=DECLARATION

We the under listed hereby declare that except for references made to the works of other

authors, reports from stated institutions and information gathered on the internet which

have been duly acknowledged, this dissertation is entirely ours.

This work has never been presented in whole or in part to any institution for the award of

a degree or otherwise.

…………………………............................... ....................................
ALFRED KWADWO OSEI DATE
ID: 1850206

......................................................................
EDWARD BOAKYE AMISSAH
ID: 4230206

CERTIFICATION

The undersigned certify that they have read and recommended to the Ghana Institute of

Management and Public administration (GIMPA) Greenhill College, the acceptance of

this project work under the topic: “ The Effect of Sales Promotion on the Consumer”- a

case study of “The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana.” (TCCBCGL)

This work is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of

Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing (August 2008)

i
.

SUPERVISED AND APPROVED BY:

................................................. ………………………………
DATE

CHECKED FOR PLAGIARIZED MATERIAL

..................................................... .......................................................
DATE
(LIBRARIAN)

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our sincere gratitude goes to the Most High God for his love, guidance and protection,

without Him we could not have come this far.

We are heavily indebted to our various families and friends, for their encouragement,

moral and financial support throughout this study. Their support is simply unmatched to

any that we have ever known.

We also wish to thank the management and staff of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of

Ghana Ltd. for providing us with all the data we needed to successfully complete this

study.

Our unending appreciation also goes to Mr. Hayfron, our supervisor for his patience,

guidance and advice. But for his diligence and immense contribution, this project work

would not have been a success. Sir, God richly bless you.

iii
 ABSTRACT

Proliferation of goods and the increasing sophistication of the consumer have made it

complicated for companies to adequately reach them. Organizations therefore have to

find new and creative ways to reach these consumers. Beverage companies in Ghana

have used various promotional tools to reach their clients. One of such promotional tools

is sales promotion. Our study, “The Effect of Sales Promotion on the Consumer, using

The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd. (TCCBCGL) as a case study, has the

objectives of finding out some reasons why TCCBCGL uses sales promotional activities

in selling their products, assessing the effectiveness of sales promotion on its customers

and to evaluate the extent to which sales promotion induces customers to buy. In order to

achieve these objectives, literature was reviewed mainly from text books, institutional

publications and the internet. Total number of questionnaires administered was a hundred

and twenty seven (127) of which 100% response was achieved. A hundred and five (105)

questionnaires were for TCCBCGL’s customers, twenty one (21) for the channel

members (distributors and retailers) and one for TCCBCGL. Computer software SPSS

and Microsoft excel were used in analyzing data collected. The research revealed that

most consumers would continue to patronize TCCBCGL’s products after sales

promotion. Respondents were also of the view that companies conduct sales promotions

mainly to increase sales and not to reward them for loyal patronage. We therefore

recommend, inter alia, that Coca-Cola must ensure that every sales promotion that is

conducted is justified either it is tied-in to an occasion or to celebrate an event.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=DECLARATION...........................................................................................................i
CERTIFICATION...........................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.............................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................iv
LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................2

LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................3

0.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY..........................................................................3

0.1 GHANA’S NON-ALCHOLIC BEVERAGE INDUSTRY.......................................5
0.2 THE COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. OF GH .LTD (TCCBCGL L).......................7
0.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.........................................................................7
0.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.......................................................................................9
0.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY..........................................................10
0.6 METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................10
0.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY........................................................................11
0.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY......................................................12
0.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY......................................................................13
1 CHAPTER TWO......................................................................................................15

1.0 LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................15

1.1 SALES PROMOTION DEFINED..........................................................................15
1.2 THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION SALES..............................16
1.3 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE SALES PROMOTIONAL BUDGET.......17
1.4 TYPES OF SALES PROMOTION.........................................................................19
1.5 BENEFITS OF SALES PROMOTION...................................................................25
1.6 CHALLENGES OF SALES PROMOTION...........................................................27
1.7 SALES PROMOTIONAL PLANNING PROCESS...............................................29
1.8 OTHER PROMOTIONAL TOOLS........................................................................33
2 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................37

2.0 METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................37
2.1 DATA COLLECTION SOURCES.........................................................................37
2.2 RESEARCH APPROACH .....................................................................................37
2.3 SAMPLING PLAN..................................................................................................38
2.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS...............................................................39
2.5 PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS TO THE STUDY..........................................39
2.6 DATA ANALYSIS..................................................................................................39
3 CHAPTER FOUR....................................................................................................40

3.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ...................................................................40

3.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................40
3.2 CUSTOMERS ANALYSIS.....................................................................................40
3.3 CHANNEL MEMBERS’ ANALYSIS....................................................................50

1
 3.4 COMPANY ANALYSIS.........................................................................................59
4 CHAPTER FIVE......................................................................................................64

4.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..............................64

5.1 SUMMARY............................................................................................................64
5.2 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................65
4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................66
BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................68
APPENDIX A...............................................................................................................70
APPENDIX B...............................................................................................................74

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Distribution - Purchase of Competing Products .......................................42

Figure 2 Distribution for Patronage of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotions......................42

Figure 3 Distribution - Sales Promotional Techniques that Attracted Respondents....43

Figure 4 Distribution - Customers’ Loyalty to TCCBCGL’S Products..........................46

Figure 5 Gender Distribution .....................................................................................48

Figure 6 Age Distribution............................................................................................49

Figure 7 Distribution - Educational Level....................................................................49

Figure 8 Distribution - Customers’ Demand during TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotions...52

Figure 9 Distribution-Recollection of the most recent sales promotion organized by

TCCBCGL..................................................................................................................54

Figure 10 Does Competitors’ Sales Promotional Activities Affect Channel Members’

Sales Levels?.............................................................................................................55

