نشریه کاوش های مدیریت بازرگانی
پیاپی 29 (پاییز 1401)

Understanding the importance of holding customers for organizations has led them to seek solutions. Today, marketing science is looking for ways to reciprocate mutual values between the customer and the organization, which is called value co-creation. Maintaining the customers is one of the most important factors that create mutual values for the ultimate enhancement of brands. So, it is better to get close to customers and meet their needs and expectations. This makes the relationship deeper; the customers become integrated with the brand, they participate in the process of creating value by partnership with the brand, and they ultimately receive a sense of value and come up with positive feedbacks. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the level of brand engagement on customer repurchase through customer value co-creation. Therefore, in order to review repurchasing in this research, customer engagement with the brand is considered as a prerequisite for customer value co-creation. Also, three dimensions of the customer value, including pleasure, economic aspect and relationship, have been examined.

In this research, the dairy industry is considered as the case to study. The research population consisted of all the people who bought the local Chahar Fasl dairy brand in Shahrood more than once. This research is an applied type in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection. By the Cochran formula, the sample size was determined to be 385. After a review of the related literature, a standard and appropriate questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the participants. Finally, 385 of the received responses could be analyzed. In order to analyze the collected data and test the hypotheses, the SPSS and Smart PLS software programs, the structural equation method and the confirmatory factor analysis were used. In general, the results of this research provide insight for brand managers and help them to know more about customers and the ways to build up loyalty in them, thus creating the desired value for them.

The findings of the research are manifold. The first hypothesis examined the effect of customer engagement with the brand on the customer pleasure value. This hypothesis was confirmed with a path coefficient of 0.772. The second hypothesis was the effect of customer engagement with the brand on the customer economic value. It was also confirmed with a path coefficient of 0.595. The third hypothesis regarded the effect of customer engagement with the brand on the value of customer relationships value, which was also confirmed with a path coefficient above 0.903. The fourth hypothesis was about the effect of customer pleasure value on the customer repurchase. It was confirmed too with a path coefficient of 0.379. The fifth hypothesis addressed the effect of customer economic value on the customer repurchase, and this hypothesis was confirmed with a path coefficient of 0.321. The sixth hypothesis regarded the effect of the customer relationships value on the repurchase, which was also confirmed with a path coefficient of 0.215. Finally, the seventh hypothesis concerned the effect of customer engagement with the brand on customer repurchase. It was confirmed with a path coefficient of 0.712. The results of this study indicate that this brand has performed well in some aspects such as creating pleasure value and relationship value for customers. However, to make these values beneficial for customer repurchase, the brand has performed poorly and failed to persuade many customers to repurchase.

Based on the results of the first, second and third hypotheses, brands should seek to better meet customer expectations, continue their relations with customers and gain a good place in their minds. They can increase customers' perception of receiving excitement and pleasure as well as provide cost and economic benefits and respectful and friendly relationships resulting from buying the brand. Also, based on the results of the fourth, fifth and sixth hypotheses, brands should be able to set up appropriate relations and partnerships with customers and create value for them by giving value to economic and pleasure relations and making the customers loyal to the brand. Thus, they may decide to repurchase the brand, which guarantees the success of the brand. Based on the results of the seventh hypothesis, brands should plan and implement the process of creating loyalty by engaging the customers so as to increase the likelihood of their return and re-purchases. In line with these results, practical suggestions have been made to increase customer repurchase.

All organizations pursue the goal of increasing customer attraction as well as enhancing their satisfaction. The country's banking industry in recent decades has experienced a rise in the number of banks, credit financial institutions and good credit funds. Hence, it is faced with growing competition. According to the latest data available on the World Bank website, the share of the value-added services in Iran is 55.8% of GDP in 2019, which is slightly higher than the global average of this index (54.8%). This percentage shows the importance of service sectors in the country. Advertising and choosing the right advertising method is the approach widely considered by thinkers. This is because the tendency of users of services and goods and the success of advertising largely depend on choosing the right advertising tools and the right method. Also, using creativity and taste in producing effective advertising content and identifying the factors affecting the intention to use services are the basic needs of financial institutions such as banks. Identifying these factors provides valuable information to attract and retain business customers. This research has been done with the aim of designing a pattern for explaining the relationship between the advertisement of electronic bank services and intention to use.

