نشریه کاوش های مدیریت بازرگانی
پیاپی 25 (بهار و تابستان 1400)

Small businesses are the driving force behind economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction in developing countries. They are like tools with which economic growth and industrialization are accelerated. In addition, small-scale businesses are known as feeders for large-scale businesses, so they have become more important in pursuit of the economic and social development. Small businesses often struggle to survive and are vulnerable to competition from large companies. This type of business has a significant role in the sustainable economic and social development of a country in terms of contributing to GDP. Because of their strategic role in promoting the economy of a nation in terms of poverty reduction and creation of job opportunities, they are recognized in the management of the country.

The Resource Based View (RBV) believes that the company's resources enable it to gain a competitive advantage and achieve excellent performance in the long run. From a perspective of resources, the strengths and weaknesses of firms have been addressed in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Thus, in our study, we investigate the factors affecting the performance of small businesses at the firm-level such as ownership, experience, export ratio, inventory and R&D and labor-level factors including skills, education, gender, and manufacturing work force. Firm-specific factors are those that are specific to a business and distinguish it from other companies. Furthermore, in this study, four variables including industry type, total assets, sales and number of employees have been used as control variables.

The sample consists of small firms located in the urban and rural parts of Iran. The data are collected from 17000 industrial workshops by the Iranian Statistics Center. There is no single definition of small and medium industries in Iran; even at the level of industrial statistics centers of the country, different definitions are used. The Statistics Center of Iran has classified businesses into four categories including 1-9 staff, 10-49 staff, 50-99 staff and more than 100 staff. This is because the most common criterion for defining small and medium-sized industries is the number of employees; in many studies, workshops with 1 to 15 people are considered as small businesses, from 15 to 250 people as medium-sized businesses, and more than that as large businesses. The sample of this research consists of industrial workshops with 15 employees and fewer.. The firms with missing data were excluded. Thus, our final sample included 1527 small business. A correlation matrix and a hierarchical linear regression model were used to test the research hypotheses by the SPSS software.

The data show that, out of 5643 industrial workshops with 1 to 15 employees in 1991, only 106 workshops (1.88%) were active in exporting their products to foreign countries. The majority of workshop ownership (93.6%) is in the hands of the private sector. Next to that, most of the workshops are cooperatively owned (4.6%) and publicly owned (1.8%), respectively. The results show the impacts of factors such as company experience, research and development activities as well as skills and education of employees on the performance of small businesses in Iran. However, the type of ownership (private, government or cooperative) and export activity have no effect on the performance including assets growth and sales growth. Export activity and export experience did not affect the performance of small businesses in Iran. The findings also show that the type of industry, sales volume and assets play a significant controlling role in the performance of small businesses. In this study, there are some limitations, the most important of which are 1) confidentiality of the data available in the Statistics Center of Iran, which has led to a lot of time and money spent on the research, 2) the unavailability of some financial information of companies causing the researcher in the field not to consider more financial criteria for performance, and 3) the incompleteness of some data and the unavailability of corporate information that has limited the use of more samples.

Small businesses that are more involved in manufacturing activities and spend less money on product designs and development processes have more growth in assets and, therefore, perform better than other small companies. The Findings show that experience affects the performance of small businesses. Our findings show that there is a relationship between employee skills and small business performance. In fact, this means that having a skilled staff is essential for a small industrial workshop.  Finally, the findings indicate that younger small businesses that have limited R&D activities but well-educated workforce and focus on production have better performance in Iran.

Nowadays, banks offer their customers new ways of doing things, such as different types of self-service, in order to satisfy customers and facilitate their day-to-day operations. Due to the community's acceptance of self-service banks, in near future, many banking activities will be self-service, and more advanced equipment with more capabilities will be put into operation, and bank branches will be eliminated. Due to recent developments in the country's banking, the expectations of banking customers from the banking network has risen in such a way that all customers want to receive high-quality services, increase the speed of banking operations and pay special attention to employees. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors that affect the quality of banking services in the country through expert analysis and propose solutions to address the shortcomings. Eghtesad Novin Bank, as a private bank, is no exception in keeping its customers satisfied with other banks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of technological readiness of customers and self-service quality on customer's electronic satisfaction considering the moderating role of the two variables of trust and perceived value.

The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and correlational in terms of data collection. Since this research was conducted on an individual level, the statistical population included the customers of Bank Eghtesad Novin branches in Mashhad, each of which used the bank's self-service in some way. The statistical population of the customers of the bank branches in Mashhad was the sample size for this research. According to the number of the operational variables of research, the sample consisted of 410 individuals. Moreover, According to the research model, some hypotheses were made as follows:Hypothesis 1: Customer technological readiness affects customer satisfaction through the perceived quality of services.Hypothesis 2:Technological readiness through perceived quality of self-service services has an effect on customer satisfaction with the mediating role of trust.Hypothesis 3: Technological readiness through perceived quality of self-service services affects customer satisfaction with the mediating role of the perceived value.The data were collected using a questionnaire, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The questionnaire was developed in the form of a 5-point Likert scale. The reliability of the instrument was also evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The hypotheses were analyzed using the torque structure analysis software (AMOS v.18) and the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS v.19). In order to provide a background for modeling structural equations, the correlations among the research variables were examined. The scale of measurement of the research variables was of distance type, and the correlation among them served as a basis for the statistical analysis and the calculation of Pearson correlation. 

Given that, for all the variables have values above 0.7, the data collection tool has good reliability. Also, the amount of elongation and skewness of all the data is ±1, which indicates that the data are normal. In addition, in the fitted factor analysis model, the factor load of all the items is significant at the confidence level of 0.95. Therefore, none of the questionnaire items were deleted. The significance level of the items is below 0.05. It should be noted that the model includes the dimensions of technology readiness, i.e., optimism, innovation, security, and difficulty, as well as the dimensions of the quality of self-service services, i.e., operation, comfort, pleasure, reliability and security. The variables themselves play the role of the latent variables in a structural model, but the variables trust, perceived value and satisfaction have no dimension. Therefore, the items of these variables are considered as variables.

The results of a self-service quality mediator test on the relationship between technological readiness and e-customer satisfaction showed that the indirect effect of technological readiness on e-satisfaction through self-service quality is significant. In addition, the mediating roles of perceived value and trust were investigated in this study, which resulted in the confirmation of the role of the perceived value; the mediating role of trust in this regard was not confirmed. Also, the fit indices of the CFA model indicated the optimal fit of the measurement models and confirmed the significance of the factor load of each observed variable versus the corresponding latent variable. Moreover, out of all the hypotheses considered, the effect of trust on electronic satisfaction was confirmed. Following this rejection, the hypothesis about the effect of technological readiness through the quality of self-service on customer satisfaction with the mediating role of trust was not confirmed.

In recent years, the issue of brand and its management has been considered by companies and marketers. Famous and prominent brands in the consumer's mind contain a set of distinct associations. From a consumer perspective, a brand can create value for a product and is, therefore, an important part of the product. Since consumer’s shopping behavior varies according to the product type, this study can help both producers and marketers to present products in accordance with the needs and demand of the customer. Brand prominence is one of the important factors that influence purchase decisions. What factors affect brand prominence is an important subject in the marketing science. The emergence of global luxury brands in Iran in the field of sports goods is quite evident, and consumerism and the tendency for luxury goods are increasing. People usually use luxury goods not just because they need them but because their goal is to show their higher social status. Since the market of luxury sports brands in Iran has many customers and competitors, companies in these competitive conditions must establish their brands in the minds of customers if they are to make sufficient profits and increase their market share. Also, customers' decision-making in sports goods is strongly influenced by the brand and its value created for the customer. It is important to pay attention to some elements of the brand, such as brand prominence and decision-making to buy. The purpose of this research is to develop a conceptual model of decision making to purchase by explaining the role of brand prominence and identifying its dimensions with a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The present study aims to identify and construct a conceptual model of purchasing decision-making with the role of brand prominence. It has a developmental purpose and exploratory nature. The factors were identified by the grounded theory, and then a quantitative method and the research background were used to determine the relationships among the variables. Therefore, in terms of the data type, this research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative types. Since the concept of purchasing decision making does not have a comprehensive model to explaining the role of brand prominence and the factors affecting it, a broad source of information is needed to evaluate these factors. Indeed, the decision to buy is influenced by various factors. According to the grounded theory approach, discovering the main concepts of the data, analyzing and loading the data code to identify the concepts and creating a theoretical model were undertaken in this research. In the qualitative stage, the grounded theory method was used in modeling. The quantitative data were collected using a standard questionnaire derived from previous research. The quantitative data were analyzed through factor analysis by the Smart PLS 3 software. Questionnaires were distributed and analyzed. Random sampling was also conducted on the customers of sports luxury brands. The results showed that quality (t = 2/521), brand awareness (t = 4/527) and brand image (t = 9.296) have significant effects on the brand prominence of luxury sport products. Brand's pricing (t = 0.349) and association (t = 0.705) are, however, unaffected by the prominence of the brand. Brand prominence also affects the purchase decision making for sports luxury goods both directly and through brand attitude (T = 28.9694) and brand loyalty (t = 10.55755). Considering the positive path coefficient in the first hypothesis and the significance of t-statistic, we can point to a positive and significant relationship between quality and brand prominence. Based on the second hypothesis, the effect of brand awareness on brand prominence was confirmed, which indicates that, with an increase in brand awareness, brand prominence increases too. The third hypothesis was not confirmed and showed that price has no significant effect on the prominence of luxury sports brands. The fourth hypothesis based on the effect of brand image on brand prominence was confirmed, which shows that, with an increase in brand image, brand prominence increases. The fifth hypothesis about the effect of brand association on brand prominence was not accepted. The sixth hypothesis on the effect of brand prominence on purchasing decision was confirmed, which means that, as the brand prominence increases in the mind of the consumer, the purchasing decision increases too. The seventh hypothesis about the effect of brand prominence on brand attitude was confirmed the eighth hypothesis that measures the effect of brand attitude on brand loyalty was confirmed as well. This research is an empirical study of designing a purchase decision pattern with a brand prominence. Quality, brand awareness and brand image had effects on the prominence of the durable goods brand, but the variables of price and association did not affect the prominence of the brand. Brand prominence influenced purchasing decisions. Attitude towards the brand also had a positive impact on brand loyalty which, in turn, played an effective role in the decision to buy durable goods. According to the research findings, brands can find a high position with customers by the study of how their prominence affects the decision to buy and the factors that affect the prominence of a brand in the minds of consumers.