Figure 11 Channel Members’ Loyalty ........................................................................57

Figure 12 Distribution on Encouraging Sales Promotions in Ghana...........................57

2
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Distribution - Purchase of TCCBCGL's products...........................................40

Table 2 Distribution - Product Knowledge.................................................................41

Table 3 Distribution - Repeat Purchase by Customers..............................................45

Table 4 Distribution - Whether Sales Promotion Should be Encouraged in Ghana or

Not.............................................................................................................................46

Table 5 Distribution - Customers’ Perception about Sales Promotion in Ghana........47

Table 6 Distribution - Type of Channel Members.......................................................50

Table 7 Distribution Showing Channel Members’ Length of Service..........................51

Table 8 Distribution of Channel Members’ Stock Levels during Sales Promotion.......51

Table 9 Consumer Sales Promotion Techniques that Affect Channel Members.......53

Table 10 Distribution Showing Reasons Why Channel Members’ Sales Level is

Affected by Competitors’ Sales Promotions ..............................................................55

Table 11 Distribution Showing Reasons Why Channel Members’ Sales Level is not

Affected by Competitors’ Sales Promotions ..............................................................56

Table 12 Distribution - Why Sales Promotion should be Encouraged in Ghana.........58

Table 13 Distribution - Channel Members’ Perception of Sales Promotion in Ghana. 58

Table 14 Distribution - Effect of Sales Promotion on Sales Level (2003-2007) .........63

CHAPTER ONE

0.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The business environment in recent times has become volatile and fraught with shorter

product life cycles. Businesses, either profit organizations or non-profit organizations,

compete among themselves for the same customers resulting in intense competition, high

cost of operations and more decimating issues. A more recent phenomenon, globalisation

has equally added to the level of competition among businesses.

3
Globalization brings about the free flow of goods and services from one country to

another, which gives consumers the opportunity to choose from a variety of goods and

services that meet their needs. Marketing therefore seems to provide the solutions that

businesses can use to face the competition. In view of this, marketing managers are

directing their efforts and resources towards identifying the needs of customers and

satisfying them so as to build personal, long term bonds with customers and clients.

To achieve this long term bonds, firms are adopting marketing strategies that will make

them reach out to consumers tin the bid to win the competition. One of such methods

that marketing firms use more vigorously is sales promotional campaigns.

According to Kotler, (2003) sales promotion is a key ingredient in marketing campaigns,

which consists of a diverse collection of incentives, mostly short term, designed to

stimulate quicker or greater of some particular products or services by customers/clients.

Among them are tools for consumer promotion such as product sampling, coupons, cash

refund, premiums, prizes, patronage rewards, free trials, warranties, tie-in promotions,

cross- promotions, and point-of-purchase displays. Sales promotions which include

price offs, advertising and display allowances, free products and trade shows and

conventions, contests for sales representatives , and specialty advertising. A casual

observation of the local scene has revealed that more firms are employing sales

promotions as a means to encourage consumers to try products. (Kotler, 2003)

4
This study seeks to research into some of the reasons why marketers in Ghana in recent

times use sales promotion and will also find out the effectiveness of sales promotions on

consumers using ‘ The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited’ (TCCBCGL) as

a case study.

0.1 GHANA’S NON-ALCHOLIC BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

The days of monopoly of some Ghanaian and international companies in Ghana are over.

These companies may be big, medium or small in size, local or multinationals, but they

all seem to face the same level of competition. The non-alcoholic beverage industry is

one of the most competitive industries in the country at the moment. In Ghana, the

competing companies include companies like TCCBCGL (manufacturers of Coca-Cola

products), Beverage Investment Ltd (manufacturers of Pepsi products), Guinness Ghana

Breweries Ltd (manufacturers of Malta Guinness and Amstel Malt), Nkulenu Industries

Ltd(manufacturers of Nkulenu fruit drinks) ), Papso Industries (manufacturers of Papso

Pineapple Juice) and Vintage Agro Industries (manufacturers of Vintage Pineapple

Juice).

The influx of many companies within an industry breeds competition as companies’

battle for the attention and attraction of consumers. This may negatively affect the sales

volume of companies year-in and year- out.

In the past, Ghanaian companies tried to increase or maintain sales volume in the face of

competition by hoarding or cutting prices as a form of competitive reaction. These were

strategies adopted, at the time, to win consumers and thus increase sales volumes.

5
However, research done by the Harvard Business School entitled “Low Prices = More

Customers? Not always” have come to prove that the desired objective may not always

be achieved. A good number of companies now avoid the use of low pricing as a

consumer promotion tool due to two main reasons. Firstly, there is the fear that this

would adversely affect peoples’ perceptions about the value of the product. Secondly, it

is expensive as it effectively means giving money away to every consumer and also

because the company may not have achieved a cost advantage large enough that other

companies cannot easily rival.

The current use of sales promotion help companies overcome the problems associated

with lower prices by rewarding consumers and thus enticing them to continue patronizing

your products over a longer period or possibly for life. TCCBCGL has been able through

its sales promotion to increase prices from twenty pesewas (GH¢0.20) to twenty five

pesewas (GH¢0.25) and to thirty pesewas (GH¢0.30) and then to thirty five pesewas (GH

¢0.35) within a spate of three years i.e. 2004-2007 1

Businesses use sales promotion to generate new or renewed interest in their products as

well as increase sales, albeit in the short term. According to an article “Using Direct Sales

Promotion for Market Share” published by the U. S. Department of Commence Minority

Business Development Agency on Wednesday, December 31, 2003, direct sales

promotion helps build market share, breaking through brand loyalty by offering incentive

to buy. Through sales promotion, among others, TCCBCGL has grown the market share

1
This statement was taken from the 2007 company accounts of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Ghana Ltd’.