The present study is developmental and applied in terms of purpose and exploratory and mixed in terms of method. It has two parts, qualitative and quantitative, with an emphasis on the qualitative part. In the qualitative part, the proposed model is presented by the qualitative content analysis method. To evaluate the reliability of the model and its validity the Kappa index and experts’s opinions are used, respectively. First, by the library method and a comprehensive review of the literature in the field, the corresponding models and theories are studied. For this purpose, qualitative content analyses are performed to identify the subcategories. The quantitative part of this research has been measured among bank customers. To do this, a template was provided as a questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha method was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. The total alpha of the questionnaire was 0.854, which indicates that the reliability of the questionnaire was good. The statistical population in the quantitative part consisted of Bank Shahr customers in Shiraz City. The sampling process was done in two stages. In the first stage, the stratified sampling method and, in the second stage, the simple random sampling method were used, and the statistical sample consisted of 384 customers of Bank Shahr branches with different grades.

According to the descriptive statistics, 48.7% of the respondents were female and 51.3% of them were male, of whom 52.6% were in the age range of 20-30 years, 1% in the age group of 40-30 years, 12.2% of them at the ages of 50-50 years, and 3.2% of them were over 50 years. Also, 12.4% had a diploma and less, 11.9% had a postgraduate education, 4.4% 46% had a bachelor's degree, and 25.1% had a master's degree or higher. According to the results, young people with higher education are more inclined to use electronic banking services. The results of model fitting, which was estimated using the multivariate regression method, showed a strong correlation between the independent variables and the dependent variable of the research because the value of multiple-correlation coefficient was 0.695. Also, according to the results, about 48% of the variance of the intention to use electronic banking services as a dependent variable was predicted by the independent variables. Based on the adjusted coefficient of determination, which corrects the coefficient of determination in order to further reflect the goodness of the model, the independent variables explain 48% of the changes in the dependent variable. The value obtained for the F test in the table of the ANOVA is 1778/534, which is significant at the error level of 0.05. This means that the independent variables have a high power to explain well the amount of variation and the variance of the dependent variable. The results of the regression coefficients of the independent variables on the dependent variables showed that the variable of advertising with a regression coefficient of 0.732 had a great effect on the intention to use electronic banking services. The effect of the advertising evaluation indicators on the intention to use electronic banking services was not confirmed.

It can be concluded that the advertising of Bank Shahr has an effect on the intention to use e-banking services. Also, the variables of advertising have no effect on the intention to use e-banking services. So, it is important to increase customer understanding that using e-banking is more beneficial than the traditional ways of receiving bank services.

In different societies, according to the nature of that society, different environments give rise to a process and determine its form. The consumer is influenced by mental and behavioral stimuli, and his behavior is the affected by different consumption and performance drivers. In this research, a model has been proposed to measure the influence of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on consumer purchase decisions. At first, a set of scientific resources related to the field are collection and used, and then the indicators are identified to explain the influence of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on consumer purchasing decisions. In this study, an attempt has been made to provide a model to measure the effects of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on consumer purchasing decisions. Initially, the data are collected from scientific sources related to the field of research, and then the corresponding dimensions and indicators are identified to measure the effect of those stimuli..

In this study, after a content analysis, mental, social and behavioral stimuli are examined for their effects on consumer purchasing decision in Tehran province. Also, the variables of those stimuli are identified and evaluated to a large extent. A frequency distribution table is used for the central indicators, dispersion, and distribution. In the inferential part, the SPSS statistical tool is used to for data analysis, and the structural equation technique serves to measure the effects of variables using the Smart PLS software. The statistical population of the study consists of marketing professionals and consumers with numerous shopping experiences from hypermarkets. The target population is selected as a suitable sample from the community of experts and university professors. Also, the statistical population of the second group consists of consumers with numerous purchasing experiences from hypermarkets in Tehran. They were selected using the statistical formula of Cochran, Krejcie and Morgan. The final sample size was 384 people, and 400 questionnaires were distributed to ensure their return. A suitable sample is taken from the consumer community with multiple shopping experiences from hypermarkets in Tehran. To this end, the available random sampling method has been used. 

The study of the structural pattern of PLS and research questions is possible by examining the path coefficients and the standard values of the determination coefficient for the endogenous (dependent) latent variables. The coefficient of determination is a criterion that shows the effect of an exogenous variable on an endogenous variable, and three values of 0.19, 0.33, and 0.67 are considered as the criteria for weak, medium and strong values. The criterion of the determination coefficient for the endogenous structures of the research has been calculated, which, according to the three values of the criterion, can confirm the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model.