The world today faces accelerating changes in customer needs and a steady reduction in environmental resources. In such a situation, checking consumer behavior is essential. Consumer behavior refers to all the thoughts, feelings, and actions that an individual has or takes before or while buying any product, service, or idea. Considering that one of the declining resources in the world today is water resources, this study examines consumer behavior in local water markets as a case study. The studied area is the Zayandehrood basin of Iran, which, in recent years, has faced major problems in water resources decline. This has caused many social crises, especially in the agriculture section with the highest consumption. The focus of local water markets has recently been on this national issue, but its full implementation requires structural, legal, economic, and social reforms. Factors such as farmers' fear of unemployment, fear of decrease in agricultural land prices, and fear of migrations from the village have pushed farmers to resist the implementation of such markets. In recent years, the experience of water problems has brought the corresponding organizations to the conclusion that, merely with concentration on economic, technical, and engineering issues, water crises cannot be solved and the need for attention to social dimensions and consumer behavior management is essential. Therefore, in this research, the prerequisits are already provided for the formation of water markets not from the technical and economic vision, but from the social dimension. This is the distinction of this research from other research works. This study is developmental in terms of purpose. It is conducted through  the grounded theory and Gtopsis. The case study in this paper is the water market, and the statistical population includes three groups of experts (academics, farmers, and water industry experts). The sampling is by snowball method. The data collection tool is interviews. By the use of the qualitative approach of grounded theory, the factors affecting consumer behavior are identified with the aim of designing a social capital management model. An appropriate model is designed, and then the identified factors are ranked with the group Topsis approach. In order to meet the aim of the study, which is to design a social capital management model to facilitate the implementation of the water market, it was decided to use grounded theory. For this purpose, first, it was necessary to identify the variables affecting the model. The variables were the factors affecting the behavior of consumers (farmers) and encouraging participation in the water market. The data analysis was carried out using the grounded theory in three stages of open, axial and selective coding. One of the most important results of this research is the ranking of factors affecting consumer behavior and planning based on them to attract popular participation in the implementation of the water market. After designing the model, in order to make the best use of the results and answer the second part of the main research question, the researcher proceeded to rank the identified factors with the group TOPSIS approach. The factors that encourage social participation in the formation of the water market include factors related to the regulatory body and the government, cultural-situational and lifestyle factors, factors related to publicity and awareness, demographic factors, factors related to the household economy, environmental factors, product-related factors, sales factors, factors related to production inputs, and factors related to the intention to buy. The results of this research can be used to identify the factors affecting the implementation of a water market in the social dimension. The study suggests certain  ways of encouraging farmers to participate in water market implementation and, ultimately, attracting more farmers, improving the market conditions, increasing customer satisfaction, improving the community's welfare and saving more water resources. The results of the research show that, of the variables affecting social capital management, the factors related to the supervisory institution and government and situational-cultural and lifestyle along with the factors related to publicity and public awareness are the most important in the implementing and development of water markets. The suggestions that can be made for future research include integrating the proposed model with other patterns, using suitable software for qualitative data, applying the method in different local markets, and comparing the results. Overall, it seems that the proposed model helps to achieve public welfare, save water resources, predict consumer behavior in the formation of the water market, and solve social problems associated with its implementation.

To stay in a competitive market, organizations need to focus on customers as the key elements of the market. In this regard, one of the techniques that help organizations is customer relationship management, which strengthens the relationship of the organization with customers and makes them loyal to it. Of course, in order to gain loyal customers, communication with the customer is not enough, but the quality of this relationship is also very important. In other words, a strong relationship with customers is the most important key to the success of any business. Many customer behaviors towards service providers are influenced by the type of relationship between customers and service providers. On the other hand, marketing science seeks to know the customer and how his or her behavioral responses affect marketing actions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of relationship quality on Customer’s Economic Behaviors in Arak's Sport Clubs.

The present study is a descriptive-correlational research that has been done using structural equations. The statistical population of the study included the customers of health and fitness clubs in Arak. The statistical sample was selected by a stratified and geographical method. The selected classes were from the north, south, east, west and center of the city. As many as 300 people were considered as a sample. After the research questionnaires were distributed, 266 of them were carefully extracted and analyzed. The data were collected by a 19-item questionnaire with four variables including relationship quality (Palmatier, 2007; Roberts et al., 2003), the desire to pay more (Bigne et al., 2008), the desire for re-attendance (Lim, 2006) and customer share (Palmatier, 2007). The validity was tested by an expert panel (N = 15). The reliability was done by Cronbach's alpha. The data analyses were done using SPSS16 (for preparation of data and descriptive statistics)and the Smart PLS3 Software (to test the research model).

The descriptive results of the research variables showed that the relationship quality average was 5.31, the average of the desire for re-attendance was 4.98, and the average of the desire to pay more was 4.96, which was higher than the average value of 4. Also, the customer share average was 66.5%. In the inferential part, the fit of the model was examined as the fit of the measurement model and the fit of the structural model. In the measurement model section, the composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha were greater than 0.7. The total factor loading of the questions was more than 0.4, and their significance coefficients (t coefficients) were higher than 2.58, which indicates the appropriateness of the measurement model. The AVE (average variance extracted) was greater than 0.5 in all the variables, the CR was greater than 0.7, and the CR > AVE condition was met. As a result, it can be said that the convergent validity is acceptable in the measurement model. The results of the divergent validity also showed that the variables in the model of the present study have more interaction with their questions than with other variables. In other words, the divergent validity of the model was adequate. With respect to the fitness of the structural model, the indicators showed that the structural model has a good fit. Also, the path coefficients of the research variables showed that the relationship quality has a positive and significant effect on the desire to pay more (the path coefficient was 0.653). Therefore, if the quality of the customer relationship improves, the customer will be willing to pay more to buy from the club, and, if similar services are offered by competitors at a lower price, he or she will not be willing to leave the club and join a competitor. Also, the quality of the relationship has a positive and significant effect on the desire for re-attendance (with a path coefficient of 0.519). In other words, the customer who finds the quality of relationship with the club desirable will continue to cooperate and buy more from the club. Finally, the relationship quality has a positive and significant effect on customer share (with a path coefficient of 0.495). In other words, a customer who is satisfied with his or her relationship with the club will take a greater share of sporting activities at the club. All this leads to more purchases and higher payments to the club, which brings a profit for the club. Of course, it should be noted that the effect of relationship quality on the tendency to pay more is stronger than the other two variables and has the least effect on customer share.

All the efforts of organizations in general and sports clubs in particular are to gain ability to retain their current customers and attract new customers. Customers do not just use the club services; they seek to have a relationship with the club beyond a customer. Research has shown that customer behavior after purchase is affected by the type of service provided and the relationship quality that the organization has established with customers. So, according to the research results, sports clubs should establish a relationship with quality, trust, commitment and customer satisfaction, so that customers, in addition to continuing to attend clubs, will have no problem to pay more for more services and get a greater share of the sports services they need from their current club. If customers perceive this relationship, they will buy more from the club at a higher cost, to the extent that this relationship leads to loyalty and promotion for the club by customers. Finally, it is suggested that clubs influence post-purchase behaviors by designing beautiful spaces in the club environment, consulting with customers, improving the quality of services, establishing communication inside and outside the club, holding festivals with customers and creating emotional relationships with customers.