6
from 60% in 1995 on divestiture to about 95% by July year 2005. (VAT Volume Analysis

Report, 2005).

0.2 THE COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. OF GH .LTD (TCCBCGL L)

0.2.1 Product and Market Position

The company produces eight (8) main brands. These are Coca - Cola, Fanta, Sprite,

Schweppes, Crest, Dasani, BonAqua and Burn Energy Drink. Over the years the

company’s market share has grown from 60% in 1995 on divestiture to about 90% in

2005(Company Profile 2005)

0.2.2 Production and Distribution Facilities

The company has two (2) production plants situated in Accra and Kumasi. There are

thirteen (13) other distribution centres all over the country.

0.2.3 Corporate Citizenship

TCCBCGL strives to be trusted by partners and citizens wherever it does business. The

company believes that through good and focused corporate citizenship, it will nurture and

grow its relationship and also continue to build that trust with all its stakeholders. The

company in this regard is consistently focused on a number of areas. These include the

environment and community.

0.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Sales promotions techniques have a more direct effect on usage than advertising. As

such, sales promotions can be particularly useful in inducing trails by consumers of

competitive products, the “buy one get one free” offer being a sufficient inducement to

7
win the consumer away from their usual brand. It is expected that sales promotion will

result in a higher rate of consumer participation.

Presently in Ghana, radio, television and newspaper advertisement are booming with

sales promotion. Companies such as The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited

(TCCBCGL),Melcom, Barclays Bank, Onetouch, MTN, GOIL and a host of others in

recent times have organized sales promotion activities to promote different products and

services. In these instances, the companies concerned give consumers among other

things the opportunity to enter into a raffle to win instant prizes. In many cases,

companies use price cut as a tool of sales promotion.

It is believed that sales promotion is very expensive to organize; therefore failure to

implement this activity effectively may result in a major loss of money.

It is evident that sales promotion is gradually taking over advertising. This is because

most brand managers are now turning to sales promotion rather than advertising which

seeks to build brand loyalty. The question then is do sales promotions have weakening

effect on brand loyalty? This is because sometimes sales promotion with its price offs

may tend to devalue the products or service offering in the minds of some consumers or

buyers as they may sometimes learn that the least price is largely a fiction. It is true that

sales promotion can be used to enhance brand image, however, when a brand is price –

promoted too often, consumers may begin to devalue it and will buy it when it goes on

8
sale. In view of this, there is a risk of putting a well-known brand leader on promotion

frequently.

There is also the considered opinion of many experts that price promotions do not build

permanent total-category volume. According to this school of thought, price promotion is

mostly used by a small brand seeking to enlarge its market share but it is less effective for

a brand category leader whose growth lies in expanding the entire category.

Many brand managers feel that they are forced to use more sales promotion to correct

decreasing brand loyalty, increasing consumer price-sensitivity, brand-quality image

dilution and the focus on short-run marketing planning.

0.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research seeks to assess the effectiveness of sales promotion as a strategic

management tool by trying to find answers to the following questions:

• Does sales promotion alter customer perception at any given time?

• As identified in the statement of the problem, sales promotion does not encourage

brand loyalty but focus on short-run marketing planning. The question is, can

sales promotion be used as an incentive tool to yield new, long-term buyers or

buyers who can take advantage of sales promotion deals?

• Sales promotion campaign is regarded as fast and more measurable in terms of

sales than advertising, which is also capable of building a strong brand loyalty. In

view building strong brand loyalty, how are marketers combining sales

9
 promotion, advertising and other communication tools to increase market share

and to encourage continuous usage among existing users.

0.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to find out whether The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana

Limited’ (TCCBCGL) really uses sales promotion and how effective is its sales

promotional campaigns. In relation to this aim, the research will span around the

following objectives:

• To find out some reasons why ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana

Limited’ (TCCBCGL) uses sales promotional activities in selling their products.

• To assess the effectiveness of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana

Limited’ (TCCBCGL) sales promotion on its various customers.

• To determine how ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited’

(TCCBCGL) combines other promotional tools effectively to achieve the

company’s overall promotional objectives.

• To evaluate the extent to which sales promotion induces customers to buy

products from ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited’

(TCCBCGL).

• To determine how sales promotion alter customer perception about TCCBCGL’s

products.

0.6 METHODOLOGY

This research is designed as an exploratory study into the effect of sales promotion on the

consumer buying behaviour of coca-cola products.

10
To facilitate the study, both primary and secondary data on sales promotion will be

collected. The data would be analyzed to ascertain the effect of sales promotion on

customers as well as sales turnovers. Again, primary and secondary data will be

collected from consumers/customers, channel members (distributors & retailers)

representatives of the management of TCCBCGL.

The instruments to be used for gathering primary data would be questionnaires and

personal interviews. Questionnaires will be administered personally. Face-to-face

interviews would also be conducted with some consumers, channel members and a

representative of the management of TCCBCGL.

The research would be designed not to involve any formal hypotheses; neither would it

include any formal testing. However an exploratory attempt would be made to seek

answers to these questions.

For the analysis, the data collected will be tabulated and will be used to analyze the

effectiveness of sales promotion on consumers buying patterns and sales. The tabulated

data will be used to draw bar charts and pie chats, which will then be used in the analysis.

0.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Due to the intense competition in the Ghanaian market place, this study is very important

and therefore cannot be over looked. Companies are striving to become market leaders

and to gain a substantial market share. Marketers and brand managers are therefore

11
forced to adopt sales promotion as an alternative for pushing and selling their brands to

consumers/customers in spite of the local competition in the market place.

The study is therefore timely, as this is the time marketing and brand managers must truly

understand the importance and effectiveness of sales promotion to the organization they

work for, and also develop and understand how to integrate sales promotion and other

promotional tools to achieve sales target.

