The Effect of Social Marketing on Customer Behavior: An Empirical Study of Tourism Companies in Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Social marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to social change and aims to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and societies for the social good. The study investigates the type and level of influence of social marketing on customer behavior in tourism companies in Baghdad (Iraq). The sample size of the study is 135 people comprising directors, assistant directors, and marketing staff in tourism companies in Baghdad. A questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data and information, and was prepared by the researcher after it underwent validity, stability, and arbitration tests. The data was analyzed using the statistical program (SPSS v. 25, AMOS v.23) and statistical methods have been used to process the data represented by the arithmetic mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, correlation coefficient (Person), simple and multiple regression equations. The research showed significant results represented by a positive and strong relationship between the research variables. This result indicates that there is an effect on the customer's behavior. Moreover, the results of the study showed positive effects that extend from social marketing to customer behavior in the long term.

1. Introduction

The primary objective of companies that live in light of the continuous change in the business environment, which is characterized by intense competition, is how to maintain and continue with customers and to achieve the goals that it seeks. To understand buyer behavior, marketers must understand how customers make buying decisions. Consumers and businesses have processes for making decisions about purchases. These decision-making processes are affected by cultural, social, individual, and psychological factors. Understanding consumer behavior is important for all companies, especially before the launch of a product or service. If the company fails to read the customer’s mind, it may end up in losses. Consumer behavior is usually very complex because each one has a different attitude towards the purchase, consumption, and disposal of a product. Understanding the concepts of consumer behavior helps in marketing products and services successfully. Besides, the frequent study of consumer behavior helps in several aspects. There’s constant change in living standards, technology, fashion, and trends, and customer attitude towards a product or service also changes. Product marketing largely depends on these factors and consumer behavior acts as a tool for marketers to achieve and reach their sales goals.

Social marketing has the primary goal of achieving the “common good”. Traditional commercial marketing aims are primarily financial, though they can have positive social effects as well. In the context of public health, social marketing would promote general health, raise awareness and induce changes in behavior. Social marketing is one of the modern marketing concepts that have become a tool for achieving success in companies, and through this research, we aim to highlight the role that social marketing plays in influencing customer behavior. And based on the importance of research variables and their major role in the survival and development of companies, this study deals with the topic of social marketing and the most important concepts related to them. Also, we identify the role of social marketing in changing the behavior of customers, by taking a sample of tourism companies in Baghdad since tourism plays an important social role in an economy.

As for the justifications for choosing this topic for the study, it came from the importance of the concept of social marketing for service companies, especially tourism companies, because of their positive impact on improving their level of performance, and for them to know and study the customer’s behavior and identify the customers’ needs from the services provided by the company.

2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development

It’s important for businesses to engage their customers. Marketing is a tool to keep the conversation going. How you market your business determines if the enterprise will be successful or not. Marketing is a tool used to create and maintain demand, relevance, reputation, competition, and more. The marketing process generally includes the ways in which value can be created for customers to meet their requirements. The marketing process can be defined as an endless series of actions and reactions between customers and companies in an effort to create value and meet customer needs. In the marketing process, the situation is examined to identify opportunities, the strategy is formulated for a value proposition, tactical decisions are taken, the plan is executed, and results are monitored. Consumer behavior is the study of how individual customers, groups, or organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions. Marketers expect that by understanding what causes the consumers to buy particular goods and services, they will be able to determine—which products are needed in the marketplace, which is obsolete, and how best to present the goods to the consumers.

The marketing concept as a business philosophy is traced from its origins as a business belief where efficient production was the emphasis to the current belief which emphasizes customer needs as a means of long-run business success. The concept has evolved progressively over the last century. The underlying assumption of the development of the concept has geared toward a certain line of business needs. Over the year, at least six different philosophies have developed, with the latter ones being superior to earlier ones. While different philosophical concepts have been dominant at particular business eras, the development of a new concept does not necessarily mean the abolition of old concepts. In some cases, new concepts have overlapped old ones; while in others old concepts have complemented new ones. The world of marketing has taken a positive turn by seeking to expand its scope by creating value for society as a whole in addition to creating value for the company and its customers. This new attempt was called “social marketing” and included the introduction of social and behavioral change through the application of marketing concepts. More emphasis has been placed on marketing as a philosophy or concept rather than a function. The marketing concept is a relative newcomer as a philosophy of doing business. However, its evolution started before the Industrial Revolution. As time progressed, customer and business need also evolved. The product and selling philosophies eventually evolved into the marketing concept and philosophy.