In this study, the effects of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on consumer purchasing decision making in Tehran are investigated with two main objectives. The first purpose is to determine the effects of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on each other and on consumer purchasing decisions. The second goal of the research is to provide a model for measuring the effects of mental, social and behavioral stimuli on consumer purchasing decisions. In the qualitative part, the Delphi method was used to develop the scale of mental stimuli, social stimuli and consumer behavioral stimuli. In this study, after the content analysis is done, the mental, social and behavioral stimuli of consumers' purchasing decision were identified. In the next step, using the Delphi method to identify the dimensions and components of mental and social stimuli, behavioral and consumer purchasing decisions were made from the perspective of marketing experts and professors. Also, with the approval of the marketing experts and specialists, a questionnaire related to personal values ​​and a questionnaire of modifying variables including questions on personal factors and situational factors were prepared. Also, to examine the pattern of structural relationships between model variables and analysis, it was shown that (1) there is a positive and significant relationship between effective mental stimuli and consumer purchasing decisions, (2) there is a positive and significant relationship between effective social stimuli and consumer purchasing decisions, (3) there is a positive and significant relationship between effective behavioral stimuli and consumer purchasing decisions , and (4) there is a positive and significant relationship between mental, social and behavioral stimuli in each other and consumer purchasing decisions.

One of the most important management tasks is deciding on selling prices. Given the growing competition among firms and their slow growth in attracting new customers, companies are looking for new ways to boost their sales. Price is also very important as one of the four marketing mixes. The most important point that managers should pay attention to is consumers' perception of fair prices. If consumers find the prices unfair, they show negative reactions. Therefore, a factor influencing the intention of consumers to buy is their perception of price fairness. On the other hand, in recent years, due to rising costs and ticket prices, air travel on short routes has decreased to a rather large extent. In this regard, the main purpose of this study is to show how the perception of price fairness affects behaviors and intentions in airlines. Another purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating roles of the variables of trust, satisfaction and perceived transaction dissimilarity and the moderating roles of familiarity and travel purpose on this relationship.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection and analysis. The measurement tool was a questionnaire. For each of the research variables, a valid questionnaire of previous researches was used. In order to assess the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha test and valid Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used to test the hypothesis of normal research data. The statistical population included the customers of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran who paid for the ticket themselves. The sample size of this study was 384 people. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to investigate the causal relationships among the variables, and the Amos software served to analyze the data. To express the acceptability of the model, Bentler-Bount standardized fit indices, relative fit, incremental fit, Tucker-Lewis, adaptive indices and full squares were used.

In this study, the KMO index and the Bartlett test were used to test the adequacy of the sample size, which was confirmed for analysis. With respect to the level of significance and the impact factor, it was found that the perception of price fairness has no significant effect on customer behavioral intentions. On the other hand, the findings showed that, by increased trust, the perception of price fairness can affect the behavioral intensions of customers. It was also shown that this leads to increased customer satisfaction and trust. Moreover, customer satisfaction directly affects customer behavioral intensions and increases brand trust. The other findings of this study showed that Perceived Transaction Dissimilarity both directly and indirectly through the mediation of trust affect customer behavior intensions. Because the effect of fair price perception on customers' behavioral intensions was rejected, Hypotheses 9 and 10, which examined the moderating role of travel purpose and familiarity, were not examined. Therefore, in summary, out of the ten hypotheses of this research, eight were confirmed and two were rejected.

According to the results of this study conducted about how perception of fair price affects behavioral intensions through customer satisfaction and trust, it is suggested to airlines to gain customer satisfaction and trust with their pricing strategies so that they can encourage the customers to buy from that brand. Fairness price, especially in Iran and in difficult economic conditions, can determine customer trust and satisfaction, but it can not necessarily affect customer behavior without creating trust and satisfaction alone. Also, according to the findings of this study, the greatest impact on behavioral intensions is through increasing trust, so it is suggested, in the first place, to increase trust in the company in various ways. Perceived Transaction Dissimilarity has been found to have a direct effect on behavioral intensions, so it is suggested as something more tangible and understandable to the customer. The findings also refer to the effect of more than 90% of the perceived difference on the perception of price fairness. In order for the customer to have a higher perception of fairness, airlines should try to increase the Perceived Transaction Dissimilarity from the price increase. One of the limitations of this study is the statistical population that consisted only of passengers of the domestic flights to and from Mehrabad airport who paid for the ticket themselves. It is suggested for future research to study the effect of fair price perception on the behavioral intentions of travelers whose tickets are purchased in their workplace.

In a competitive environment, businesses should look for ways of being constantly informed of the needs and wants of customers so that they can take a step towards differentiating themselves and outperforming their competitors by providing innovative services tailored to customer needs, thereby achieving a superior performance. Service businesses are more customer-dependent than manufacturing ones, so they are more dynamic in terms of type, variables, and the relationships between them. In addition, sports businesses such as sports clubs provide a lot of economic benefits to their managers and have a large turnover in the sports industry. Also, in terms of the health of sport, sports businesses are known as white businesses. In order not to cause too much pollution in the society, they have provided the ground for people's health and healthy living.