This study is designed to find solutions to the effectiveness of sales promotion on

consumers.

The study is also significant to students as a source of learning materials either for

research or academic purposes.

Finally, it is hoped that this study will be very important to policy makers in formulating

and implementing sales promotion regulations within their organisations.

0.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1.8.1 Scope of the Study

The scope of the study would be restricted to 21 coca-cola distributors & retailers, 105

consumers and interactions with the head of TCCBCGL’s consumer & trade sales

department on the effectiveness of sales promotion with respect to consumer buying

patterns and sales. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, the analysis would be

12
mainly descriptive. Statistical analysis will be made with the data collected and hence

can be a reference source for further research and studies.

1.8.2 Limitations

The researchers anticipate the following problems;

• Respondents’ time as a result of busy schedules: - we anticipate that respondents

will not have enough time do a thorough analysis of the questions.

• Access to sales returns data: - TCCBCGL may not be forth coming with

information for strategic reasons.

• Combining research work with other academic commitments resulted in the

researchers being faced with time constraints.

0.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This study will be organized in the following chapters:

Chapter One

This chapter will focus on the background of the study, statement of the problem,

research questions, aims and objectives, methodology, significance of the study, the

scope and limitation of the study and concludes with the organization of study.

13
Chapter Two

Literature review on sales promotion and how it is organized in Ghana will be discussed

in this chapter.

Chapter Three

This chapter explains how the research will be conducted, the sources of information, the

statistical and analytical methods to be employed, the population and population sample.

Chapter Four

This chapter analyses and discusses the empirical results obtained.

Chapter Five

This chapter presents the conclusion and recommendation of the study.

14
 1 CHAPTER TWO

1.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 SALES PROMOTION DEFINED

The Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP), the professional and trade association for the

United Kingdom promotional marketing industry defines sales promotion as “a consumer

or business directed action that enhances product appeal by offering an extra incentive to

purchase or participate”.

Perreault and McCarthy (2000) defined Sales promotion as “those promotional activities

– other than, advertising, publicity and personal selling that stimulates interest trial or

purchase by final consumers or others in the channel”.

Belch and Belch (1995) defines Sales promotion as “a direct inducement that offers an

extra value or incentive for the product to the sales force, distributors or the ultimate

consumer with primary objective of creating an immediate sale”.

A similar definition is also given by Kotler and Armstrong (1999) when they wrote that

sales promotion “consists of short term incentives to encourage the purchase or sales of a

product or service”. This idea of sales promotion being an “incentive to buy” is also

captured in the definition by American Association of Advertising Agencies (A.A.A.A),

when they define sales promotion as “any activity, which offers an incentive to buy a

product beyond its inherent benefits.

15
Sales Promotion, as shown from the definitions involves some type of inducement that

provides an extra incentive to take action. It offers the targets additional benefits beyond

the “standard” product or service. This incentive is usually the element in a promotional

program. The incentive may be a coupon, or a price reduction, the opportunity to enter a

raffle or sweep stakes, an extra amount of product or money-back refund or rebate. These

may be done with the hope of generating repeated or future sales/purchase. It is also

response oriented, as it seeks a direct response from customers on the producer’s behalf.

Belch and Belch cautioned that a direct response from sales promotions is not necessarily

sales. They may encourage consumers to send for brochures, visit a particular store or try

a new product or service.

As emphasized from the definitions, sales promotion according to Belch and Belch

(1995) is a short-term activity or it has very limited time frame, in order not to turn it into

advertising. Also each sales promotion is uniquely designed in order not to make it

boring for the target audience. The key point is that, sales promotion is an integral

component of most companies’ overall marketing activity and a below the line

promotional activity.

1.2 THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION SALES

Sales promotion has been around for quiet a long time, its role and importance in

marketing and promotional activities has increased dramatically. It involves so many

different activities, which make it difficult to estimate accurately the percentage of the

promotional budget spent on it. The last decade in Ghana has witnessed tremendous

16
increase in sales promotion activities by the various companies in the fast moving

consumer goods (FMCG) industries.

Quelch (1983), a professor of business administration at the Graduate Business School of

Harvard University (Harvard Business Review, 1983) postulates that “each year

marketers spend billions of dollars beyond advertising and personal selling, to motivate

sales personnel and dealers and to offer incentives to consumers”

According to Belch and Belch (1999), who provided a more detailed analysis of increases

in sales promotion expenditures, “not only has the total amount of money spent on sales

promotion increased, but the percentage of marketers’ budget allocated to promotion has

skyrocketed”

Companies that sell frequently purchased consumer products have been the source of

increased spending on sales promotions. A number of factors have contributed to the shift

in marketing budget on sales promotion from media advertising.

1.3 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE SALES PROMOTIONAL BUDGET

There is the proposition that companies who sell frequently purchased consumer products

have been the source of increasing spending on sales promotions. In alluding to this, a

number of factors are discussed below

17
 1.3.1 Nature of Market

One basic reason as stated by Belch & Belch (1995) for the increased use of sales

promotion by rival firms is that they are generally competing in matured markets where

there are different brands of products available for the customers to choose from.

1.3.2 Retailers Empowerment

The second factor is that of retailers’ empowerment. Kotler and Armstrong (1999) realize

that the growth in power of retailers can also account for the increase in sales promotion.

For many years manufacturers of national brands had the power and influence turning

retailers into passive distributors of their products. However in recent years, several

developments have helped to transfer power from manufacturers to retailers. The

observation is that, retailers have grown into large chains and have become accustomed

to trade promotions and can pressurize manufacturers to provide deals, discounts,

allowances and other incentives.

