Social branding model in line with sustainable development (case study: Domdaran dairy company)

Introduction:
 A large part of the sustainable marketing literature is devoted to the concept of “green”, which implies the environmental aspect of sustainable development, and it seems that the social aspect of sustainable development is less considered. Meanwhile, the company's social actions are very important, not only in terms of achieving sustainable development goals (this can be seen by referring to the 17 goals of the sustainable development program); they also have a positive impact on the image of the company and can attract customers' trust to social brands. However, in domestic literature, not much research has been done in relation to social branding. On the other hand, in many cases, the two concepts of social media branding and societal branding are confused with each other. The first refers to the use of social networks in branding activities, while the second basically refers to the social responsibility considerations of the company in branding operations, which is the subject of the present research. This research has been done with the aim of providing a branding model for Iran's dairy industry.
 
Materials and methods:
The main purpose of this research is to model social branding in the direction of sustainable development, so the current research is in the scope of developmental research. Since in this research we arrive at a general pattern from the data obtained from interviews and questionnaires, therefore, the approach of this research is inductive. Qualitative data analysis was done with the methods of exploratory and interview-based data theory, and quantitative data analysis was based on the nature and method of descriptive survey research, which is a questionnaire for data collection. The statistical population of this research in the qualitative part included university professors and managers of dairy companies. The selection of the statistical sample was continued using the purposeful snowball sampling method until the level of theoretical saturation and data sufficiency. A total of 19 experts were selected as samples in the qualitative section. The population studied in the quantitative research are the managers, supervisors, and employees of the livestock company (N = 730). To calculate the sample size, Cochran's formula for limited communities was used, and the statistical sample size reached 252 samples, which we distributed 300 questionnaires among them for more certainty. The main tool of data collection in the qualitative part is a semi-structured, in-depth interview. In the quantitative part, to test these research hypotheses, a researcher-made questionnaire containing 47 items was used to collect information. The items of the questionnaire have been formulated exactly based on the indicators identified in the qualitative phase of the research. In order to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated, and two methods of form-content validity (CVR-CVI) and construct validity (convergent validity and divergent validity) were used to check the validity. In order to determine the validity and reliability of the interviews, two methods of re-testing and double-coder agreement were used. Qualitative data was analyzed using the foundation data method. Data analysis has been done in the qualitative section using Maxqda software. Inferential statistics and the partial least squares technique (PLS) were used to analyze the data and test the research hypotheses.
 
Findings:
A questionnaire was provided to the statistical sample based on the results of the qualitative analysis of six categories of factors, including causal factors, mental paradigms of managers, optimization, organizational culture, and social responsibility. The results obtained by calculating Cronbach's alpha, combined reliability, shared reliability, and AVE showed that the questionnaire has good validity and reliability, and finally, the model has a good fit.
 
Discussion and conclusion:
In relation to the causal conditions of social marketing categories, the mental paradigms of managers, social responsibility, optimal mining, and organizational culture were identified. The statistics of the “social marketing” category as one of the causal conditions of social branding are quite expected, because one cannot expect success in social branding without social marketing activities. An important category that was identified under the causal factors is the mental paradigms of the managers. Social branding is not just a category of communication and directives, and it is realized when the company managers (especially the senior managers of the company) are really concerned about society mentally and intellectually. This result is consistent with the findings of Al-Hosseini et al. (2014), Amiboor et al. (2021), and Kaur et al. (2020). The microenvironment and competitive environment were identified as contextual categories. This finding shows that even if the managers of an organization do not have much desire for social affairs, it is the general trend of society that leads organizations towards public benefit and social responsibility actions. For example, changes in consumer income levels can affect their purchasing habits and preferences for certain brands. This result is consistent with the findings of Al-Hosseini et al. (2014), Amiboor et al. (2021), and Kaur et al. (2020). Regarding the intervening conditions, the categories of employee participation and sustainable competitive advantage were identified. Sustainable competitive advantage refers to the unique strengths and resources that a dairy company has that allow it to outperform its competitors in the long run. In the dairy industry, sustainable competitive advantage can be obtained from various factors such as product quality, production efficiency, distribution channels, brand reputation, etc. Dairy companies rely on employees to ensure that their products meet high quality standards. When employees work together and communicate effectively, they can quickly identify and address production issues and challenges, resulting in better-quality products. These findings are consistent with the results of previous researchers (Rojas et al., 2023; Zahedi et al., 2020). Based on the results obtained in relation to the central category of the research, the category of social branding management was identified. Social branding management refers to the process of creating and maintaining a “community-oriented” or “community-friendly” brand image for a company's products or services. The role of social branding management is vital to the branding model of dairy companies. Social branding management can help to create a unique and convincing brand “social identity” that connects with consumers. The results are in line with the findings of Shafiq et al. (2023) and Wu et al. (2024). Charitable marketing, cooperative branding, and target market selection were identified as strategic categories. Brand development through joint branding and the formation of economic clusters can also be a suitable solution for small domestic dairy companies. On the path of progress, many small and start-up businesses face challenges that larger businesses usually do not face. This can lead to higher conversion rates, increased customer loyalty, and higher profits. These findings are consistent with those of Christiansen (1922), Dumont and Oates (2020), Dhaka et al. (2022), and Iskanderpour et al. (2023).