This research is a field survey of a descriptive type in terms of data collection and applied in terms of purpose. The statistical population included all the managers of sports clubs in Guilan Province. The statistical sample was selected according to the Morgan table for the target population of 252 people. A 47-item questionnaire based on the five-point Likert scale was used to collect the data. The questionnaire included questions on digital marketing, customer voice marketing, differentiation strategy, and business performance. In order to evaluate the content validity and face validity, five sports management professors and four experts and managers of sports clubs were consulted. According to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the distribution of the data was abnormal. Therefore, to investigate the relationship between statistical hypotheses, the structural equation modeling method was used by the PLS software. Also, to evaluate the construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis method was done. In addition, to analyze the main research hypotheses, path analysis method was used in the PLS software.

According to the descriptive data, 60.45% of the research participants were 29-20 years old, 61.53% of them were men, and 50.37% of them had a bachelor's degree. The factor loads of all the measures in their respective structures were higher than 0.4. The output results of the model indicated the appropriateness of the convergent validity criterion. Also, the divergent validity of the model was confirmed. All the variables had a Cronbach's alpha value above 0.70 and a hybrid reliability above 0.80, indicating that the model had good reliability in both Cronbach's alpha and hybrid reliability. The variance inclusion index also showed that digital marketing (16%) and customer voice marketing (55%) indirectly affect the performance of sports club businesses through the mediation of differentiation strategies. This suggests the partial mediation of the mediators. According to the obtained value  of SRMR (0.09), the measurement and structural model had a good fit. It was also found that digital marketing (0.22), customer voice marketing (0.21) and differentiation strategy (0.36) had significant effects on the 95% significance level with business performance. Digital marketing (0.12) and customer voice marketing (0.73) had a significant effect at 95% significance level with a differentiation strategy. According to the results of the present study and the great effects of digital marketing and customer voice marketing on the business performance of sports clubs through differentiation strategies, sports club managers should focus more on online advertising and hearing the voice of customers. Introducing services in clubs and providing their needs will cause customers’ loyalty and their return. As a result, the club will perform better than its competitors. The Sobel test showed that the digital marketing has a significant effect on the performance of sports club businesses through the mediation of differentiation strategies. Customer voice marketing through the mediation of a differentiation strategy also has a significant effect on the performance of sports club businesses. In today's competitive market environment, which is characterized by increasing competition as well as unpredictable and knowledgeable customers, the effort to build customer loyalty and satisfaction through advertising and product promotion and delivery to the customer has become more important and may be one of the most important strategic factors to take into account for success. Given that social media are the most important elements in digital marketing and companies and clubs are gradually moving towards marketing, neglecting the importance of the club's customer can lead to the failure of clubs. So, it is important for a sports club to be able to easily achieve its customer retention goals by performing its duties. Many sports clubs and businesses have now accepted that, in order to succeed in a competitive world and compete with the competitors, they must use a digital strategy such as social media.

Sports business executives are not familiar with new techniques such as digital marketing and customer voice marketing to improve their business performance. They also cannot use differentiation strategies to excel and create a competitive advantage with competitors. Therefore, measures should be taken to train sports club managers in modern marketing and customer orientation methods and to familiarize them with the strategies of having innovation and differentiation. For this purpose, managers can use the customer voice marketing technique by inviting loyal trainers and have private meetings to use their comments and suggestions. In this regard, the customers' comments and suggestions are also needed for providing the facilities and programs desired. The research on sports businesses and the marketing of sports clubs has shown that sports clubs do not make good use of marketing programs and specialized marketing teams to better manage themselves, so it is recommended that the managers of sports clubs in the country use marketing programs such as digital marketing and hear customers' voices and feedback to familiarize the public with the quality and variety of their club services.

The primary goal of sustainable businesses is to create superior value for customers and gain value from them. That is, to achieve success, companies need to create value for customers as they create their own values for the company. The co-creation of value is a form of marketing strategy or business strategy that underscores the perpetual creation and recognition of shared values of the company and customers. The main challenge facing companies in this field is to associate the value created for the customers with the perceived value of the customer. This ultimately leads to the customer's participation in value creation for the company. However, it poses a major challenge to marketers due to the nature of the service and its intangible characteristics, especially in the service sector. The main question raised and addressed in this paper is “Which type of value created by service companies can increase the customer's perceived value and ultimately provoke the customer's participation in value creation?”  The literature has explored the consequences of perceived value, mostly in the form of loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising, but the customer's participation in value creation for the company has scarcely been recognized as an outcome of the customer's perceived value. Given the research gap in this field, this research sets out to explain the role of customer participation in creating value for the banking industry based on the perceived value and the value presented to the customer.

