketing mix and brand loyalty through a case study of Naein hand-woven carpet.2. Literature Review2.1. Concept of Social MarketingSocial marketing was proposed for the first time at the end of 1960's and beginning of 1970's (Saunders et al., 2015) when some researchers such as Kotler used the concepts of business marketing for an extensive range of social problems and concepts (Kotler & Levy, 1969; Kotler & Zaltman, 1971). The social marketing discipline is maturing fast. There are growing numbers of academic courses in social marketing around the world (Spotswood et al., 2012). It has been designed from the body of different kinds of knowledge such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, politics, and communicative theories along with scientific fields in advertising, public relations, and market research.Social marketing tries to create positive social changes and can be used to foster suitable products, creating a target audience, preventing unsuitable products and services, and finally enable promulgation of welfare (Serat, 2010). Indeed social marketing is the use of marketing techniques in social problems in order to create the motivation to perform an act or behavior in people that is helpful for them (Ricordeau et al., 2003). Generally, social marketing intends to achieve one of the following (Kotler et al., 2002):i. accepting the new behavior among the potential behaviors,ii. adjusting the current behavior, andiii. quitting the previous behavior.Also, the change of behavior is voluntary, which helps in understanding what people know, believe, and do by using a customer-orientation approach (Ghasemi & Bordbar, 2015).Social marketing has remained essentially an application of commercial marketing principles to a planned behavior change strategy (Lee & Kotler, 2011). Social marketing literature and texts emphasize both customer-centricity and also voluntary behavior change. However, in a situation where customer consultation and research indicate that direct regulation is both supported and the most effective approach, both are required (Maryon-Davis, 2010).Craig Lefebvre advanced three propositions that are useful in guiding our thinking about new ways to broaden the intellectual and disciplinary horizons of social marketing (Saunders et al., 2015). These are:i. All social marketing stakeholders have a part to play in the evolution of social marketing regardless of their educational background or career niche.ii. The theory and empirical basis for our work has become mired in old ways of thinking about marketing and social change and needs to be updated.iii. The practice of social marketing should both drive and reflect new marketing and social change ideas and the trans-disciplinary nature of our work (Lefebvre, 2012).2.2. Social Marketing MixAs previously noted, social marketing mix is a group of tools to control and, if combined, allow organizations to respond to the target market and audience (Kotler & Armstrong, 2000). Normally, use of social marketing mix is more complex than the business sector. The main problem refers to imperceptibility of a product that is offered to the customer.Other researchers have considered the existence of other factors in the marketing mix, among which the government, politics, and participation can be mentioned (Winrich, 1999). …