Sociological Study of Desired Mental Image and its Related Factors among Customers (Case study: Citizens over 18 years of age in Kermanshah)

A desirable mental image is a general blend of all the mental components (items such as the price of goods, the amount of access to purchase, the feeling of customer safety, fun and entertainment, the functionality and fashion of the goods.) They see in a commodity. The purpose of this study was to study the sociological desirable mental image and its related factors among Kermanshah customers. The theoretical foundations of this study are derived from the theoretical views of thinkers such as Simmel, Bourdieu, Weblen, and Baudrillard, who focus on market-related and purchasing issues. The present study is a quantitative approach and in terms of strategy and data collection, correlation and descriptive survey method. The data gathering tool is a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population of the population is 1824 people in Kermanshah city in the year 1952434. The sample size was 384 people with Cochran formula and were selected by multistage cluster sampling. SPSS software was used for data processing. Data analysis shows that there is a relationship between the two social class structures of media and media advertising in the form of two dimensions of mass media and social networks with a favorable mental image for customers. The amount of Cronbach's alpha for the desired mental image is 0.923 and in its various dimensions (reasonable price equal to 0.653, purchase access 0.055, security feeling 0.719, entertainment and recreation 0.742, service quality 0.734, functional 03.633 and fashion and brand 0.750, for social media is equal to 0.852 and social networks are equal to 0.826. Descriptive results show that the average score of the desired mental image is equal to 98.339 and in its various dimensions (reasonable price equal to 138.02, purchase access 102.622, feeling of security 13.303, recreation and entertainment 10.940, service quality 20.119, applicability of 10.187 and fashion and brand 13.82), for social media is equal to 25.99 and social networks is equal to 28.02.There were significant differences between favorable subjective image and media advertising variables (r = 0.223), mass media (r = 0.225), social networks (r = 0.221) and social class (r = 0.491). The results of regression coefficient show that two variables of social class (Beta = 0.473) and media advertising (Beta = 0.205) entered into the equation and explained and explained 0.326 of the dependent variable variance (0.326). It can be argued that creating a favorable mental image for customers includes items such as the price of goods, the amount of access to purchase, the feeling of customer safety, fun and entertainment, the functionality and fashion of the goods. This mental picture can be derived from media advertising and the social class of individuals in the study community.
 
Long Abstract
Introduction
Customers and consumers are always looking for suppliers who offer them a much better product or service. Evidence also shows that in today's competitive world, discovering the needs and wants of customers and meeting them before competitors, is an essential condition for success for companies. Hence, organizations and businesses strive to achieve a unique position over other competitors by achieving unique benefits. One of the most common methods for determining the degree of satisfaction of needs and wants through goods and services provided by organizations, is to measure customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is one of the internal actions of organizations, which shows their orientation towards satisfying customer demands and to improve the quality of products and services. Optimal mental image is the mental components that consumers according to their specific and unique wants and needs (price of goods, access to purchase, sense of customer security, fun and entertainment, practicality and fashion and branding of goods), see in a commodity. In general, the main issue of the present study is the sociological study of the desired mental image and its related factors among customers, with emphasis on shopping centers in Kermanshah. So this study seeks to answer the question of what factors are associated with creating a favorable mental image for customers and what factors affect a favorable mental image for customers?
Research Methodology
The present study is a quantitative research based on the type of collected and analyzed data and the strategy used in this research is a description of survey and correlation. The statistical population in this study is the city of Kermanshah. According to the 2016 census, the total population of Kermanshah was 946,651. Due to the fact that the statistical population studied in this research were people over 20 years old, the number of people over 20 years old was 652651. The sample size using Cochran's formula was 384 people. To select the samples, the multi-stage cluster sampling method, which is one of the types of possible sampling, was used. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Specialists have been used for the formal validity of this questionnaire and finally, the questionnaire was agreed upon by the members and became the basis for data collection.
Research Findings
Data analysis shows that there is a relationship between the two structures of social class of individuals and media advertising, in the form of two dimensions of mass media and social networks with a favorable mental image for customers. There is a relationship between the desired mental image and the variables of media advertising (r = 0.239), mass media (r = 0.256), social networks (r = 0.217) and social class (r = 0.491). The results of regression coefficient show that the two variables of social class (Beta = 0.473) and media advertising (Beta = 0.205) have entered the equation and in total, have explained 0.326 of the variance of the dependent variable (R²= 0.326).
Conclusion
Creating a favorable mental image of the shopping center in the minds of customers is one of the important factors in attracting new customers and retaining old customers, which, by affecting the perceived value, customer satisfaction and preference, increases the desire in customers for shopping. The purpose of this study is a sociological analysis of factors related to creating a favorable mental image in customers of Kermanshah shopping centers. It can be argued that creating a favorable mental image for customers includes such things as the price of goods, the level of access to shopping, the sense of security of customers, fun and entertainment, practicality and fashion and branding of goods. This mental image can be derived from media advertisements and the social class of individuals in the study community.
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