In this applied research, a causal method was adopted, and the data collection was conducted through a field survey. The statistical population consisted of the customers of Bank Maskan in the city of Tabriz of whom a sample of 955 customers filled out the research questionnaire. The study sample was selected using the available sampling method. The questionnaire was developed after a detailed review of numerous studies in the corresponding literature. A pre-test was administered based on the feedback of some bank managers and marketing professors, and some suggestions were finally proposed for the correction of the statements to ensure the compatibility of the items with the experimental results. All the research variables were measured on a 7-point Likert scale (completely disagree = 1 to completely agree = 7). The data were collected, tested and analyzed using the SPSS and Amos software programs.

In this research, data analysis was conducted at the descriptive level using statistical indicators to describe the demographic characteristics of the sample. Then, at the inferential level, the fit of measurement models was evaluated using "confirmatory factor analysis". Finally, to test the assumptions and investigate the relationships among the research variables, a two-step structural equation modeling approach was utilized. According to the results, the indicators demonstrated a desirable fit for the research model. The Chi-square value was 3.48, which is within the acceptable range (1 to 5), thus illustrating the good fit of the structural model. Moreover, since the RMSEA fit index (0.05) was less than 0.1, the model had a good fit. Other fitness indices were also within this acceptable range.The results revealed that utilitarian and hedonistic values exert positive and significant effects on the perceived value of customers in Bank Maskan. An interesting finding was that the effect of the hedonic value on the perceived value eclipsed that of the utilitarian value. Considering the type of banking services, the opposite was expected. The customers’ perceived value had positive and significant effects on all the three dimensions of the customer engagement value (customer lifetime value, influence value, and customer knowledge value).

The present study demonstrated that customers desire to receive services with a greater perceived value. These customers are more likely to forge stronger relationships with banks and create value for banks through their cooperative behaviors. This study stressed the importance of utilizing value-based strategies, which transform the value of customers and relationships. Grounded in the banking industry, this study found that the experience and value presented to the customer in the form of utilitarian and hedonic values could increase the perceived value of the customer, thus helping to raise the level of the customer participation in creating value for the bank.As suggested by the results of this study, customers, rather than being solely preoccupied with making profits in their transactions with the bank, look for social identity and the creation of a suitable emotional link with the bank. Providing such values (i.e., utilitarian and hedonistic values) by the bank plays a crucial role in the customer's perceived value. Moreover, the banks that offer a high perceived value can instigate further participation of customers through their social influence (e.g., introducing services to others), knowledge sharing (e.g., providing feedback and suggestions for performance improvement), customer referrals (e.g., referring a new customer to the bank) and expanded use of services and transactions. Engaging customers as a tactic would yield favorable results in marketing.

The dairy industry, with its long chain of values and numerous links, is an effective and efficient industry in the Iranian economy. As the competition in the dairy market increases, the chances of survival in this field decrease, regardless of the customer, marketing and sales strategies. Therefore, the customer's journey is important from the moment of getting to know the company to the purchase, which is an experience that plays a role in the customer's mind. Shopping trips have a significant role in people's lives and are one of the basic needs of human life. The importance of the customer journey increases with the complexity of service delivery. It is also important to understand what the person is thinking and feeling, given that what the person is saying is not always in line with what they are doing. Therefore, today, it seems necessary to use a customer empathy map during a trip.Targeting and optimizing the message is very important in the busy days of the third millennium and is a requirement of every brand. The digital revolution has helped to better understand the final audience. Based on this knowledge, the message that has the most impact should be selected and the audience should be exposed to it. In this respect, innovation in advertising means creating valuable memories for the target audience. Virtual reality-based advertising can help companies create such memories. Virtual reality (virtual reality) is created as a computer simulation that involves a user, and that user perceives it through one or more senses (mostly through vision, hearing and touch). So, the interaction with it would be as if it were real.

In the present study, Ramak local cheese was advertised through virtual reality in Mahestan shopping center in the city of Karaj, where different ethnicities live. The aim was to create a customer empathy map using a virtual reality camera and a wooden cottage. The present study is a developmental perspective in which the survey method was used to collect the data and video hermeneutics method served to analyze the data. There were 74 participants in the study, and the data of 23 participants were analyzed. In fact, the selection of samples continued until the data saturation; the researcher realized that the subsequent samples will not provide him with distinctive information.For the effectiveness of the customer empathy map, what the customer says, does, thinks and feels were videotaped and finally analyzed during the virtual reality advertising process. The people in the mall were asked to watch a two-minute 3D movie through virtual reality glasses. They sat on a chair to watch the film. The film took the participants to a lush farm where many cows were grazing. To make the advertisement more effective when the participants were watching the film, several wooden walls were connected, and the participants were placed in a cottage with a traditional atmosphere. It was a place with a table in the hut lined with local Ramak cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes, and traditional music with pleasant spring sounds was played. At the end of the video, the participants were asked to try the local cheese and express their opinion about the product. The recorded videos of the participants in virtual reality advertising were analyzed by video hermeneutics.