1.3.3 Competition

A third factor as indicated by Kotler & Armstrong (1999) that affects sales promotion is

competition. Definition of competition as stipulated by Merriam-Webster is "the effort of

two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by

offering the most favourable terms."2 Competition, has led to consumers being price

sensitive, therefore marketers have resorted to the use of some sales promotional

techniques such as coupons & discounts. These techniques act as an effective means of

lowering prices thus making consumers patronise the products.

2
This definition was culled from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition printed on July 27, 2009

18
 1.3.4 Clearing of Old Stock

The last but not the least factor that influences sales promotion is the clearing of old

stock. Marketers have found it prudent to reduce prices of products, offer premiums or

coupons, all aimed at clearing their shops of old stock. In some cases this is even done to

clear the shops of products with shorter shelf lives. This is often done before or after

festive seasons like Christmas and Easter and mostly practiced by firms in the F.M.C.G.

industry.

1.4 TYPES OF SALES PROMOTION

Despite the diversity of activities of sales promotion, it can be grouped into three major

categories according to specific target audience and promotional objectives.

Sales promotions according to Roger (1976) have a specific audience. It is either targeted

at final consumers, marketing intermediaries, wholesalers, retailers or the sales force.

Kotler and Armstrong (1999) suggest three types or categories of sales promotion.

These are:

 Consumer Oriented Sales Promotion.

 Trade Oriented Sales Promotion.

 Sales Force Oriented Sales Promotion.

19
 1.4.1 Consumer Oriented Sales Promotion

As the name suggests, consumer – oriented sales promotion is targeted at the final users

of the product or service. The basic goal of most consumer – oriented sales promotion

according to Paul and Donnelly (1992) is to induce purchase of a brand, induce

consumers to try the product, reward the consumer for brand loyalty, and encourage a

consumer to trade up or purchase larger sizes of a product, stimulate repeat purchases as

well as react to competitors’ efforts. The techniques used under consumer –oriented sales

promotion include: sampling, premiums, coupons, contests and sweepstakes, refunds and

rebates and bonus packs.

Consumer Oriented Sales Promotional Techniques

Some of the techniques used under consumer oriented sales promotion include: sampling,

premiums, coupons, contests and sweepstakes, refunds and rebates and bonus packs.

 Sampling

This involves a variety of procedures whereby consumers are given some quantity of a

product for no charge to induce trial. Kotler and Armstrong (1999) consider sampling as

a trial, although it is also the most expensive amongst the sales promotional techniques. It

is often used to introduce a new product into the market. However in advanced countries

sampling can be administered through different methods like door –to – door, through the

mail for small, lightweight non- perishable products, in store sampling and on the

package sampling.

20
  Premiums

Premiums are sales promotion devices used by many marketers. A premium is an offer of

an item of merchandise or services either free or at a low price, that is an extra incentive

for purchases. Free premiums are usually small gifts of merchandise included in the

product – package or sent to consumers who mail in a request along with a proof of

purchase. Paul & Donnelly (1992) expresses the notion that premiums have some

relationship with the purchased item for instance, an offer of an antenna when a customer

buys a television set.

 Coupons

The oldest sales promotional technique as mentioned by Kotler and Armstrong (1999) is

the coupon. Over the years, coupons have become the most effective and widely used

sales promotional tool. Coupons are described as certificates distributed by producers to

consumers/customers redeemable at retail outlets, giving the consumer a specified price

reduction on a particular product. They can be distributed to consumers directly, during

the distribution of the product, as leaflets and sometimes they are printed on the package

itself.

 Contests and Sweepstakes

These two techniques seem to be paired by most authors like Perrault & McCarthy

(2000), Paul & Donnelly (1992) and Kotler and Armstrong (1999). These two terms are

used interchangeably. As described by Sandra Grauschopf contests are giveaways that

have some element of skills to them. A contest is a promotion where consumers compete

for the prices or money on the basis of skills or ability.3.

3
Culled from:http://contests.about.com/od/sweepstakes101/p/whatarecontests.htm printed on July 27, 2009

21
Grauschopf (2008) in her article also defines sweepstakes as prize giveaways where the

winners are chosen by luck. Prizes can range from stickers and t-shirts to houses, cars and

enormous cash wins.4 According to Kotler and Armstrong (1999), sweepstakes attracts

more entries than contests.

 Refunds or Rebates

Refunds (also known as rebates) are offers by the manufacturers to return a portion of the

price of the product usually after the consumer supplies some proof of purchase.

Consumers are generally very responsive to rebate offers. Rebates are used by marketers

of all types of products. Marketers often use refunds offer to induce trial of a new product

or encourage users of another brand switch. It also offers repeat purchase. The size of the

refund offer may even increase, as the number of purchase gets larger.

 Bonus Packs

The last of these offers is the bonus packs. This deal offers the consumer an opportunity

to purchase more of a product with no increase in the regular price. Bonus packs usually

result in a lower cost per unit for the consumer and provides him/her with extra value.

2.4.2 Trade Oriented Sales Promotion

The second type of sales promotion is the trade oriented sales promotion. Kotler and

Armstrong (1999) estimate that more sales promotional monies are directed to retailers

and wholesalers than consumers”. This emphasizes the importance of trade-oriented sales

4
Ibid (reference footnote 3)

22
promotion. According to Peter and Donnelly (1992) this type of sales promotion is aimed

at middlemen or channel members and it is designed to motivate them to provide active

and enthusiastic support or to market the company’s products. Like consumer oriented

promotions, sales promotion programs targeted at channel members according to

Guiltinan and Schoell (1995) are based on well defined objectives, measurable goals and

consideration of what the marketer wants to accomplish.

Objectives of trade oriented sales promotions are to achieve the following:

• Obtaining distribution and support for established brands,

• Encouraging retailers to display established brands,

• Building retail inventories.

Sales promotional tools used by manufacturers to induce wholesalers and retailers are

point-of purchase displays, contests, trade shows, push money, and allowances.