The purpose of the societal marketing concept is also to meet the needs and requirements of customers before making any profits. But the focus of this concept is to make the company fulfill social responsibilities for a sustainable long-term future. The marketing strategy of businesses and companies should include both customers and society as well. The idea of the societal marketing concept is that the businesses should satisfy the needs and wants of customers, but this target should be aligned with the long term interest of society (Andrianova & Yeletskikh, 2012).

2.1. Social Marketing

The societal marketing concept emerged in the 1970s and has since overlapped with the marketing philosophy. The concept assumes that there is a conflict between consumer short-term wants and society’s long-run interest and that organizations should focus on a practice that ensures long run consumer and societal welfare. Kotler and Armstrong (2010) consider the societal marketing orientation to be the best business philosophy for organizations. They said that community marketing: “represents a new concept and an attempt to align business goals with sometimes conflicting goals of society”. They conclude: “the organization’s task is to determine the needs, wants and interest of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s and society’s well-being”.

It is understandable why this concept did not emerge until around the 1970s. The importance of this concept became eminent when the effect of business activities on the environment and society became too pronounced. It was then necessary for businesses to think about how to satisfy the market with the aim of profit, and still minimize its effects on society. A happy society is more likely to buy and to recommend a firm’s product, while an angry society will refuse the purchase of a company’s product even if it could satisfy the needs of the customer. This means the societal marketing philosophy emphasizes the need not only to consider the customer in product decisions but also his immediate environment. The appropriateness of societal marketing philosophy is deduced from the fact that it supports the socially responsible behavior of the organization. It thus challenges the earlier assertion that “the social responsibility of business is to make a profit”. Organizations will still need to adopt this business philosophy to be able to deal with the cultural and regulatory aspects of the business environment. This means adoption of the societal marketing philosophy generates some factors of market orientation that foster business performance. The societal marketing concept is considered a separate business philosophy; however, the concept could be better looked at as complimentary. It should be complementary business thinking to the adoption of other business philosophies, particularly, the marketing philosophy (Andrianova & Yeletskikh, 2012). Thus, whether a business is production, product, selling, or marketing oriented, the interest of the society must still be given its rightful place because society is a key stakeholder in every business.

Multiple studies have found that social marketing approaches can effectively change social norms and behavior. Hassan and Hilal (2010) stated that social marketing is designed to improve individual welfare and society, not to benefit the organization doing the social marketing; this is what distinguishes social marketing from other forms of marketing. Social marketing, in general, is the application of marketing principles to the promotion of socially beneficial goods. These goods might be ideas, causes, behaviors, or perhaps specific services. Implicit in the concept of social marketing is the assumption that an exchange process between the producer and the consumer is facilitated by the provision of knowledge and product availability.

Social marketing relies on many disciplines (such as eco- nomics, marketing, psychology, sociology, communications, political science, and law). Social Marketing is the use of marketing principles and techniques to influence a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, modify or abandon a behavior for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society as a whole. Social marketing is concerned with the application of marketing knowledge, concepts, and techniques to enhance social as well as economic ends. It is also concerned with the analysis of the social consequence of marketing policies, decisions, and activities (Stewart, 2015). Social marketing has been defined as a model for behavior change; social marketing is a process that applies traditional marketing principles and techniques to influence target audience behaviors that benefit society as well as the individual. Social marketing provides a framework for behavior change and borrows techniques from the commercial sector to apply to the resolution of health and social problems (Ponce-Lucero et al., 2020).

It is fair to say that there is much confusion as to the exact definition of social marketing. It is a growing concept and is now generating a great deal of interest from academics and practitioners alike. Unfortunately, the conflict between what practitioners want to do and what academics say they should do is not helping the cause. Social marketing now uses commercial marketing techniques—such as analyzing target audiences, identifying the objectives of targeted behavior changes, tailoring messages, and adapting strategies like branding—to promote the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors (Duffy et al., 2020).