Business success cannot be overstated today. In this regard, predicting consumer behavior is a key to the success of planning and managing the changing environment. The focus of this study is on recognizing the future behavior of consumers in buying goods with high mental involvement. In fact, this study identifies the factors, dimensions, components and indicators affecting this behavior through a structural model. This study seeks to answer the question ‘how can a structural model with respect to factors, dimensions, components and effective indicators predict future consumer behavior? To answer this question, at first, the theoretical literature was reviewed to identify a list of effective structures that could be related to the main concept of the research. By asking three questions and conducting interviews with academic and industry experts, further cases were identified. In the second study, the researchers presented the research hypotheses using the structures approved in the first study. By examining them, the final structural model was presented.

In this study, researchers used two qualitative and quantitative methods in a row, from problem design to conclusion. Therefore, the typology of this research is combined and sequential-exploratory. In the first study, the aim is to discover the factors, dimensions, indicators and components of consumer futures buying behavior for products with high mental involvement, so its focus is on the content. Since the second study of this research intends to develop applied knowledge in providing a model for predicting the future buying behavior of consumers for products with high mental engagement, it is of a practical type. In the first study, consecutive sampling and snowball chain network sampling method were used to achieve theoretical saturation or sampling adequacy. In the second study, probabilistic sampling and one-stage cluster random sampling methods were used. Two methods were used to collect the data, library and field methods. The library method was used in the research literature, and the field method was for collecting the data. In the first study, the experts were interviewed, and, finally, by the designing of a protocol, the data were collected to analyze their opinions. In the second study, through the design of a researcher-made questionnaire, the data were collected, and the hypotheses of this section were examined in the form of inferential statistics. In the first study, to verify the reliability, the review method was used by another informed person to ensure the accuracy of the data obtained. Maxwell validation method was used to evaluate the validity of the study. In the second study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire, and confirmatory factor analysis and KMO scaling were performed to evaluate the validity. In the first study, the Delphi method was applied in four rounds to review the theoretical literature, and 17 university and industry experts were interviewed to obtain their opinions. Also, fuzzy Delphi logic was used to analyze their opinions. In the second study, a 417-person sample was selected, and then AMOS and SPSS software programs served to analyze the components and indicators in the form of two measured and structural models.

This study is in line with previous research to identify predictors of consumer future buying behavior. However, in the second part of the research, the effective components were added to a model with a number of modifications to push the research one step further. In other words, the second study confirmed the results of the first study and previous studies. New findings were added to the predictors of consumer future buying behavior. This research also has practical implications. It was shown that what consumers pay attention to about the product's mental engagement is their rationale for realizing their future buying behavior. Also, the consumer's feelings about buying a product or brand can affect their future buying behavior as an experience. This means that, if brands and marketers can create a situation where customers feel good, then the likelihood of them to buy from that brand increases in the future.

In the first part of the study, two factors, four dimensions, eighteen components and sixty-five indicators related to the main concept were identified. In the second part of the study, the research components were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis, and the approved components were fitted in the final model. The results of this study showed that the feedback from the sellers and attention to product changes from the viewpoint of its social effects had the highest amount of de-fuzzy and were the most important. On the other hand, the index of environmental groups from the viewpoint of mental norms had the least amount of de-fuzzy and was the least important index.

As we enter the third millennium, we witness rapid changes in technology and an increase in the complexity of environmental complexities. Under such circumstances, strategic management is widely used by most businesses to overcome uncertainties and withstand the onslaught of competitors. Meanwhile, the realization of visions, missions, and values and the competitive strategies of firms has become the main concern. This is because strategy development alone will not guarantee the success of the company. Unless these strategies are implemented; they will have no effect on the success and survival of the organization. Thus, the implementation of the strategy is far more important than the quality of the strategy. However, the challenges of strategic management lie in the implementation phase of the strategy more than the formulation stage. Therefore, the strategy execution and use of formal processes in strategy implementation management are critical to facilitating strategy implementation and achieving outstanding performance. In this research, strategy execution emphasizes translating strategies into action, aligning strategies with contextual variables, and managing strategic transformations. However, the readiness for strategy execution is one of the major scientific and practical shortcomings in effective strategy execution. The purpose of this study is to design and explain the model of strategy execution readiness based on a comprehensive and operational approach that fits the ecosystem of Iranian organizations. This is an applied type of research in terms of purpose. Due to the knowledge enhancement resulting from explaining the concept of strategy execution readiness, this research also has a developmental nature. It is done through exploratory, descriptive, and hypothesis testing sequences. The research seeks to establish the dimensions and components of measuring the readiness of strategy execution using an inductive -deductive research approach in the form of a combined exploratory research strategy. Thus, in the qualitative stage of the model design, the method of qualitative content analysis is used. In the stage of model testing and fitting, the structural equation modeling and the method of partial least squares are applied with the Smart PLS software. Also, the data are collected, analyzed, and modeled by theoretical sampling and interviews with experts in the qualitative part of the research and by random sampling and distribution of questionnaires in the quantitative part of the research. In this study, the theoretical foundations of the subject were reviewed, and the opinions of 21 experts in the field of holding were used. Also, based on qualitative content analysis and theoretical coding, a comprehensive and operational model was designed and explained. The results of the qualitative data analysis, which were validated by professors and academic experts, were presented in the four dimensions of leadership, human, organizational and strategic preparedness, along with 12 key components and 62 items. Also, the structural equation modeling method was used to evaluate the suitability of the proposed model of strategies readiness. The results of applying the methodology proposed in the present study demonstrate the acceptable fit and validity of the organization readiness model for strategy execution. Actually, the average value of redundancies related to endogenous factors in the model is equal to 0.39. Also, the significance level of T in all paths of the model is more than 1.96. In other words, in all paths, the obtained weights have a significant difference with zero, which indicates the correctness of the relationships among the dimensions. Thus, the research hypotheses are confirmed at a 95% confidence level. Finally, through the calculation of the GOF value, 0.63 was obtained. For GOF, this value indicates a strong overall fit of the model. Based on the data analysis algorithm, the strategic preparedness component as the most important component of the current preparedness and leadership was considered as the weakest preparedness condition in food products holdings. In order to increase the readiness of strategy execution based on the Delphi method, the most important executive initiatives were prioritized to establish corporate governance, to improve scenario planning, strategic issues and risks in leadership readiness, to coordinate communication policies, to visualize the vision in human readiness, to design forums, succession and participation rewards in organizational readiness, to establish better future research systems, to set up a thinking framework, and to implementat business intelligence and operational budgeting for strategic readiness. Application of the results of this research can improve the organizational readiness for strategy execution and make it possible to implement effective strategies and, consequently, embody visions, missions and values.