 Point- of - Purchase Displays

Shari Waters, About.com, defines point-of purchase displays as marketing materials or

advertising placed next to the merchandise it is promoting. These items are generally

located at the checkout area or other location where the purchase decision is made.5

According to Jabber (1998) point-of-purchase displays are often used for impulse items

such as magazines, candies etc. A good point-of -purchase attracts attention. Examples of

point-of-purchase displays include signs, posters, displays and cardboard cut-outs.

 Contests

5
http://retail.about.com/od/glossary/g/pop_display.htm printed on July 27, 2009

23
According to Perreault and McCarthy (2000) contests are used to motivate a wholesalers

or retailers own sales force. The purpose of using contests in this way is to increase sales

level by stimulating individual competition among sales force and rewarding them for

their extra efforts.

 Tradeshows

These are extremely important in business-to-business marketing. A typical trade show

features many booths where producers, suppliers and other marketers display and provide

information about their products, thus using the booths as temporary basis of sales

operations. Here thousands of products are showcased and demonstrated. Most trade

shows are not opened to the general public because marketers use these shows to

distribute literature, obtain sales leads and sell products to wholesalers, retailers and

others in the trade. The main purpose of trade shows is to serve as a central market place

where trade members, can view many products and discuss industry trends with others.

 Push Money

Another strategy used by manufacturers to encourage retailers to promote their products

over competitive brands is Push Money. Push money can also be used to encourage the

retailer stock and promote manufacturer’s specific line of products. This comes with

extra incentives which help to get the manufacturer’s brand shelf space. Perrault and

McCarthy (2000)

24
 1.4.2 Sales Force Oriented Sales Promotion

The third type of sales promotion is targeted at the sales force. This sales promotional

activity is aimed at motivating the sales force to increase their efforts (usually on short –

term basis) in pursuit of the company’s sales goals. Although bringing about increase in

the over all level of sales is the broad goal of these efforts, they at times accomplish some

short term goals such as getting new customers, selling a new product, promoting sales of

specific items, increasing order size and profitability devices. Other tools used include

sales contests, bonuses and sales meetings organized for the company’s sales force. All of

these devices share a common goal that is motivating the sales force.

1.5 BENEFITS OF SALES PROMOTION

The increasing use of sales promotion is significant and as stated by Baker (1999) the

basic benefit of sales promotion is to increase sales. He summarises the benefits as

follows:

• It is used to gain customers and convert them to regular user-particularly for new

or improved products.

• Sales promotion has the benefit of widening the distribution of a product.

• It reduces sales peaks and maintains economies productive level.

• It also cushions the effects of a price increase so that consumers do not actually

see the effects of the new prices.

• It also has the benefits of creating new interest in an established product and

improves results from in-store display.

25
Again, Baker (1999) looks at the basic benefit of increase in sales in terms of time by

deriving strategies designed to bring in short term or long term gains to the stakeholders.

In addition to the above Beem and Shaffer, (1981) sees sales promotion, as a

communication instrument, which creates awareness, provides knowledge, motivates use

desires, amplifies and accelerates the decision to buy. They further intimated that sales

promotion tackles ‘barriers to acting’ such as physical and psychological inertia barriers,

risk barriers or competitive barriers from close substitutes.

From the authors quoted above, it is evident that sales promotion plays an important part

in supporting the sales efforts of both industrial and consumer markets. Other benefits to

be derived from sales promotions as found in Baker, 1999 are: the negotiation of special

deals for key customers, participation at trade fairs, product samples and the provision of

product information all play a vital part in reducing the buyers’ perception of risk and

helping to win contracts/sales. Sales Promotional gifts such as calendars, pens and mugs

are all in communication and keep the promoter’s name at the potential purchaser’s

fingertips. If customers take up ‘three for the price of two’ offer they will not be

purchasing a competitor’s product which induces future purchases (Cummins and Mullin

2003).

2.5.1 Other Benefits of Sales Promotional Activities

To a business, an effective sales promotion will lead to an increase in sales, enhance

company image, and strengthen loyalties to the company’s products and business. To the

consumer sales promotion helps to learn about a company’s product, aids in product

26
selection and to learn more about product uses. To the society sales promotion provides

jobs, encouraged demand for products and helps to pay for mass media.

1.6 CHALLENGES OF SALES PROMOTION

The sales promotional task like any other human endeavour is not without its challenges.

Kotler and Armstrong (1999)6 agree that there is a wide array of sales promotion

problems today. Sometimes these problems are due to the marketing manager’s own

frame of reference or beliefs about effective sales promotion.

1.6.1 Poor Execution of the Sales Promotional Campaign

One of the challenges of sales promotion is the problem of poor execution. This is said to

occur if the components of a promotional marketing campaign do not come together as a

cohesive unit, for instance delays in meeting deadlines.

1.6.2 Delay of Sales Promotional Materials

Another challenge faced by marketers when organising sales promotional campaigns is

the delay of sales promotional materials. Promotional materials which are needed and

expected by retailers and distributors are often delayed by the companies, making the

promotion process ineffective. Promotional give ways, coupons, samples and retail sales

training have to be executed on time in order for the sales promotion to work effectively

at the retail store or other point of sale.

6
Source for all topics treated in this study under challenges of sales promotion.

27
 1.6.3 High Cost of Personnel Training

Training of sales clerks is also another big challenge facing marketers as far as organising

sales promotions is concerned. This is because training involves time, effort and it could

be very expensive. This is one area where one has the opportunity to communicate the

value and use of the product to the end consumer. Not everything can be communicated

in the product physical packaging or via mass media advertising campaigns.