The traditional marketing toolbox contains four major devices: product, price, place, and promotion. Like their counterparts in commercial sectors, social marketers resort to these tools to create, communicate, and deliver values for their targeted behaviors. The 4Ps can be thought of as independent, though not isolated, variables used as determinants to influence the dependent variables—the behaviors of the target market. The 4Ps should be developed and presented in the following order, with the product strategy at the beginning of the sequence and the promotion strategy at the end. Promotion is at the end because it ensures that the target markets become aware of the targeted product, its price, and its accessibility, which need to be developed before the promotion strategy. Great attention is called for the “mix” of the 4Ps, which should not be developed in isolation—it is the synergy of the 4Ps that makes a truly successful social marketing campaign possible (Cheng, Kotler, & Lee, 2011).

2.1.1. Social Product

It is essential to have a clear description of the product in a social marketing campaign, at the core, actual, and augmented levels. A core product comprises the benefits that the target audience will experience or expect in exchange for performing the targeted behavior, or that will be highlighted in a social marketing campaign (e.g., healthier life and the reduction in the risk of becoming obese or overweight). An actual product is the desired behavior, often embodied by its major features and described in specific terms (such as healthy foods or beverages available at vending machines). An augmented product refers to any additional tangible objects and/or services that will be included in the offer and promoted to the target market. An augmented product helps perform the targeted behavior or increase its appeal (e.g., information on healthy products available in vending machines) (Gordon, 2012).

The most important aspect of the marketing mix is the offer or the product. Social marketers seek to influence the behavior (actual product) of a specific priority population or target audience by offering them a bundle of benefits (core product) while minimizing associated costs-the personal or monetary things that must be exchanged or given up in pursuit of the desired behavior. It is critical to understand the consumer’s wants, desires, aspirations, and needs and not merely their behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge (Sheau- Ting, Mohammed, & Weng-Wai, 2013). To have a viable product, people must first perceive that they have a genuine problem and that the product offering is a good solution for that problem. The role of research here is to discover the consumers’ perceptions of the problem and the product and to determine how important they feel it is to take action against the problem.

2.1.2. Social Price

A price strategy sums up the costs that the target audience will “pay” for adopting the desired behavior that leads to the promised benefits. These costs could be monetary in the real sense, such as those for tangible goods and services. Most of the time, however, social marketers sell behaviors that require something else in exchange: time, effort, energy, psychological costs, and/or physical discomfort. A sensible price strategy is aimed at minimizing these costs by maximizing incentives (monetary and nonmonetary alike) to reward desired behaviors (again, monetary or nonmonetary) or to discourage competing, undesirable behaviors. (The other three Ps are also needed in the effort to reduce these costs.) (Hamza, 2014).

Price refers to what the consumer must do to obtain the social marketing product. This cost may be monetary, or it may instead require the consumer to give up intangibles, such as time or effort, or to risk embarrassment and disapproval (Kotler et al., 2020). If the costs outweigh the benefits for an individual, the perceived value of the offering will be low and it will be unlikely to be adopted. However, if the benefits are perceived as greater than their costs, the chances of trial and adoption of the product are much greater. The price in social marketing campaigns usually involves inconvenience, risk, or lifestyle changes. To make the change more desirable, it is important to minimize the price that the target audience expects to pay. In a campaign to promote better nutrition, the price might be the expectation that the adopter must give up his favorite foods. Minimizing this price by teaching moderation rather than complete abstinence decreases the price and increases the chances of participation in change. Social marketers must balance these considerations, and often end up charging at least a nominal fee to increase perceptions of quality and to confer a sense of dignity to the transaction. These perceptions of costs and benefits can be determined through research and used in positioning the product (Menegaki, 2012).

2.1.3. Social Place

The place is largely where and when the target audience will be encouraged to perform the desired behavior and/or to obtain tangible products or services associated with the campaign. As in commercial marketing, the place can be regarded as the delivery system or a distribution channel for a social marketing campaign. Strategies related to the system or channel management need to be provided here to ensure that they will be as convenient and pleasant as possible for the customer to engage in the targeted behavior and access related products and services (Dunleavy et al., 2018).

Place describes the way that the product reaches the consumer. For a tangible product, this refers to the distribution system--including the warehouse, trucks, salesforce, retail outlets where it is sold, or places where it is given out for free. For an intangible product, the place is less clear-cut but refers to decisions about the channels through which consumers are reached with information or training. This may include doctors’ offices, shopping malls, mass media vehicles, or in-home demonstrations. Another element of place is deciding how to ensure accessibility of the offering and quality of the service delivery. By determining the activities and habits of the target audience, as well as their experience and satisfaction with the existing delivery system, researchers can pinpoint the most ideal means of distribution for the offering (Bazhan et al., 2018).