Nowadays, the service industry has a fundamental and important role in the economic growth and development of countries. In this regard, the role and position of the insurance industry, as a supporting industry, is quite obvious. Insurance is one of the cornerstones of modern life. The insurance industry is rapidly turning into an essential element in the financial sector that contributes significantly to economic growth. The products of the insurance industry are intangible and have a high perceived risk. So, it requires a high level of mental engagement. In this case, recommendatory advertising helps to reduce uncertainty and risk perception. Due to the nature of the insurance industry, advertising more recommendations than other industries influences the decision of those who tend to be insured. The reputation of insurance companies is one of the important factors affecting people's recommendations. In this research, an attempt has been made to examine this issue. The research is conducted on the purpose of understanding the importance of satisfaction and loyalty of the insured for increasing the influence of the insurance industry and the factors affecting it, such as the trust of the insured and the reputation of insurance companies. The research method, based on the nature and objectives of the study, is a survey method through which the data were collected. The data were analyzed and then put to correlation tests. The statistical population of the study consisted of the clients of Iran Insurance Legal Agencies in Tehran selected by cluster sampling. There was, indeed, the sampling of multi-stage clusters in which several of the legal insurance agencies of Iran were selected as a cluster and then, in the second stage, a questionnaire was distributed among those who referred to the agencies. According to Morgan's table, since the population size was unlimited, the sample size was determined to be 384 people. As a result, according to the researchers' experience, more questionnaires were distributed in the statistical population of the research, and finally 400 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Their content validity was confirmed by experts and university professors. To evaluate the reliability of the instrument used, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used, and the calculations were performed using version 22 of the SPSS software. For this purpose, a pretest was taken with 30 questionnaires, and then, using the data obtained from these questionnaires, the confidence coefficient was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method. The Trust Scale of the Insured was 83%, the Loyalty Scale was 90%, the Recommendation Promotion Scale was 78%, and the overall reliability of the questionnaire was 85%. These figures indicate that the questionnaire was reliable. A conceptual model and the research hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling using the Smart PLS software. After data analysis, it was shown that the customer’s satisfaction and trust through the reputation of the insurance company leads to loyalty and advertising the company. This induces a positive and significant relationship. As a result, it can be said that one of the requirements of loyalty and word of mouth by the insured in Iran is the existence of trust in and satisfaction with the insurer. These two elements accompany the reputation of the insurance company in the competitive environment of the society. The present study is based on four main hypotheses that were all confirmed. The reputation of insurance companies is the most important issue that top managers and marketers of Iran Insurance Company should pay due attention to. By creating satisfaction in the insured, Iran Insurance Company can establish loyalty in them. Since the insurance industry is closely related to other industries, the existence of loyal customers is necessary for the sustainability of the companies. If Iran Insurance Company cannot provide proper services, the customer satisfaction will be lost. Customers are interested in long-term experiences with the company's products and services. Those who are very happy with the insurance company's reputation tend to share their feelings about the company with others. In Iran Insurance Company, the reputation of a company plays an important role in establishing the relationship between the customer’s trust and loyalty. Therefore, honesty and transparency are necessary to create such a trust. When people trust the services of Iran Insurance Company, their word of mouth advertises more purchase. Satisfaction through the reputation of the insurance company increases recommendations and advertisements. Word-of-mouth advertising takes place when customers  have confidence in the activities of Iran Insurance Company. In fact, one of the important sources of recommending the services of a company to other people is the customer trust. When a company has a good reputation but does not create the necessary trust in its customers, it will not be advertised. The requisite for creating a word of mouth among customers is the simultaneous existence of the insurance company's reputation and the customer’s trust.

The success of organizations depends on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is one of the most important marketing structures, so examining the factors affecting customer satisfaction is a key concern for marketers, especially at a time when consumers think of seemingly different brands as similar. Managers of organizations take various measures to achieve this goal. One of the most important steps forward for managers in this field is the use of corporate social responsibility. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the role of corporate social responsibility on customer satisfaction through the mediation of brand awareness, brand reputation, and brand trust. In terms of purpose, the present study is an applied type, from the point of view of data collection, it is a descriptive and survey type, and, in terms of nature, it is correlational. The statistical population of the study consists of the recipients of insurance services from Iran Insurance Company in Bushehr. The sampling method is a common one, and the data collection tool is a questionnaire. As many as 389 questionnaires were distributed and collected among the customers of Iran Insurance Company in person, and the data analysis was done through structural equation modeling and PLS and SPSS software programs. After the collection of the data and the implementation of the structural equation model, the research hypotheses were tested. The research findings showed that playing the role of corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on brand awareness, brand reputation, and brand trust which, in turn, have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Finally, corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction by mediating the brand awareness, brand reputation, and brand trust. The findings showed that playing the role of corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on brand awareness. In fact, this hypothesis states that the more Iran Insurance Company and other companies get involved in social responsibility activities, the more they become known in the society and the more people become aware of them. Thus, they can reap the benefits of being recognized in the society. Therefore, brand awareness is a determining factor when choosing a product or service; it plays an important role in the consumer’s purchasing decision-making. Therefore, every company should try to create awareness about its activities related to social responsibility in order to establish itself in the minds of customers.  Corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on brand trust. In fact, brand trust is an asset and a tool for survival that has the ability to create superior value for the organization. It should be given special attention because development and maintaining brand trust is one of the ways to achieve long-term relationships with customers and plays an important role in creating long-term benefits for the company. In fact, customers as potential beneficiaries of the company do not only pay attention to the economic value of consumption but also consider the social performance of the company. Therefore customers can have more confidence in the products and services provided by the company that takes responsibility in its activities and has responsible behavior towards the society.  Corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on brand reputation. In fact, it serves as a tool to strengthen brand reputation. In other words, both consumers and companies pay close attention to the reputation of what they buy and sell. Brand awareness has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Therefore, according to the findings of this study, as the customers’ knowledge of the brand is raised, their satisfaction increases. Brand trust has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Therefore, this hypothesis states that trust is important and undeniable in gaining customer satisfaction. Brand reputation has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is hypothesized that, when managers of organizations take the necessary steps in the field of brand reputation and do this continuously, it leads to increased satisfaction. Brand reputation is an achievement that the company achieves over time. Customers also think that a brand can meet their expectations through its reputation. So their satisfaction increases. The importance of brand reputation is that consumers rely on the brand reputation and decide to buy if they do not have enough information about the products. Finally, corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction by mediating brand awareness, brand reputation, and brand trust.

Knowledge management and its implementation in the supply chain can be considered as an effective factor to increase supply chain efficiency. According to Dalker integrated knowledge management cycle, knowledge management in the wheat supply chain includes the creation, application, and transfer of knowledge in the stages of purchasing, transporting, storing, and trading wheat. In modern times, economics is moving towards being knowledge-based. The issue of storage and inventory has a special prominence, and its management is one of the pillars of supply chain management. Organizations have to revise the structure of their decisions in order to adapt to their changing and competitive environment. To this end, they must show more flexibility in the face of changes in the environment. The more this level of agility, flexibility, and optimal performance speed relies on knowledge, the more effective the result will be with more stable overall and partial productivity. Knowledge management provides new opportunities to create and maintain more value for supply chains based on key business competencies. In fact, knowledge management systems are the lifeblood of supply chains. By adapting the information contained in formal and informal knowledge management systems, companies reduce the time cycle of goods, services and costs and deliver more value to both their domestic and foreign customers, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in the market. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship and prioritization of knowledge management dimensions in the supply chain efficiency of wheat in Iran State Trading Company.

This research is of a developmental and applied type conducted by a descriptive survey method. The statistical population of the research included 105 managers, secretaries, and heads of companies at the provincial level, all of whom were selected for the research. Of these, 86 completed the research questionnaires. In this study, the reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The alpha value for all the parts of the questionnaire was above 0.7 and 0.94 for the whole questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling (SEM) through the LISREL software, and the SPSS22 software was used to analyze the data.

According to the structural model of the research, the value of t between the two variables of knowledge creation and supply chain was equal to 2.95 (the value of t-statistic was more than 1.96), and the intensity of the relationship was 0.61. Therefore, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge creation and the supply chain. Also, between the two variables of knowledge application and supply chain, the value of t was equal to 4.6, and the intensity of the relationship was 0.58. Therefore, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge application and the supply chain. Between the two variables of knowledge transfer and supply chain, the value of t was equal to 8.62, and the intensity of the relationship was 0.49. So, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge transfer and supply chain. The ranking was based on two tests of mean and Friedman, according to which the application of knowledge, with an average of 4.62, had the highest and knowledge transfer, with an average of 4.44, had the least impact on the efficiency of the wheat supply chain.

Knowledge management in the wheat supply chain as a special issue is of vital importance for the field of wheat supply. With knowledge management and planning, we can identify the factors related to wheat supply policies, including duration of strategic reserves for the whole country, duration of strategic reserves for the demand of each region, and duration of strategic reserves for the supply of each region. The use of knowledge management factors in the wheat supply chain leads to superior and more professional goals in decision-making and significantly contributes to the effectiveness of agriculture. Overall, due to the high importance of the knowledge application index, it is possible to use information technology and modify the structures, work processes, and stakeholder satisfaction in order to improve the performance of the wheat supply chain. Managers should make the most of the knowledge created by the organizations and use the knowledge to solve the problems of the organizations by planning. Also, if knowledge management is increased at all levels of the company, the five dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, flexibility, costs, and assets will be enhanced.

The growth and development of various institutions and organizations as well as a rising trend in competitions among these entities have made them reflect on their organizational interests to survive in the business world. Due to the rising importance of our global interdependence, some concepts like corporate social responsibility (CSR) have a significant role in this dynamic and flourishing industry composed of lodging, transportation, and so on. Accordingly; any small decisions or actions occurring in one of these centers, regardless of their direct effects on the desired sectors, can gradually have direct and indirect, hidden and obvious as well as tangible and intangible impacts on every sector in the society and, consequently, lead to a series of actions and reactions at all levels. Studies have shown that social responsibility is one of the best tools for gaining public legitimacy and competitive advantage. According to this, social responsibility means the responsibility or commitment of a person or organization to social concepts such as individuals or the physical environment around them. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify, explain and rank the factors affecting the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the iron ore mining companies in Yazd Province.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed in this study. The research procedure started with studying the theoretical foundations to identify the factors affecting the CSR ranking of the iron ore mining companies in Yazd Province, Iran. Accordingly, attempts were made to review the most important factors and indicators affecting the CSR ranking by the explanation of some selected experts and through the study and review of the resources available in this area, including the existing models and theories in this field. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) indicators and dimensions were extracted using the content analysis of the interviews with the expert groups from a total number of nine iron ore mining companies in Yazd Province, Iran. Then, the dimensions were analyzed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The relations among the indicators were also determined via a Fuzzy Cognitive Map, and, subsequently, they were ranked through an FC Mapper. In the end, the intensity of the impact of the indicators on one another was calculated through the Mic Mac technique.