With the increasing competition among companies and the great change and diversity in the demands and needs of customers, managers must always think of innovative ways to attract and retain their customers. Therefore, we see many changes in companies' advertisements to attract customers. Managers must be able to accompany the customer on the shopping trip. This trip is the process by which a customer interacts with a company to achieve a goal. Also, managers need to read the customer's mind to better interact with him. In fact, they must design an empathetic map to communicate with the customer. An empathy map can provide new insights into the customer’s desire and how it affects product decisions, marketing messages, and corporate business strategies. Videos provids researchers with unique analytic methods.Companies increasingly incorporate virtual reality into their operations to ensure that sales conversions occur based on a sense of presence, which results from an effective virtual experience. Virtual reality helps to bridge the gap in consumer expectations and ultimately leads to higher purchasing goals. In the present study, the researchers designed and implemented a customer empathy map with the aim of creating a sense of presence and meeting customer expectations. To this end, a film and a traditional cottage were used based on virtual reality. The results showed that the sense of nostalgia, peace and joy was completely transferred to the participants and the company was able to interact properly with them.

After carrying out this plan, Ramak Company has witnessed an 8% growth in sales of the desired product. Therefore, the use of virtual reality maintains the relationship with consumers. Indeed, virtual reality is a suitable tool at the end of the shopping trip, it has to do with the customer loyalty and advocacy, and companies can use ads to be more effective and create an empathetic relationship with customers.

In the past, marketing was used only in business and had no role in education. The role of educational institutions was to serve the community, conduct research activities and teach students the skills that were useful to them in the workplace. In fact, these institutions were only used to develop knowledge. But now, marketing departments have found a special position in the organizational structure of higher education institutions. Higher education managers consider marketing activities as important as the financial, human resources, quality assurance and the other internal departments of these institutions. The reasons for the importance of marketing in higher education centers is the increased competition between universities over attracting students and professors and obtaining financial support. The decline in government financial support, along with the declining trend in university admissions, is putting additional pressure on higher education institutions. In recent decades, the term branding has been used in the higher education marketing literature. In these complex and highly competitive markets, universities and other higher education institutions consider branding as a way to resist the challenges. Brand is one of the most valuable assets of any organization whose appropriate management can pave the way to success in any organization. Therefore, it seems necessary to pay attention to the issue of branding in the universities in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Brand is one of the most important factors that improve the competitive position of universities. The ideal brand of a university encourages decision makers to continue their studies to choose that university; thus becoming confident that they will receive advantages such as high-quality education, suitable physical facilities and suitable job market opportunities. Because universities are an effective instrument for providing education for applicants, it seems necessary for these institutions to have the social credibility and a proper mental image. Having a proper mental image of a university brand attracts students and professors and gains access to foreign resources to invest in the university. As a key factor, it persuades students to choose that university by students. Therefore, for effective brand management, consumers' mental image of the brand and their inference and perception of brand personality must be understood. So, if the personality perceived by the consumer fits the identity that universities are trying to present, the factors creating this fit should be strengthened. Also, if there is a discrepancy, the factors causing it should be detected and corrected. The purpose of this study is to determine the perception of the brand personality of Yazd University through the archetypal approach and the most frequent archetype of each personality type. The study also seeks to investigate the relationship between the personality of students and professors of Yazd University and the archetype that is the most selected. Another purpose of this study is to understand whether the selected archetypes of all the five personality types are the same or not.

The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive analysis in terms of method.. Secondary sources and libraries were used to collect the data on the background of the research. Preliminarily, the data were collected using a questionnaire appropriate to the research topic. The students and professors of Yazd University formed the statistical population of the research. The necessary data for the study were collected from 118 questionnaires completed by the students and professors in different faculties and educational grades. They were selected through random sampling. Statistical analysis was performed using the contingency table and Cramer's V.

The results show that the selected archetypal personalities for Yazd University brand are innocent, ruler,  explorer and magician archetypes, Also, by the analysis of the personality traits of individuals using the neo-approach and the archetype of their choice, it was found that people with different personality traits agree in choosing the most selective archetype, i.e., the innocent archetype for the brand personality of Yazd University. All the five personality types chose this option more than the others. The choice of this archetype had nothing to do with the characteristics of neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreement, and only the association of this archetype with the characteristic of empiricism was confirmed.