2.1.4. Social Promotion

Finally, the last “P” is promotion. Because of its visibility, this element is often mistakenly thought of as comprising the whole of social marketing. However, as can be seen, by the previous discussion, it is only one piece. Promotion consists of the integrated use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling, and entertainment vehicles. The focus is on creating and sustaining demand for the product. Public service announcements or paid ads are one way, but there are other methods such as coupons, media events, editorials, or in-store displays. Research is crucial to determine the most effective and efficient vehicles to reach the target audience and increase demand. The primary research findings themselves can also be used to gain publicity for the program at media events and in news stories (Sheau-Ting et al., 2013).

Information on product benefits and features, fair price, and easy accessibility need effective and efficient communications to bring to the target audience and inspire action. A promotion strategy is needed to maximize the success of the communications. The development of these communications is a process that begins with the determination of key messages, continues with the selection of messengers and communication formats and channels, moves on to the creation of communication elements, and ends up with the implementation of those communications. The determination of key messages needs to be aligned with marketing objectives because they determine what a social marketing campaign wants its target audience to know, to believe, and to do. Information on barriers, benefits, competitors, and influencers will help shape message choices. Messengers are those who deliver the messages. Credibility, expertise, and likability are some key considerations for selecting messengers. Messages are delivered through various communication channels (including media channels), such as advertising (including PSA), public relations, events, sponsorships, and personal selling, and word of mouth. As far as media channels are concerned, they can be online or offline, or both. Online media range from an e-mail, Web sites, and “smart” mobile phones to blogs, podcasts, and tweets, but by no means are limited to these options. Offline media include newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, as well as direct mail, billboards, transit (e.g., buses, taxes, and subways), and kiosks (Kotler et al., 2020).

Because different communication channels have different characteristics, it could be more effective and efficient to have a good idea of the media budget and media options that a social marketing campaign could have before communication elements are created. Creative elements translate the content of intended, desired messages into specific communication elements, which include copy, graphic im- ages, and typeface for traditional print media, and interactive features and audio and/or video streams for online media (Gordon, 2012).

2.2. Customer/Consumer Behavior

The American Marketing Association defines customer behavior as “the dynamic interaction of influence, perception, behavior, and the environment in which people manage aspects of exchange in their lives.” Customer behavior refers to an individual’s buying habits, including social trends, frequency patterns, and background factors influencing their decision to buy something. Businesses study customer behavior to understand their target audience and create more enticing products and service offers (Peter & Olson, 2010).

Consumer behavior is the study of how individual customers, groups, or organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions. Marketers expect that by understanding what causes the consumers to buy particular goods and services, they will be able to determine—which products are needed in the marketplace, which is obsolete, and how best to present the goods to the consumers. Consumer behavior is the study of individuals and organizations and how they select and use products and services. It is mainly concerned with psychology, motivations, and behavior. The study of consumer behavior includes: how consumers think and feel about different alternatives (brands, products, services, and retailers), how consumers reason and select between different alternatives, the behavior of consumers while researching and shopping, how consumer behavior is influenced by their environment (peers, culture, media), and how marketing campaigns can be adapted and improved to more effectively influence the consumer (Mothersbaugh & Hawkins, 2016).

Consumer behavior is the study of consumption. It aims to have a better understanding of consumer actions and processes used in their purchase decisions, as well as the usage of products and services and how they are disposed of. Exploring how the consumer’s emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behavior, consumer behavior draws upon ideas from several fields including psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, marketing, and econo- mics. A consumer could be an individual, group, or organization. The study of their consumption investigating characteristics such as demographics, personality, lifestyle, and behavioral variables such as usage rates or occasion. Businesses aim to understand the process and underlying motives when satisfying their needs and wants. Through a better understanding of what causes the consumers to buy certain goods and services, marketers can better determine the needs in the marketplace and accordingly alter marketing to suit. Consumer behavior is the who, where, when, and how of consumption (Labib Enaba et al., 2017). The study of consumer buying behavior is most important for marketers as they can understand the expectation of the consumers. It helps to understand what makes a consumer buy a product. It is important to assess the kind of products liked by consumers so that they can release them to the market. Marketers can understand the likes and dislikes of consumers and design base their marketing efforts based on the findings. Consumer buying behavior studies various situations such as what do consumers buy, why do they buy, when do they buy, how often do consumers buy, for what reason do they buy, and much more.

