Identifying the Components of a Competitive Marketing Model for Achieving Competitive Advantage of Iranian Cosmetic and Hygienic Products in the Iraqi Market

Abstract

This study aims to identify and theorize the core components of a competitive marketing model that enables Iranian cosmetic and hygienic products to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Iraqi market. The study employed a qualitative research design using grounded theory methodology to develop a context-specific theoretical model. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with fifteen purposively selected experts, including academic specialists in marketing and branding and experienced managers from the cosmetic and hygienic products industry with export-related expertise. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. An interview protocol guided data collection, and trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability strategies, including member checking. Data were analyzed iteratively using open, axial, and selective coding, allowing categories and their relationships to emerge inductively from the data. The findings indicate that competitive advantage is shaped through the interaction of five interrelated components: causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategic actions, and outcomes. Causal conditions include intrinsic product strengths, socio-cultural drivers of consumption, and export-oriented government policymaking. Contextual conditions emphasize customer-perceived quality and price, technological capabilities, distribution structures, and product presentation. Intervening conditions consist of both constraining forces such as economic instability, sanctions, and bureaucracy, and enabling forces such as supportive business environments, institutional coordination, and administrative capacity. These conditions collectively influence competitive marketing strategies that lead to multi-level outcomes. The study concludes that competitive marketing for Iranian cosmetic and hygienic products in the Iraqi market is a systemic and dynamic process embedded in institutional, cultural, and economic contexts. The grounded theory model provides an integrated framework linking firm-level strategies to market and national-level outcomes, offering both theoretical contributions and practical guidance for firms and policymakers seeking to strengthen non-oil export competitiveness.