At the first step of the study, a qualitative research methodology was implemented through meetings and interviews with the selected experts of the iron ore mining companies of Yazd Province. The concepts associated with CSR were explained, the key statements based on the identifiers (codes) were registered, and they were consequently introduced as open codes. Regarding the content analysis, after the review of the open codes, the statements with overlapping concepts and meanings were incorporated, and then the dimensions were identified as the axial codes. After that, the content analysis was performed of the interviews with the expert groups from a total number of nine iron ore mining companies. The analyzed dimensions included safety and health as well as legal, ethical, environmental, philanthropic, and economic aspects. The dimensions were analyzed by interpretive structural modeling (ISM) at five levels. At the first level, there was the economic dimension. The second level was for the environmental and philanthropic dimensions. At the third level, there was the ethical dimension. The fourth level belonged to safety and health, and the fifth level was the legal dimension. So, the relations among the indicators were determined via a fuzzy cognitive map. Creating an FCM model requires inputs that come from the experience and knowledge of experts in the field. In FCM models, the accumulated experiences of individuals with update knowledge in the field, for which the model was drawn, are integrated, and cause-and-effect relationships are established among the factors that make up the system. Subsequently, they were ranked through an FC Mapper. The factors ranked the highest were "striving to reduce harm to the environment", "striving to reduce toxic and greenhouse gases", "increasing employee satisfaction and motivation", "developing and promoting community knowledge and culture" and "providing real-time information about the work and the disadvantages resulting from it”. In the end, the severity of the effects of the variables on one another was also calculated through MicMac. Accordingly, the indicators of “Supporting voluntary involvement of employees in social activities”, “Efforts to reduce toxic and greenhouse gases”, and “Transparency in signing contracts with contractors” were considered as effective ones. Also, the dichotomous indicators with very high capacity to become key actors within the system included “Respect for contractual obligations” and “Increase in employee satisfaction and motivation”. The indicators influenced were “Attention to employees’ working conditions”, “Provision of factual information about work and its resulting damage,” “Efforts to reduce damage to the environment,” “Development and promotion of community knowledge and culture” as well as “Attention to customer satisfaction”. The remaining indicators were placed in the independent group.

This research can be beneficial to governments, researchers and organizations because it helps them to understand the indicators based on corporate social responsibility so as to be persuaded to fulfill their commitment to the society.

The distribution industry, especially the food distribution industry, is considered as a significant part of the economy due to its huge revenue generation. This industry is of great importance in the field of operation and research for the vitality of food supply, continuous changes in consumer behavior, multiple intermediaries from producer to consumer, exorbitant distribution costs, high revenue generation, growth opportunities, and technological developments. In the field of food distribution, the most important decisions are related to marketing, sales, and distribution policies, which directly affect the company's performance, the quality of customer service, and profitability. The distribution industry in Iran faces many problems such as high marketing and distribution costs, high transaction costs, lack of competition, traditional processes, lack of information transparency, increased transportation costs, low efficiency of the distribution network, the existence of monopolies in some products and unfair business practices. Moreover, distribution companies in Iran do not know enough about the importance of developing appropriate strategies for their distribution channels. This has harmful consequences for them. The purpose of this study is to provide a model for developing a marketing and sales strategy for companies active in the food distribution industry. The model seeks to overcome some of the limitations in the field of research and implementation. The importance of the research topic can be attributed to the dearth of research in the field of distribution, development of a coherent marketing and sales strategy, and coordination and implementation of sales and marketing strategies to achieve the goal. It also pays attention to different economic conditions in marketing strategy, differences in recession and business boom strategies, decreasing distribution costs, short-sighted copying of competitors' strategies, high turnover of the food distribution industry, competition in satisfying customer needs, attracting new customers and completing marketing and sales knowledge. So, it is generally a response to the question ‘What is the model of marketing and sales strategies in the food distribution industry’? In order to give a rational answer to this question, three prerequisite questions are being answered: 1) What are the components of a marketing and sales model in the Iranian food distribution industry?, 2) What are the relationships between these components?, and 3) Which of the identified indicators in the sales and marketing strategy model has the greatest impact on the development of marketing and sales strategies in the Iranian food distribution industry? This study is of a descriptive and exploratory type based on a mixed method. The qualitative part of the research was done using content analysis and the views of 11 executive and academic experts. Three criteria were considered for selecting the sample members, including at least six years of experience in the distribution industry, the position of CEO or marketing or strategy director, and a minimum master's degree in the field of industrial management or engineering. The analysis of the qualitative data was done based on the sentences, words, themes and terms of the experts in the field of marketing, sales and distribution of the food distribution industry. It led to the extraction of 135 final codes. It was done by combining the review of the literature and the qualitative study in the form of the final research model with all its variables, components, and indicators. In this part, 81 questionnaires were distributed among the marketing and sales managers of 54 distribution companies in Iran. The data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling method. In response to the main research question, we find that developing a sales strategy in food distribution companies without considering the marketing strategy and its components is irrational. According to the research literature and the opinion of distribution industry experts, the issue that exists in most food distribution companies in Iran is the separation between marketing and sales units and strategies. This is always considered a serious challenge. According to experts, neither of these two methods alone can be effective. Also, the obtained model shows that, in order to gain a competitive advantage during the post-stagnation period, first, marketing strategies should be considered as the basis for developing sales strategies. Also, the major factors affecting the distribution industry during the post-stagnation period should be taken into account. The external conditions of the company (e.g., threats and opportunities) should not be overlooked.  In order to have a dynamic and successful food distribution industry, while achieving financial goals for companies that can lead to consumer satisfaction, distribution companies must adopt a broad marketing strategy that takes into account the factors related to marketing goals such as pricing strategy, distribution strategy, competitive advantage, resource allocation, understanding of food purchasing behavior, goals territory, promotion strategy, understanding of the macro environment of the distribution industry and market research and development. Also, sales strategy must take into account the sales team performance, sales team relationship, transformational leadership, coordination between sales strategy and marketing, customer satisfaction, sales team training, use of sales technology, use of sales channels, receipt of receivables, customer segmentation, blue ocean strategy and attention to the future of the sales business. There must be a care for the strengths and weaknesses of the company, the threats and opportunities arising from competitors and macro factors affecting the food distribution industry in post-stagnation era as well.