Understanding consumer behavior is a key element of a marketing strategy. In fact, before implementing a strategy, it is essential to fully understand the needs and expectations of the consumers you want to influence. To do this, you need to understand how the consumer will react and be influenced by your marketing strategies. Consumer behavior plays an important role in marketing management. It provides information to the marketer based on which the marketer can design its marketing mix strategies and modify them in the future as per the situation. For the marketer, it is important to know how consumers will react to the marketing program to serve them effectively. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2018). Modern marketing philosophies include identifying consumers’ needs and satisfying them more effectively than the competitors. Thus modern marketing needs to understand consumer behavior. The key to the company’s survival, profitability, and growth in a highly competitive marketing environment is its ability to identify and satisfy consumers’ unfulfilled needs better and sooner than the competitors. Thus, consumer behavior helps in achieving marketing goals (Kim & Tang, 2020).

Each segment needs different products and a separate marketing program. Having knowledge of consumer differentiation is an important key to formulate different offers which are appealing to different groups of buyers. Consumer behavior study provides details about consumer differentiation Marketers who base their offering after recognizing consumer needs often find a ready market for their products and finds it easy to sell its products. Thus due to continuous study of consumer behavior and attempts to meet the ever-changing expectations of the buyers, the marketer can retain its consumers for a longer period (Rohman, 2020). Consumers form expectations about the value of marketing offers and make buying decisions based on three expectations. Customer satisfaction depends on the product’s actual performance relative to a buyer’s expectations. But, how do buyers form their expectations and expectations are based on the customer’s past buying experience. Marketers must be careful to set the right level of expectations. If they set expectations too low they may satisfy those who buy, but fail to attract enough buyers (Hieu Le et al., 2020). Customer satisfaction is not a matter of morals but common sense. If customers are not satisfied, they find another organization that satisfies their needs, and what satisfies a customer is the quality of the products and services. Hence, the organization must develop a relationship with all its customers to ensure that they feel that their needs are important to the organization and are being met. After all, a satisfied customer becomes a loyal customer.

Customer loyalty, the main consequence of customer satisfaction, has been defined and measured in many various ways. In one of the definitions, customer loyalty is defined as a deeply held guarantee to re-buy or re-patronize a favored product or service consistently in the future, despite issue influences and marketing efficiency having the potential to cause changing behaviors. In another definition, customer loyalty is the relationship a customer maintains with the seller after the first transaction. Customer loyalty is also considered to be the general feeling of satisfaction felt by a customer as a result of purchase encounters and it need not be based on previous transactional experience. Customer loyalty becomes important to the organization when it results in purchase behavior (Zaid & Patwayati, 2021).

2.3. Hypotheses

The structure of the research was built to clarify the relationship between the independent variable social marketing with its dimensions (customer satisfaction, customer trust, social interactions, social contribution) and its impact on customer behavior with its dimensions (attracting attention, arousing interest, creating desire, customer response) (Peter & Olson, 2010).

Hence, this study examined each area of social marketing to check whether all its dimensions would directly influence customer behaviors. The investigation is based on the following hypotheses:

H1: There is a statistically significant correlation between social marketing and customer behavior.

The following sub-hypotheses were branched out from it: 

● H1: There is a statistically significant correlation between customer satisfaction and customer behavior.

● H1: There is a statistically significant correlation between customer confidence and customer behavior. 

● H1: There is a statistically significant correlation between social dealings and customer behavior.

● H1: There is a statistically significant correlation between the social contribution and the customer’s behavior.

H2: There is a statistically significant influence relationship between social marketing on customer behavior. The following sub-hypotheses were branched out from it: 

● H2: There is a statistically significant impact relationship for customer satisfaction on customer behavior.

● H2: There is a statistically significant impact relationship for customers ’confidence in the customer’s behavior.

● H2: There is a statistically significant impact relationship for social dealings on customer behavior

● H2: There is a statistically significant influence relationship for the social contribution to the customer’s behavior.

H3: There is a statistically significant influence relationship between the two dimensions of social marketing together on customer behavior.