It is better for the personality of a brand to be clear and tangible so that the majority can have the same perception of the personality of that brand. The results of this study show that this happened correctly about the brand of Yazd University. The results confirm that people, regardless of their personality traits and types, choose the same archetypes for the Yazd University brand, and people with five different personality traits are significantly unanimous in their choice of archetypes. In general, all the five personality types considered innocent archetypes as their first choice for this brand. The three personality types with the characteristics of neuroticism, openness to experience and agreeableness, in addition to agreeing on the first chosen archetype, did the same in the second choice, namely the choice of the ruling archetype. From these results, it can be deduced that the brand of Yazd University has an intimate and reliable personality that seeks happiness and focuses on independence. The brand seeks to change and improve the world. It avoids illiteracy, disability and inefficiency. This brand can also help people find the way to what they can be, recognize their inherent potential, and put it to practice. This brand does not accept inertia and monotony and seeks change in life and tries to help achieve its goals by turning threats into opportunities. It is not only a successful brand, but it can be considered as a leader in its field, looking for new services and methods.

In the present situation, private banks are facing dynamics and challenges such as: insecurity, poor financial instruments, technological and digital problems and so on. However, in order for these banks need a dynamic strategy to interact and cope with these challenges (Plan the right stance and action, bank level strategy and marketing strategy), to ensures the effectiveness of the bank's performance in the long run. Because private banks, without a clear plan, cannot activity compete in new markets and improve their effectiveness and operational capacity. Performance and strategy are two important patterns and capabilities in the growth of activities and presence of companies in competitive markets. The content of the strategy should be designed in such a way that while enumerating the key factors, it predicts the success of private banks; In addition, it leads banks to be more efficient in competing with other banks and ultimately, to develop their business.

The purpose of this study, considering the nature and expression of the research problem, is to investigate the effect of company level strategy and marketing strategy through the content strategy (mediator role) on the performance of private banks in Afghanistan. The statistical population of the study includes the managers of seven private banks in Kabul and based on Cochran’s formula, 264 people have been selected as the sample size of the research according to the due to the size of the population. In addition, this research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive - survey in terms of method. The tool for collecting research data, is a questionnaire and the questions of the questionnaire include two parts: general and specialized questions. General questions are related to demographic questions. Specialized questions including 47 questions, based on the Likert scale to examine and measure the indicators of four variables (bank level strategy, marketing strategy, content strategy and bank performance), are also presented in the form of a research questionnaire. Most of the 264 questionnaires were returned from the statistical sample and analyzed through structural equivalence and Sobel test.Accordingly, data analysis was performed at two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics, in the analysis of descriptive statistics section, descriptive statistical methods, tables and graphs were used. In the inferential statistics section, in this research, 5 hypotheses were proposed and tested by examining the research model, based on statistical methods using SPSS23 and LISREL8.80 software. Finally, all hypotheses were confirmed. The reliability of the research was calculated by Cronband´s LISREL8.80 alpha using SPSS software and its validity was analyzed and confirmed based on content validity and factor analysis.

The total average of the marketing strategy variable (3.98) and, among the variable dimensions, the differentiation strategy dimension has the highest average (3.99) and the focus strategy dimension has the lowest average (3.96), which is more than the average of 3. Therefore, it can be concluded that the overall status of the marketing strategy variable is relatively at a favorable level. The total average of the bank level strategy variable is (3.40) and, among the variable dimensions, the supervision strategy dimension has the highest average (3.45) and the guiding strategy dimension has the lowest average (3.40), which is more than the average of 3. Therefore, it can be concluded that the general situation of bank level strategy variables is at a favorable level. The total average of the bank performance variable is (3.25). Among the variable performance indicators, the non-financial performance dimension of the bank has the highest average (3.277) and the financial performance dimension of the bank has the lowest average (3.24), which is more than the average of 3. . Therefore, it can be concluded that the general situation of the bank's performance variable is at a favorable level. The research findings of the hypothesis test indicate that the research hypotheses are confirmed.  In fact, the bank - level strategy has a significant impact on the performance of private banks in Afghanistan. Also, marketing strategy has a significant impact on the performance of private banks in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the content strategy has a mediating role in the relationship between bank level strategy and the performance of private banks in Afghanistan. Similarly, the content strategy has a mediating role in the relationship between marketing strategy and the performance of private banks in Afghanistan. Finally, there is a significant relationship between bank level strategy and marketing strategy.