1.6.4 Unwillingness to Promote Products by Retailers

Another challenge is that retailers and distributors may be too willing to accept

advertising allowances and incentives yet may not promote the products at all. This raises

ethical issues, yet many retailers do not see it that way. They may belief they are

obligated to their customers to promote what they want to promote. Thus one’s effort and

money may first go into a pool of resources that ends up supporting the sales of other

brands and products. Kotler and Armstrong (1999)

1.6.5 Sales Promotion Seen As a Short Term Effort

One other challenge is a belief that sales promotion is a short term effort. Kotler and

Armstrong (1999) further intimates that sales promotion marketing is sometimes thought

of as a short –term marketing, as the effect has no benefit beyond the immediate sale but

that belief may be unfounded. If the consumer or distributor gains experience with one’s

product or brand, they may buy again. Without that one trial, one’s product long-term

sales could be negated. So far from being a long-term solution, sales promotional

marketing is a key part of total marketing solution.

28
 1.6.6 Challenge of Protecting Brands

According to Quelch (1983) sales promotion has a challenge of protecting one’s brand.

However, one issue he stressed was the ability of frequent and short lead time of sales

promotional marketing ending up diluting the brands’ image. It is also believed that brand

loyalty is undermined when price cuts, coupons and free samples are given to consumers

and retailers.

1.7 SALES PROMOTIONAL PLANNING PROCESS

Churchill Jnr. and Peter (1998) indicate that, managing a sales promotional strategy

involves planning, implementing and controlling it. Planning includes the three

interrelated tasks of setting sales promotional objectives, selecting sales promotional mix

and setting sales promotional budget. Implementing and controlling involve putting the

strategy into action, evaluating results and changing the strategy if necessary

Kotler (2003)7 has identified eight steps that impact on the sales promotional planning.

These are: identify target audience; determine objective; design message; select channels;

establish budget; decide on media mix; measure results; and manage integrated marketing

communication. These eight (8) steps and their descriptions are detailed below:

1.7.1 Identify the Target Audience

First and foremost, the sales promotional planning process must start with a clear target

audience in mind. This could be potential buyers of the company’s products, current

7
Source for all topics treated in this study under steps that impact on the sales promotional planning

29
users, deciders, or influencers; individuals, groups, particular publics, or the general

public. The target audience is a critical influence on the company’s decision on what to

say, how to say it, when to say it, where to say it and to whom to say it. A major part of

audience analysis is assessing the current image of the company, its products or service

and its competitors. It must be noted that people’s attitudes and actions towards an object

are highly conditioned by that object’s image.

1.7.2 Determine Objectives of the Sales Promotional Campaign

The second step in the process is for the company to decide on what response it seeks.

The company can be seeking a cognitive, affective or behavioural response. That is the

company might want to put something into the consumer’s mind, change an attitude, or

get the consumer to act. The objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, and

realistic and time bound. In many cases the final response is purchase.

1.7.3 Design the Sales Promotional Message8

Having defined the desired response, the third step is for the company to develop an

effective message. Ideally, the message should gain attention, hold interest, arouse desire

and elicit action (AIDA model). In practice only few messages take a customer all the

way from awareness through purchase. Formulating the message will require solving

problems i.e. what to say (message content); how to say it logically (message structure);

how to say it symbolically (message format) and who should say it (message source).

8
Ibid (reference footnote 7)

30
 1.7.4 Select the Sales Promotional Channel9

The fourth step in the planning process is the selection of the sales promotional channel.

The company must select efficient channels to carry the message. This could be personal

or non-personal channels. Personal channels involve two or more persons communicating

directly with each other face-to-face, person-to-audience, over the telephone or through

email. Usually, personal channels are effective because they allow individualized

presentation and feedback. Non-personal channels on the other hand have no personal

contact and they include media, atmosphere and event.

1.7.5 Establish the Sales Promotional Budget10

This step which is the fifth is one of the most difficult marketing decisions. Here the

company must determine how much to it wishes to spend on promotion.

Four common methods to employ are affordable method, percentage of sale method,

competitive-parity method and objective and task method.

1.7.6 Deciding on the Promotional Mix11

In the sales promotional planning process, the sixth step is deciding on the promotional

mix .The company at this stage must allocate the promotion budget over the promotional

tools – advertising, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, sales force,

sponsorship and direct marketing. To gain maximum benefit from promotional efforts,

there is the need to make every effort to properly plan, implement, co-ordinate and

control communications. According to Dibb et al (1994), the specific promotional mix

9
Ibid (reference footnote 7)
10
Ibid (reference footnote 7)
11
Ibid (reference footnote 7)

31
ingredients employed and the intensity with which they are used depend on a variety of

factors and they include:

• Promotional resources

• Objectives and policies

• Characteristics of the target market

• Characteristics of the product

• Cost and availability of promotional material

1.7.7 Measuring the Results of the Sales Promotional Campaign12

The last but one step is for management to measure the impact of the sales promotion.

Here, members of the target audience are asked whether they recognize, recall the

message, how many times they saw it, what points they recall, how they felt about the

message, and their previous and current attitudes toward the product and company.

Management should also collect behavioural measures of audience response, such as how

many people bought the product, liked it and talked to others about it. Ultimately

behaviour change measures capture the real pay off from promotions.

1.7.8 Managing the Integrated Marketing Communication 13

The final stage in the sales promotional planning process is the management of the

marketing communication mix. As stipulated by Schoell and Guiltinan, there is the need

for the company to carefully blend all the tools under promotion i.e. advertising,

12
Ibid (reference footnote 7)
13
Ibid (reference footnote 7)

32
personnel selling, direct marketing, sales promotion and public relations in other to

accomplish the organization’s promotion objective.

1.8 OTHER PROMOTIONAL TOOLS

There are other elements in the promotional mix and they are advertising, personal

selling, direct marketing and public relations. The elements in the promotion mix must be

carefully co-coordinated and integrated so they reinforce and complement each other in

order to achieve promotion objectives .Now, having discussed sales promotions at length,

let us take a brief look at other elements in the promotional mix.