The hypothesis scheme was designed by the researcher for the purpose of answering the questions of the problem and testing the research hypotheses. Through the researcher’s acquaintance with some of the previous knowledge contributions, this model was developed to measure the role of social marketing in influencing the customer’s behavior, and as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Hypothetical Outline of the Research

3. Research Methods and Materials

The study uses the data collected through questionnaires. The research population is tourism companies in Baghdad, where the tourism sector is important in Iraq contributing to the nation’s GDP considerably. The tourism companies in Baghdad were chosen because they have a market share and an important position within the tourism sector. The sample size was (50) tourism companies in Baghdad. (175) questionnaires were distributed directly by the researcher and (12) which were not answered were excluded, and (28) questionnaires were not received so that the research sample was (135) people, which constituted the final sample for the research.

4. Results and Discussion

The study aims to test and examine the correlation and effect identified by the research, by using the Pearson correlation coefficient and the simple and multiple linear regression that determines the extent of influence that the independent variables have on the dependent variable, and we seek to test the influence hypotheses identified by the research. It will be investigated according to the simple linear regression equation, as follows:

Y = α + β₁X₁        (1)

The value of (α) Constant is the amount of the constant, which means that the dependent variable (Y) is a function of the real value of the dimensions of the independent variable (X).

4.1. The Correlation Between Social Marketing and Customer Behavior

The correlation coefficient between social marketing and customer behavior reached (0.643**) at the level of significance (0.000), which is less than the level of significance (0.05), and this means rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant correlation between social marketing and customer behavior. (Table 1 and Figure 2). This indicates that social marketing has an active and essential role in customer behavior.

Table 1: Correlation Values Between The Dimensions of Social Marketing and Customer Behavior

Figure 2: Correlation Values Between The Dimensions of Social Marketing and Customer Behavior

Test the first sub-hypothesis states there is a statistically significant correlation between the customer satisfaction dimension and the customer’s behavior. The correlation coefficient between the customer satisfaction dimension and the customer’s behavior reached (0.419**) at a significance level (0.000), which is less than the level of Significance (0.05). This means rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant correlation between the customer satisfaction dimension and the customer’s behavior. The level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is reflected from perceptions and attitudes from previous experiences, and can also influence the purchase intentions of the customers.

The second sub-hypothesis test states there is a statistically significant correlation between the customer confidence dimension and the customer’s behavior. The correlation coefficient between the customer confidence dimension and the customer’s behavior reached (0.661**) at a significance level (0.000), which is less than the level of Significance (0.05). This means rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant correlation between the customer’s trust dimension and the customer’s behavior. The level of consumer confidence will be an important factor that determines the willingness of consumers to spend, borrow and save. A high level of consumer confidence will encourage a higher marginal propensity to consume.

The third sub-hypothesis test states there is a statistically significant correlation between the social transactions dimension and the customer’s behavior. The correlation coefficient between the dimension of social interactions and the customer’s behavior reached (0.390**) at the level of significance (0.000), which is less than the level of significance (0.05). This means rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant correlation between the dimension of social interactions and the customer’s behavior. In other words, the more the company has social dealings and has a special interest with the customer, the more it contributes positively to changing the customer’s behavior towards the company.

The fourth sub-hypothesis test states there is a statistically significant correlation between the social contribution dimension and the customer’s behavior. The correlation coefficient between the social contribution dimension and the customer’s behavior reached (0.486**) at a significance level (0.000), which is less than the level of Significance (0.05). This means rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant correlation between the social contribution dimension and the customer’s behavior. In other words, the more the company has a social contribution, the more positively this will be reflected on the customer’s view of the company and thus on his/her behavior.

4.2. The Relationship of Influencing Social Marketing on Customer Behavior

The analysis will be done according to the simple linear regression model, as follows (Table 2).

Y = 1.582 + 0.635 (X) (2)

Table 2: Analysis of The Dimensions of Social Marketing in Customer Behavior

The value (F) computed between social marketing and customer behavior achieved (93.797). It is greater than the tabular (F) value of (3.94) at the level of significance (0.05). Accordingly, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant effect of social marketing on the customer’s behavior at the level of significance (5%) i.e. with a degree of confidence (95%). This indicates that social marketing has an effective and influential role in customer behavior. The value of the determination coefficient (R²) of (0.414), shows that social marketing explains (41%) of the variations in customer’s behavior, while the remaining percentage (59%) is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model. It is evident through the value of the marginal slope coefficient (β) of (0.635), increasing social marketing by one unit will lead to an increase in customer behavior by (63%). The calculated value of (t) for the marginal slope coefficient of social marketing reached (9.685). It is greater than the tabular (t) value of (1.660) at the level of significance (0.05), and this indicates that the marginal propensity coefficient is significant for the social marketing variable. The value of the constant (α) is recorded in the equation (1.582), meaning when social marketing is equal to zero, the customer’s behavior will not be less than this value.