Private Banks should adopt and implement strategies that have good influence, initiative and monitor their operations in the form of market resources. Then its opportunities, challenges are responsible for achieving the strategic goals of those banks. On the other hand, the performance effectiveness of these banks is optimized and increased within the framework of strategies (bank level strategy and marketing strategy). Bank level strategy has a general approach that strives to create and maximize value for the bank and customers on long-term investment. The dimensions of this strategy include (guidance strategy, portfolio and supervision), which are planned and implemented according to the model and mission of private banks, which maintain the overall performance and success of the bank. Based on this, it controls and improves financial and non-financial performance in the form of strategic goals and market opportunities. The marketing strategy coordinates the capabilities and capabilities of private banks with opportunities, changing environmental variables and its performance are focused on gaining and creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The main goal of this strategy is to compete in new markets and take advantage of market growth opportunities to maintain and achieve optimal performance.

The wide range of the perceived value dimensions in the field of consumer behavior has led the present study to investigate the perceived value of shopping centers and malls in Iran, its antecedents and consequents and how they affect each other. The mixed research approach is a sequential-heuristic one. In the qualitative section, the hermeneutic phenomenology method was applied to explore the lived experience of the participants. On the whole, eighteen informants were selected based on the snowball sampling method for deep interviews. The data were analyzed by using coding and sequential mixed data analysis via the Atlasti software. Finally, thirty three themes were extracted. In the quantitative part, the descriptive survey method was used. The data were collected from mall browsers through a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was done via the AMOS software to analyze the model. According to the findings, there were eight values including economic, hedonic, escapism, epistemic, time convenience, utilitarian, status and Islamic values. All the dimensions of the perceived value had a significant positive effect on loyalty. Using a mixed approach, this study has introduced some new categories and themes about perceived value and its antecedents from the perspective of Iranian customers going to shopping centers.

In the current research, a mixed approach consisting of two parts, quantitative and qualitative, has been used. In the qualitative part of the research, the sampling is based on the purpose. Eighteen people who referred to shopping centers were selected to participate in the qualitative part of the research using the snowball method. In order to collect the data, in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants based on the interview protocol. The data were analyzed by using a coding method similar to the coding method in the grounded theory and with the help of the Atlas t software. In the quantitative part, it is an applied research in terms of its purpose. In terms of the method, it is a descriptive research of a survey type. Also, this study is cross-sectional based on the level of in-depth observation. In this part, the findings obtained from the qualitative section were used to design a questionnaire and develop a tool to measure the concept of the perceived value of the shopping center and malls. The structural equation modeling method was used with the help of the AMOS software to analyze quantitative data.

In the first stage of coding, which is called open coding, 1,188 open codes were discovered, and then, after repeated refinement, they were organized into eighty-seven more abstract concepts called categories. Then, the categories were classified into thirty three themes. The results of the present research can be divided into three general categories. The first to eleventh themes reflect the structure of the perceived value of the shopping centers and malls. The twelfth to twenty-seventh themes represent the anticipants of the perceived value of the shopping centers and malls. The 28th to 33rd themes refer the consequences of the perceived value of the shopping centers and malls. In the quantitative part of the research, namely the exploratory factor analysis, 60 items were loaded in fifteen components. These items were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from completely disagree to completely agree. In the end, a model with 28 paths remained on the perceived values positively and significantly. As the results of the model fit indicate, the fit index has the necessary values ​​and supports the agreement between the experimental data and the extracted model. The indices of the final model were NFI: 0.832, CFI: 0.907, GFI: 0.825, AGFI: 0.808, RMSEA: 0.43. The results extracted for the model indicated that the items of each component had a positive loading factor greater than 0.50, and the calculated t-value for each of them was greater than 1.96 and 2.58. All the path coefficients were significant at the 95% confidence level. There were eight perceived value components of shopping centers including economic, hedonic, escapism, epistemic, time convenience, utilitarian, status and Islamic components. According to the results of the current research model, behavioural consequences (loyalty) are significantly influenced by all these eight components.

Due to the fact that the number of shopping centers and homogeneous malls is increasing day by day and the needs and demands of customers get to be more complex and diverse, managers of shopping centers who understand the reasons for appropriate behavior have competitive advantages. They can use the knowledge in this field to maintain the existing customers and convince new customers from among the competitors, to present a distinctive image of the shopping centers under their management. The researchers in the present study, influenced by native values, reached factors such as environmental features, internal motivators, the nature of the shopping center, sports and health facilities, facilities for children and visual attractions. The number of factors affecting the choice of shopping centers are different based on the country of study. Shopping centers are considered more profitable if they satisfy both types of buyers with values ​​of hedonism and utilitarianism. This result leads to the support of the customers who desire to stay longer in shopping centers, increase patronage and spend more money. The present study has explained the value structures of customers' shopping experience and identified various factors that make customers want to visit shopping centers.