Designing a Model of Factors Influencing Marketing and Competitiveness in the Automotive Industry in Iran

Abstract

Competitiveness is among the critical topics that has been emphasized in the management and marketing literature in recent years. The increasing competition and the abundance of products produced by automotive groups both domestically and internationally have presented Iranian customers with a wide range of choices. This study seeks to identify, categorize, and model the factors influencing the marketing and competitiveness of the automotive industry in Iran by employing the qualitative thematic analysis research method. In this regard, interviews were conducted with 14 professors and senior experts in the automotive marketing field, each with a minimum of 10 years of work experience and at least a master's degree. According to the qualitative model, 11 main categories were identified and classified under contexts, processes, and outcomes as follows: The context category includes domestic and foreign investment attraction, proper policymaking, sanctions, state ownership, and monopoly. The process category includes marketing and competitiveness in the automotive industry, knowledge and technology development, improvement of design and production processes, and improvement of services. The outcomes of the presented model include customer satisfaction and increased market share. Additionally, the variables of proper policymaking and domestic and foreign investment attraction had the highest frequency, indicating the greater importance of these variables in the research model.