Test the first sub-hypothesis which states that there is a statistically significant effect of the customer satisfaction dimension on customer behavior. The analysis will be done according to the simple linear regression model, as follows:

Y = 2.500 + 0.397 (X) (3)

The value of (F) computed between the customer satisfaction dimension and customer behavior reached (28, 312). It is greater than the tabular value (F) of (3.94) at the level of significance (0.05). Accordingly, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, which states there is a statistically significant effect of customer satisfaction dimension on customer’s behavior at the level of significance (5%) i.e. with a degree of confidence (95%). This indicates that customer satisfaction has a clear effect on customer behavior. Through the value of the coefficient of determination (R²) of (0.176), it is clear that the customer satisfaction dimension explains (18%) of the variations in customer’s behavior, while the remaining percentage (82%) is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model. It is evident through the value of the marginal slope coefficient (β) of (0.397), an increase in the customer satisfaction dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in customer behavior by (40%). The calculated value of (t) for the marginal slope coefficient of customer satisfaction dimension reached (5.321). It is greater than the tabular value (t) of (1.660) at the level of significance (0.05). This indicates that the marginal propensity coefficient is significant for the customer satisfaction dimension. The value of the constant (α) is recorded in equation (2.500), meaning when the customer satisfaction dimension is equal to zero, the customer’s behavior will not be less than this value.

Test the second sub-hypothesis which states that there is a statistically significant effect of the customers’ trust dimension on customer’s behavior. The analysis will be done according to the simple linear regression model, as follows:

Y = 2.009 + 0.520 (X) (4)

The value of (F) computed between customer confidence dimension and customer’s behavior reached (102.988). This is greater than the tabular value (F) of (3.94) at the level of significance (0.05) and accordingly, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis which states there is a statistically significant effect of customers’ trust dimension on customer’s behavior at a significance level (5%), i.e. a degree of confidence (95%). This indicates reaching the customer’s confidence stage as a result of excellence in the services provided, as well as honesty and trust in dealing with the customer will have a positive impact on the customer’s behavior. Through the value of the coefficient of determination (R²) of (0.436), it is clear that customer confidence explains (44%) of the variations in customer’s behavior, while the remaining percentage (56%) is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model. It is evident through the value of the marginal slope coefficient (β) of (0.520) that an increase in customer confidence by one unit will lead to an increase in customer behavior by (52%). The calculated value of (t) for the marginal slope coefficient of the customer confidence dimension was (10.148). It is greater than the tabular (t) value of (1.660) at the level of significance (0.05). This indicates that the marginal propensity coefficient is significant for the customer’s confidence dimension. The value of the constant (α) in the equation (2.009), meaning when the customers’ confidence dimension is equal to zero, the customer’s behavior will not be less than this value.

Test the third sub-hypothesis which states there is a statistically significant effect of the dimension of social dealings on the customer’s behavior. This analysis will be done according to the simple linear regression model, as follows:

Y = 2.860 + 0.334 (X) (5)

The value of (F) computed between the social transactions dimension and customer’s behavior reached (23.880). This is greater than the tabular value (F) of (3.94) at the level of significance (0.05), and accordingly, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis which states there is a statistically significant effect of social transactions dimension on customer’s behavior at the level of significance (5%), i.e., the degree of confidence (95%). That is, social dealings have an effective and clear role in the customer’s behavior. Through the value of the coefficient of determination (R²) of (0.152), it becomes clear that social transactions explain (15%) variations in customer behavior, while the remaining percentage (85%) is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model. It is evident through the value of the marginal slope coefficient (β) of (0.334) that an increase in the social dealings distance by one unit will lead to an increase in customer behavior by (33%). The value of (t) computed for the marginal propensity coefficient of the social dealings dimension was (4.887). It is greater than the tabular (t) value of (1.660) at the level of significance (0.05). This indicates that the marginal propensity coefficient is significant for the social transactions dimension. The value of the constant (α) was recorded in the equation (2.860), meaning when after social transactions it is equal to zero, the customer’s behavior will not be less than this value.