One of the most important uses of technology and the Internet in the economic field is social commerce, which is a subset of e-commerce. Recent advances in information and communication technologies and the advent of Web 2 have brought new developments in e-commerce. The popularity of social technologies and operating systems such as social networking sites (SNS) is one of the main reasons for progress in this area. These developments lead people to policy making and interaction with their friends in social contexts, especially in online communities. Social communications and interactions on the Internet, especially on social networking sites, which are the main focus of SNS, have opened up e-commerce to economic development. As the connection between business and technology has existed and continued for a long time, today one of the most popular methods of business is online shopping in the web world. Social commerce is an application from the Web 2 like a content creation tool to increase user interaction in e-commerce. Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce that includes the use of social media to assist in e-commerce activities and transactions. The difference between social commerce and e-commerce is that social commerce involves forums and conversations between members, while e-commerce focuses on people and one-on-one interactions to create value. The technology of Web 2, as the foundation of social media and social networking sites, facilitates the acquisition of products through user engagement and interaction. Nowadays, the use of social commerce has increased so that social commerce companies have significantly increased their financial investment risks. In the meantime, trust is one of the main reasons for customers to lead to e-shopping. However, according to the concept of social commerce, when users know about a product, they may participate in the purchase. So, trusting social networking sites can increase users' purchases from e-sellers. Buying from an e-seller depends on the customer's trust in the e-seller. So, trust in social networking sites can increase the intention to buy. Social networking sites as social commerce platforms connect customers with e-sellers and facilitate exchanges. Trust is a key concept in interactions and is important for companies in developing relationships with vendors In this regard, this research examines the impact of construction of social commerce on consumer purchase intention. This research is practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection. The statistical population of this study consists of Tabriz University students who are considered as a set of the Instagram users or fans of popular non-Iranian social networks in Iran. The sample size is 376 according to the Cochran formula. In addition to being popular, the Instagram social network is chosen because it is a website-based social network. Due to the large number of users in the statistical population, random sampling method has been used. The data collected by the questionnaire were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method and the SPSS and PLS software programs. In this study, to check the reliability and validity of the constructs, four sets of necessary tests are carried out including internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. These validities are evaluated by analyzing Cronbach's alpha (α), factor loadings, composite reliability (CR), and average variance extracted (AVE). The minimum level of factor loading is 0.7, and the results show that they are above 0.7. The minimum value for α is 0.7, which shows that the data have an internal consistency. The model has good and reasonable convergent validity because the value of CR for all the constructs is above 0.8, while the value of AVE for all the constructs is above 0.5. Thus, the findings show a reasonable convergent validity. The discriminant validity confirms whether the construct measures are different from other constructs or not. Also, the result shows reasonable discriminant validity because the square root of the AVE is higher than the correlation between variables. The discriminant validity shows whether the construct measures are different from other constructs or not. Also, the findings show the square root of the AVE, which is higher than the correlation between variables, which shows the reasonable discriminant validity. The value of R2 above 0.2 is considered relatively high and acceptable. In this study, the value of R2 for trust is o.53, for information seeking is 0.36, and for purchase intention is 0.31. Furthermore, we use the blindfolding method to assess the relevance of exogenous variables and the model performance, which is a sample reuse method. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the role of social commerce and trust in the consumer's intention to buy from e-vendors. We used Instagram as the best-known platform for e-commerce to empirically test our model. Various findings can be obtained from this study. First of all, recommendations and referrals, ratings and reviews, and forums and communities are found to have a positive effect on consumers' trust in online purchasing. The results are consistent with the studies of Hajli (2015), Kim & Park (2013), and Weisberg et al. (2011). As these structures also affect purchase intention through trust, the effect of trust on purchase intention is also confirmed by information seeking mediation. This finding is consistent with prior studies and supported by Hajli (2015), Hajli et al. (2017), Li (2019), Henien (2011), and Featherman & Hajli (2015).  This study tested the research model by collecting data from 376 customers. The results showed that recommendations and referrals affect trust. The findings suggested that ratings and reviews and forums and communities have a significantly positive influence on trust, which further influences purchase intention. Also, as reported, trust positively and significantly affects information seeking. Furthermore, information seeking affects purchase intention.

In a survey conducted in 2018, 58% of the customers stated that online advertising and marketing have either little or no effect on their buying behavior. In fact, brands need to find a new way to properly engage customers and make the right impact. Gamification gives organizations the opportunity to meet this need. Gamification, namely the application of typical game-playing elements in a non-game context, gives companies the opportunity to meet this need, allows them to tell their story and interact with customers in a way that they could not do before in common marketing formats. It demands interactivity and engagement and, crucially, it is fun. But the point is that around 80 percent of gamification programs fail to achieve organizations goals. This is primarily due to improperly gamified processes, but the other reason is to understand what gamification is, how it works, and more importantly, how gamification changes players' behavior and creates the desired outcome. The main purpose of this study is to answer these questions in a more limited way; that is, how gamification affects the customer experience and their engagements.

In recent years, with the growth of research in various fields and the encountering of the scientific community with an explosion of information, scientist have come to the conclusion that knowing and mastering all the aspects of a field and being up to date in all the field to a large extent is not possible. So, qualitative research, which brings the essence of research conducted on the particular subject to researchers in a systematic and scientific manner, has become increasingly widespread. The research method of this research is meta-synthesis, based on Sandelowski and Barroso's meta-synthesis approach. It has been done systematically in seven stages as a with in-depth study of 26 relevant related articles.

The systematic review of the articles indicates that dimensions of the game can affect customer engagement but through the mediation of the customer experience. This is consistent with Hamari's research (2017) that gamification does not directly affect behavior and leads to behavior through mediation. In this research, we found the customer experience as an intermediary role. Gamification consists of three parts, mechanics, dynamics and components. It does not directly affect behavior and leads to behavior through experience. So it is better to know the components of the customer experience. Immersion, cognitive dimensions, emotional dimensions and socialness are the dimensions identified in this study as components of the customer experience. Finally, a conceptual framework was created for these three concepts.

Over the past two decades, executives and researchers have strongly emphasized that customer engagement is relevant in the development and improvement of products and services and in the market orientations of firms. Among the various mechanisms of engaging customers, gamification has a special place. The phenomenon is still unknown, probably because it is still in its infancy. In general, gamification defines a set of design principles, processes, and systems that are used to influence, motivate, and engage individuals, groups, and communities. In this study, we first sought to conceptualize gamification because we were faced with it as a newly emerging concept. So, we decided to identify the different parts of gamification. Then, as we determined the mediating role of the customer experience, we proceeded to explain the digital customer experience. By identifying the relationships among the components of these two concepts, we came to their relationship with customer engagement. The point is that all of these components need to be done in harmony. Gaming components can affect the customer experience. This experience can be achieved in different ways. Depending on what the consequences are, it can increase or decrease the ability to engage customers. It should be noted that gamification must be a strategic decision, not a sudden one, Brands need to be clear about their ultimate goals and reversibly design their gamification processes to achieve their goals. Gamification is a powerful tool for integrating with other marketing processes. Another finding of this research is that the customer's gamified experience must be continuous in order to cause the desired engagement. Organizational and individual learning is one of the important outputs of gamification. In this regard, using games to help customers to discover and learn can be an important benefit of gamification. Finally, it is hoped that this research, with all its shortcomings, will help organizations to exploit the concept of gamification and use it alongside other marketing tools to create better value and experience for customers.

One of the main prerequisites of the tourism industry, which is an important links in the tourism value chain, is the development and prosperity of the hotel industry. Any success in today's post-competitive age, however, requires attention to the needs and wants of customers, and hotels with no exception and to the issues of quality and behavior, including intimacy and hospitality to guests. Therefore, certain tools are needed to adopt scientific methods to improve hospitality conditions in customer services. Since the increase and strengthening of hospitality is an effective component for the development of the tourism industry, this article seeks to examine the customers' experiences regarding hospitality, identify the dimensions of this concept, and provide a scale to measure it. Also, the impact of the hospitality experience on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry is examined as one of the most important links in the tourism value chain.

In this applied, descriptive and survey research, the background of the subject was  first studied and analyzed, and  then the opinion of experts (through in-depth and semi-structured interviews and the Delphi technique) was used to explore and summarize the dimensions of the scale and seven experimental dimensions of the guest. Hospitality was extracted through a field study using a questionnaire with 32 items about the mentioned dimensions given to 480 hotel customers in Iran in March 2016. Due to the unknown size of the statistical population, cluster sampling and available methods were used. The exploratory phase included a review of the existing literature, opinions of experts, pundits and customers on the concept of hospitality, which led to the conceptualization of the experience of hospitality and the recognition of nine empirical dimensions for hospitality. The dimensions included welcome, comfort, empathy, servitude, gratitude, independence, surprise, efficiency and entertainment. Through examining the results of the exploratory phase, it was not expected that surprise and entertainment would be among the experimental dimensions of hospitality, but they emerged to be prerequisites for understanding one or more of the other seven dimensions. The results of the confirmation phase also supported this idea. This is because the measurements of surprise and entertainment did not respond to factor analysis nor did they appear as separate factors. The exploratory phase initially led to the identification of 71 traits that were considered as input to the construction of the hospitality scale, but gradually, according to experts, this reduced to a 28-factor scale in seven dimensions in field studies.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the data, while confirming the significant relationship between exploratory dimensions and the main concept, showed that the dimensions of comfort, efficiency, special communication, welcome, personalization, and specific hotel conditions and cordiality respectively have the highest factor loads. They were on a scale of hospitality experience. Therefore, the conceptual model of the research led to the creation of a scale that measured the concept of hospitality experience by seven main dimensions (hidden variables) and 28 explicit indicators (questionnaire questions). Based on the results of the factor analysis for the latent variables and the standard coefficients obtained, the impact of each dimension on the concept was calculated. Overall, the results of the factor analysis showed that the dimensions of comfort, efficiency, special communication, welcome, personalization, special hotel conditions and cordiality respectively had the highest factor loads and the greatest impacts on the variable hospitality experience. The analysis of structural equations of the research model using the LISREL software also showed the positive effect of hospitality experience on guest satisfaction.

In general, this research can improve the service industry's insight into what people experience as hospitality. In addition, the Hospitality Experience Scale is a good tool for understanding how hospitality is presented by the organization from a customer perspective. In the end, the effect of hospitality experience was examined using the scale on customer satisfaction, which confirmed the positive effect of desirable hospitality on guest satisfaction. Therefore, in a competitive and growing environment of the hotel industry, which is one of the important links in the vast tourism value chain, in order to succeed and steal the lead from others, activists in this field need to take advantage of a hospitable approach to satisfy customers and build loyalty.