The fourth sub-hypothesis test states that there is a statistically significant effect of the social contribution dimension on customer behavior. The analysis will be done according to the simple linear regression model, as follows:

Y = 3.234 + 0.272 (X) (6)

The value of (F) computed between the social contribution dimension and customer’s behavior reached (41.107). This is greater than the tabular value (F) of (3.94) at the level of significance (0.05) and accordingly, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis which states that there a statistically significant effect of social contribution on customer behavior at the level of significance (5%), i.e., the degree of confidence (95%). This indicates that social contribution has a clear effect on changing customer behavior. Through the value of the coefficient of determination (R²) of (0.236), it becomes clear that the social contribution dimension explains (24%) variations in customer’s behavior, while the remaining percentage (76%) is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model. It is evident through the value of the marginal propensity coefficient (β) of (0.272) that an increase in the social contribution dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in the customer’s behavior by (27%). The value of (t) computed for the marginal propensity coefficient of social contributions dimension reached (6.411). It is greater than the tabular (t) value of (1.660) at the level of significance (0.05). This indicates that the marginal propensity coefficient of the social contributions dimension is significant. The value of the constant (α) is recorded in equation (3.234), meaning when the social contribution dimension is equal to zero, the customer’s behavior will not be less than this value.

4.3. The Effect of The Two Dimensions of Social Marketing Together on Customer Behavior

Table 3 and Figure 3 show the statistical indicators between the dimensions of social marketing in customer behavior and can be expressed in the following equation.

Table 3: Shows The Statistical Indicators Between The Dimensions of Social Marketing in Customer Behavior Using Multiple Linear Regression

Intangible variables (customer confidence, social contribution) Non-significant variables (customer satisfaction, social dealings).

Figure 3: The Impact of Social Marketing Dimensions on Customer Behavior

Y = α + β₁X₁ + β₂X₂ + β₃X₃ + β₄X₄ 

1.547 = Y + 0.104X₁ + 0.082X₂ + 0.007X₃ + 0.116X₄        (7)

It is clear from Table (3) the following:

• The calculated value of (F) was recorded for the estimated model (31, 596). It is greater than the tabular (F) value of (2.56) at a level of significance (0.05) and accordingly we accept the hypothesis that there is a statistically significant effect between the dimensions of social marketing and customer’s behavior at a level of significance (5%), that is, with a degree of confidence (95%). This indicates that the dimensions of social marketing together have an effective and fundamental effect on the customer’s behavior, that is, the more the companies give active attention to all dimensions of social marketing in an equal manner, the more this has contributed to the high impact on customer behavior. Through the value of the determination coefficient (R²) of (0.493), it is evident that the dimensions of social marketing explain (49%) of the changes that occur in customer behavior, while the remaining percentage (51%) is related to other variables not included in this research.

• Using the (Stepwise) method for testing the variables and  after removing the non-significant variables, it becomes clear that the model in the final form depends on the dimensions (customer confidence, social contribution), as the calculated value of (F) for the new model is recorded (61.763), which is greater than the value of F Tabular data (2.42) at a significance level (0.05), i.e. with a degree of confidence (95%). This indicates that the most influential dimensions in the customer’s behavior were the dimension of customer confidence and social contribution, while customer satisfaction and social dealings did not have an effective and clear role in the customer’s behavior when they met together.

• Through the value of the determination coefficient (R²) of (0.483), it becomes clear that customer confidence and social contribution dimensions explain (48%) of the changes in customer behavior, while the remaining 52% is explained by other variables that are not included in the research model.

• It  is evident  through  the value of  the marginal  propensity coefficient (β) of the customer confidence dimension (0.436) that an increase in the customer confidence dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in customer behavior by (44%).

• It  is evident  through  the value of  the marginal  propensity coefficient (β) of the social contribution dimension (0.135) that an increase in the social contribution dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in (customer behavior) by (13%).

5. Conclusion

Social marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to social change. Social marketing aims to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and communities for the greater social good. The study investigates the type and level of influence of social marketing on customer behavior in tourism companies in Baghdad (Iraq). The research showed significant results represented by a positive and strong relationship between the research variables. This result indicates that there is an effect on customer behavior. Moreover, the results of the study showed positive effects that extend from social marketing to customer behavior in the long term. The research found that the researched tourism companies are interested in social contributions by providing humanitarian support, caring for the environment, and preserving society as a whole.