Corporate social responsibility is recognized as an essential action for organizations. Market studies show that there is a positive relationship between corporate social responsibility measures and consumer reaction to the company and its products. Banks, compared to other firms, play a key role in institutionalizing social responsibility in societies. The role of banks as facilitators and drivers of economic and business cycles, as wealth-creating institutions and as providers of services to local, national and international communities underscores the importance of these institutions in streamlining the social movement of social responsibility throughout the society. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of the data collection. The method of data collection is a field survey, and the tool of data collection is a standard questionnaire. The statistical population of the study is the customers of the banking industry in Ardabil. To determine the sample size, since the total number of the study population was unlimited, the Morgan table was used. In this table, a sample of 384 represented a large number of communities. To ensure that the number of sample cases was sufficient, and due to the possible non-cooperation of some people, the questionnaires were distributed among 600 people. Out of this number, 460 decomposable and analytical questionnaires were returned. The method of distributing the probabilistic questionnaire was available. The selection of this method was due to the big size of the community, the involvement of the customers of all the banks in Ardabil, time constraints for accurate classification, and difficult access to the customers. Based on this, with the discretion of the supervisor, a questionnaire was provided to those customers who were willing to cooperate. Of course, the researcher tried to distribute the questionnaires evenly among the city-level banks. In the present study, to test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was done using the Amos software. Social issues and problems have recently attracted the attention of many experts and stakeholders in different societies as a result of the lack of care by organizations and managers for their social duties and responsibilities. Today, companies are committed to expressing the effects of their activities on the natural environment and society. Corporate social responsibility is considered essential for organizations. As a result, it has competitive advantages and positive economic results for companies. One of the most important stakeholders that are highly sensitive to corporate social responsibility initiatives are customers, who are at the core of corporate social responsibility to maximize profits in the long run. Investing in social responsibility programs that are reflected in the community shows that the company actually cares about the people and is willing to respond to the community. Banks, compared to other firms, play a key role in institutionalizing social responsibility in the society. In recent years, financial institutions have broadened the range of social and environmental activities that can be implemented in their institutions. In addition to playing their role in managing the impact of their performance on the society, these financial institutions play a vital role in encouraging their customers (real and corporate) to take responsible actions and reduce the adverse social and environmental effects of their activities. The other variables that can play an effective role in provoking a positive customer response include the core competencies of the company. The competencies of the organization perceived through strong relationships between the service provider and the customer can lead to increased customer trust. The core competencies of companies today play a decisive role in the reaction of consumers to their services because customers are in touch with these competencies. Moreover, these competencies lead to a competitive advantage for companies and guide them in achieving their pre-defined goals. In order to achieve a more competitive advantage in their industry, banks also seek to strengthen their core competencies on the one hand and take a closer look at their social responsibility on the other. Social responsibility activities are effective in creating a growing and healthy society. They are an important type of financial institutions with an undeniable role in the society, and their performance affects the whole society. So, their attention to social responsibilities is very important. In this regard, more approaches to social responsibility and core competencies can provoke a positive reaction from consumers. The findings showed that the social responsibility of banks and economic, legal, moral, and humanitarian responsibility have a positive structural effect on consumer reaction, and the core competencies of the company do not moderate the structural effect of corporate social responsibility on consumer reaction. Extensive studies have been conducted in this field, it is concluded that social responsibility activities are effective in creating a growing and healthy society. Since banks, as one of the most important economic institutions, have an undeniable role in the society and their performance affects the whole society, it is very important for them to pay attention to the category of social responsibilities. In this regard, banks can improve the welfare and economic conditions of the society by providing opportunities for growth in production and employment.

Customers' use of technology-based intelligent information can put forth some key decision variables as a good starting point for investor decisions in financial and banking markets. On the other hand, the increasing number of commercial banks has raised concerns about customer turnover, especially for old and well-known banks. In this regard, the data about the interactions of banks and customers on online social media and mobile phones have always been an important source of banking marketing research. Analysis in banking research is generally based on questionnaires. Nowadays, however, macro-databases include numerous words, images, videos, and non-numeric outputs in terms of the volume, speed and variety of digital processes and often obscure traditional statistical analyses. Researchers have become interested in macro-databases for marketing decisions and creative marketing campaigns, and some have suggested them for the analysis of customer behavior. The use of macro-databases has, thus, significantly become a successful approach in today's marketing. In order to conduct this research, first, the behavior of customers in creating a large database, especially in the social media environment, is examined through surveys and by studying customers' attitudes toward a product, service or bank. Then, the relationship between the customer-centric banking marketing mixed with the data-driven macro-database and the referral system is examined. Finally, the paradigm model of research is presented for the behavior of banking customers in online social media.

This research seeks to provide a new model for analyzing the behavior of bank customers using the big data method. It is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of data collection. In order to finalize the analytical model of bank customers' behavior using big data, a qualitative research method was used. Also, the data theory method was used as a basis for tthe construction of the theory. The statistical population of the study consisted of two groups. The first group contained the customers who were significantly active in online social networking cyberspace, and the second group was for the bank managers who were well acquainted with the social media space. Accordingly, the statistical sample of the study included 15 bank customers who had extensive online financial and credit transactions with the bank as well as 10 bank managers who were well acquainted with the social media communication environment. The sampling method in this research is theoretical. For this purpose, the sampling continued until the model reached the saturation. The researcher collected and selected the data in such a way that he could discover the hidden background of various texts and images of online social interactions using the NVIVO10 software to formulate the final theory.

In intervening situations, the customer behavior was created using the psychological characteristics which represented five factors of personality. In this case, the internal and external sources of control and certain complex concepts were identified and explored. There were two categories of customer behavior to deal with. It was found that positive advertisement can increase online space-based negotiations using three types of knowledge in this area. Customers seek knowledge about others by looking at their profiles, photos and texts and also try to motivate others by sending them texts and comments. Thus, they make product and theoretical comparisons that result in mutual awareness.

Based on an operational model, this study suggests that the netnography method (blogging) be used to analyze the content of users' comments on virtual networks and discover the hidden layers and underpinnings of comments and texts written by users and members of virtual networks. Also, the culture of bank customers in relation to values, customs, and Iranian cultural meanings should be analyzed so that banks can have the knowledge of common concepts in this area. It is also suggested that a combination of social media data and transaction records be used to study the impact of social media behavior on banking purchasing behavior. Another suggestion is that, before commercializing their products and services, banks should place them in the online space to notify the groups there and use their opinions. They can thus offer better products and services according to the views and behaviors of customers. In addition, it is suggested that banks invest in marketing intelligence to become a competitive source for customers.

The business environment in the world experiences many changes, including changes in the attitude of companies from tangible assets to intangible assets. Therefore, the process of valuing intangible assets is very important for companies. Brand is one of the most important intangible assets, and every marketing activity affects the brand equity. Marketing mix is ​​one of the areas that have a significant impact on brand performance. In order to increase brand performance, organizations look for strategies based on the marketing mix, depending on the situation. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of marketing mix on the profitability of Khoshkpak brand retail with the mediating role of brand equity. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and survey in terms of nature or method of data collection. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using the opinions of experts and professors and the validity parameters of confirmatory factor analysis. Its reliability was estimated through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Cronbach's reliability coefficients of all the variables were higher than 0.7, which indicated that the measures had high reliability. The statistical population of the study consisted of Khoshkpak brand retailers in Tehran. Sampling was done by a simple random method. The statistical population of the study was unlimited. According to the Cochran table, at the error level of 5%, the sample size was 384. The results show that the marketing mix has a positive and significant effect on brand profitability. Also, brand equity as a mediating variable has a positive role in the relationship between marketing and brand profitability. 1. The main hypothesis of this research is confirmed in that marketing mix has a positive effect on the profitability of Khoshkpak brand 2. The supplier image has a positive effect on the perceived quality of the brand and the retailer's loyalty to the brand. However, the effect of the supplier image on the brand awareness and association of the retailer was not confirmed. 3. The positive effect of distribution on the perceived quality of the brand and brand loyalty was not confirmed. There are studies in which the location or environment of a brand has been assessed by consumers as essential. 4. The negative effect of price level on retailers' loyalty to the brand was not confirmed. Previous research has shown that retailers can adjust the price of their customers by lowering the price. If retailers can give a special price to their customers and make their customers loyal to them, eventually retailers will be loyal to the manufacturer. However, this effect was not confirmed in this study. 5. Improving the push strategy has a positive and significant effect on the perceived quality of retailers of a brand and the awareness of retailers and communication with a brand. Push enhancement strategies lead to the quality of perception of retailers due to their expertise in evaluating product quality. Product quality is also affected by consumer evaluation, advertising and product reliability. They also encounter many brands in the market, so they cannot remember the characteristics of the brands one by one. In addition, push promotion strategy has a positive effect on retailers' loyalty to a brand. Promotion of push strategy gives retailers more value or profit, thus encouraging retailers to sell more products and stay loyal to the brand. 6. Promoting the pull strategy did not increase the awareness and association of the retailer of the brand, and the loyalty of the retailer to the brand was not confirmed. Pull strategy mainly involves mass media activities aimed at consumers. 7. The quality of a brand perceived by the retailer and the retailer's loyalty to a brand do not affect the profitability of the brand. However, brand awareness and association have a significant impact on brand profitability. This result suggests that not all dimensions of brand equity perceived by the retailer affect the brand profitability. 1. It is very important for the managers of Khoshkapak brand to pay special attention to mixed marketing strategies. Khoshkpak brand managers are advised to focus on marketing mix strategies to increase their brand equity because marketing mix strategy can improve the brand profitability. Among the mixed marketing strategies, reduction of profit margins reduces price levels and increases promotional activities. 2. Managers can use the supplier image to promote a public figure who has a positive image in the community as a brand ambassador. Therefore, it is suggested that advertising activities be done by creating the necessary advertising mechanisms and marketing research to identify appropriate markets and continuously evaluate the brand. The Khoshkpak brand can increase the retailer's awareness of the brand image by fulfilling its commitments to the brand. 3. It is suggested that the existing opportunities through distribution management increase the creativity in providing distribution services to retailers. They also improve distribution channels to provide services to distributors and to offer extensive support information. 4. It is suggested to pay more attention to components such as the amount of discounts in the price dimension. 5. To succeed in promoting a push strategy, Khoshkpak brand managers need to have a good relationship with the retailer so that they can get market information about competitors' plans and create more attractive plans for retailers. 6. The Khoshkpak brand is advised to choose a pull strategy to create a quality image and focus on the retail brand knowledge that is essential for success. 7. The managers of Khoshkpak brand need to educate their consumers and retailers through marketing advertising. In-store promotions, kiosks, commercials and promotional activities can bring retailers and companies together.

In recent years, environmental issues and their destructive effects on human health have become important concerns. These concerns about the environment have led to the emergence of a new type of consumers who express the concerns in their purchasing decisions. The pace of change in the world in terms of population and technology has changed the consumption patterns, which has led to unsustainable consumption and environmental problems. This issue has increased the attention of people to the preservation and sustainability of the environment, which has ultimately caused changes in consumer behavior. Studies show that consumers who are aware of environmental issues play an important role in reducing environmental problems. So, marketers around the world seek to educate people and develop green consumerism. Much research has been done to identify the determinants of consumer behavior, which shows that demand for green products is growing at a remarkable rate. Therefore, it can be safely concluded that green marketers should focus on consumers because of their positive attitude towards the environment. In order to fully understand the complexities of sustainable marketing, consumers are considered as decision makers. Highly educated consumers are at the forefront of innovation and transformation in the economy, and they are a potential force for environmental protection because they have a significant awareness of the environment. In addition, such consumers can act as a positive influence on others. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the main factors affecting the environmental approaches which affect the green shopping behavior of consumers. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection method. The statistical population consists of the students of Yazd University who were selected by the convenience sampling method. To determine the sample size, the structural equation modeling sampling formula (5q≤n≤15q) was used. According to the 16 questions in the questionnaire, a sample size of at least 80 and a maximum of 240 people were selected, and finally 233 questionnaires were collected. The data collection to gain environmental knowledge was based on the questionnaire devised by Ellen et al. (1991) and Suki (2013), the measurement of interpersonal impacts was based on the views of Bearden et al. (1989), and the measurements of the variables of green shopping behavior and environmental attitudes were based on the questionnaire of Lee (2009). Also, the questionnaire by Schwartz (1977) was used to measure altruistic variables. Structural equation modeling was done with the SPSS and Amos software programs to analyze the data and test the research hypotheses. The findings show that interpersonal relationships and altruism affect environmental attitudes but do not affect green shopping behavior. Also, interpersonal relationships do not affect green shopping behavior through the mediation of environmental attitudes, but altruism mediates environmental attitudes. It directly affects green buying behavior. The effect of environmental knowledge on environmental attitudes has been ruled out, but it has a partial effect on green purchasing behavior through the mediation of environmental attitudes. According to the research results, marketers and policymakers should seriously disseminate information on environmental issues, which can persuade buyers to purchase green products. Any advertising message to attract consumers should be based on idealism, altruism and values and help to reduce doubts about the consumption of green products. The results of the present study showed that consumers became environmentally aware and showed an altruistic and compassionate understanding of green shopping behavior. It is, however, difficult to implement knowledge transfer strategies among consumers. The present study provides key management implications and informs marketing professionals, managers and policy makers about the predictions made on green consumerism among consumers so that they can better understand the barriers to green buying behavior. This understanding may enable them to tailor their products and use marketing strategies that encourage green buying behavior. Government marketers and policymakers need to seriously disseminate information on environmental problems to drive buyers towards green products. Most importantly, it should be noted that the consumption of green products should be reasonable, cost-effective and appropriate so that consumers can have a positive attitude towards them and be encouraged to consume them. By enhancing the sense of altruism, various measures, such as holding cultural programs for people in the community, can be taken to develop green shopping behavior. By using the influence of the intellectual leaders of the society, people can be encouraged to engage in green shopping behavior. Marketing managers can also use different marketing methods such as promotions to influence different groups of buyers and create positive environmental attitude toward green consumption.

In the insurance industry, customers’ systematic identification and clustering is a major concern not only for marketers but for the entire organization, for this reason, Customer segmentation helps target organizations to customize their services and prioritize products based on their profitability. This research is an applied, descriptive and quantitative study aiming to cluster customers by using k-means clustering. The data were collected from 800 customers of Pasargad insurance company in the city of Shiraz using the random sampling technique. The data on length, recency, frequency and monetary issues were collected by considering research ethics principles. Customers were clustered into four groups including key, prodigal, intermittent and uncertain by using the K-means method. Eventually, the customers’ lifetime value was determined Clustering has been carried out in four categories, including key clients whose contribution to a sample of 800 insurance customers is 24.2%. This group of customers has high financial value characteristics and high purchase frequencies. They are ranked first in terms of lifetime value. Based on the findings, the indicator of the volume of financial exchange is an index that graduates the other indices placing a client in the position of key a customer. Prodigal customers featured with high financial characteristics, low shopping frequencies and a 25.8% share of insurance customers are in the second category and ranked second in terms of lifetime value. The third group of customers, having a share of 33.4% of the insurance customers, low purchasing value characteristics and high purchase frequency, are frequent customers who are in the third rank of life value. The last group of customers is uncertain ones who account for a significant 16.6% share of customers. They have monetary value characteristics and low purchasing frequency and are ranked last in terms of lifetime value. They are among the customers who have no significant trade volumes and the lowest value of the purchasing iteration index, regardless of the time indicators associated with these customers. This puts them in the cluster of uncertain customers with a 16.6% share in the selected statistical sample. This is because they have different and irregular financial behaviors during a certain period. So, it may not be profitable to give them services.   Determining the share and importance of customer groups based on customer lifetime value is one of the results of this study. While keeping prodigal customers, it is recommended to managers and marketing planners of the insurance industry to pay special attention to key and intermittent customers. From a managerial perspective, customer segmentation is a very important issue in the insurance industry. It can be a subject for studies and applied planning in every sector. Also, the specialization of insurance industry services in proportion to the customers' lifetime value, expectations and preferences based on scientific segmentation and customer data is one of the managerial recommendations. Another aspect that can be suggested to the managers of the insurance industry based on the results of this study is paying attention to the characteristics of customers in each cluster. Among these four groups, the cluster of key customers has a significant volume of transactions and length of the period of communication and repetition of insurance transactions. It also requires insurance companies to pay special attention to these customers. Next to this group are prodigal customers who have mostly low repetition of their insurance transactions, while the volume of turnover of this group is significant for the insurance industry. The importance of this group increases when these people have the lowest share in the overhead costs of insurance services for insurance companies, and, at the same time, their premiums are relatively higher than other groups. This makes managers pay more attention to this group. However, due to the low contact of these people with the employees of insurance companies, it is possible that they will receive less attention in relational marketing issues and promotional measures of this group. Accordingly, it is necessary for the managers of the insurance company to recognize generous customers and make special plans for them, especially in relationship marketing. In addition, given that a good number of the insurance company customers are uncertain clients, special planning is necessary to maintain and increase their loyalty. Another group identified in this study is that of the intermittent customers. This group of customers receive a relatively large amount of insurance services, while the premiums received from this group are not significant compared to the other groups. Identifying this type of customers and defining ways to retain them while reducing referrals to this group of customers is essential.