1.8.1 Advertising

The advertising element is used when sponsors want to communicate with a number of

people who cannot be reached economically and effectively through personnel means.

Advertising is defined as a non-personal form of promotion that is delivered through

selected media outlets that, under most circumstances, require the marketer to pay for

message placement. Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in

that a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion

approach presents problems since many exposed to an advertising message may not be

within the marketer’s target market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional

funds. However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the emergence of

new media outlets offer more options for targeted advertising.14

14
http://www.knowthis.com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/advertising/1.htm printed on July 27, 2009

33
 1.8.2 Personal Selling

Another element in the promotional mix is personal selling. According to Guiltinan and

Schoell (1995), personal selling is a person- to –person strategy by which the seller learns

about the prospective buyer’s wants and seeks to satisfy them by marketing a sale. This

method was usually being used by non-profit organizations, political candidates,

companies and individuals to communicate with their publics and sell to them. Personal

selling offers one- to- one contact, flexibility and ability to close sales. Examples of

professional sales personnel are stockbrokers, manufactures, sales representatives,

insurance agents and real estate brokers. Personal selling is the interpersonal arms of

promotion mix. This involves two way personal communications between sales people

and individual customers –whether face-to-face by telephone or by other means. This

means personal selling can be more effective in more complex situation because sales

people can probe customers to learn more about their problems, they can adjust the

marketing offer to fit the special needs of each customer and can negotiable terms of sale.

Also, they can also build long-term personal relationships with key decision makers.

1.8.3 Public Relations

Public relation is a very important element in the promotional mix because modern

organizations are concerned about the effect of their activities on people outside their

target markets. Public Relations (PR) is defined by Kotler (1999) as the communication

to build and maintain a favourable image for an organization, maintain the goodwill of its

many publics and explain its goals and purpose to the publics.

34
 1.8.4 Direct Marketing

The Direct Marketing Association defines the term as follows: Direct marketing is an

interactive system of marketing, which uses one or more advertising media to effect a

measurable response and transaction at any location. Examples are brochures, phone calls

and merchandise.

1.8.5 e-Marketing15

Over the years, the methods of marketing have changed and improved and marketers

have become a lot more efficient at putting marketing messages out there.

eMarketing is therefore the product between modern communication technologies

and the age-marketing.

Very simply put, eMarketing or electronic marketing refers to the application of

marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the

internet. The terms eMarketing, internet marketing and online marketing, are

frequently interchanged, and can often be considered synonymous.

eMarketing is the process of marketing a brand using the internet. It includes both

direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of

technologies to help connect businesses to their customers.

By such a definition, eMarketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts

via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current

business and developing its brand identity

15
Culled from http://www.quirk.biz/resources/88/ What-is-eMarketing-and-how-is-it-better-than-
traditional-marketing printed on Aug 27, 2008

35
36
 2 CHAPTER THREE

2.0 METHODOLOGY

2.1 DATA COLLECTION SOURCES

This study was successful through the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods of

collecting primary and secondary data.

2.1.1 Primary Data

The study used questionnaires in addition to observation and personal interviews in

gathering data from the management of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana

Ltd’ (TCCBCGL), customers and channel members (distributors & retailers).

2.1.2 Secondary Data

The secondary data was obtained from VAT Volume Analysis Report, TCCBCGL’s

company profile, text books, newsletters, magazines and websites.

2.2 RESEARCH APPROACH

This survey was conducted by administering questionnaire personally and face to face

interviews were also conducted with customers, channel members and The Head of

Consumer & Trade sales of TCCBCGL. The bulk of the questionnaire was about

techniques, perceptions and credibility of sales promotions in general and emphasis on

TCCBCGL in particular.

37
2.3 SAMPLING PLAN

2.3.1 Sample Population

The population sample used was a representative of the management of TCCBCGL,

distributors & retailers and customers. The intention was to help gather comprehensive

views from different perspectives on the effect of sales promotions on consumers and

TCCBCGL’s sales volume.

2.3.2 Sample size

The total number of respondents selected was one hundred and twenty seven (127). Out

of this number, hundred and five (105) were customers, twenty one (21) were distributors

& retailers, and one (1) was management of TCCBCGL. The research was conducted in

Accra & Tema Metropolis both of the Greater Accra Region.

2.3.3 Sampling and Sampling Procedure

Simple random sampling was used in selecting respondents coupled with judgmental and

convenience sampling.

The questionnaires were randomly distributed. A convenience sampling technique was

used in selecting the customers of TCCBCGL and judgmental sampling in distributing

questionnaires to TCCBCGL’s channel members based on size and location within Accra

& Tema Metropolis. This helped the researcher to have access to respondents with

different reference frames that provided useful information. The reason for random

distribution of questionnaire and judgmental sampling was to eliminate bias and also to

target areas of high product usage.

38
2.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

To be able to achieve a comprehensive data collection, the questionnaire was structured

using the following forms: multiple choice questions, open ended questions and rank-

order questions.

The main focus of the use of multiple choice questions was to allow respondents to have

the freedom to choose the answers to the best of the respondent’s knowledge that best fit

the questions being asked.

In order to prioritize specific concern in order of importance, rank-order questions were

used as well. Open ended questions were also used to allow the respondents to provide

own answers that suites the questions in their opinion.

2.5 PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS TO THE STUDY

The researchers encountered few challenges. One of such challenges was that some

channel members were difficult to reach making the task of combining research work

with other academic requirements very stressful.

2.6 DATA ANALYSIS

The data collected was coded using a computer software called (SPSS) for data analysis.

In addition, Microsoft Excel was used in generating graphs and tables from the data

analyzed.

39
 3 CHAPTER FOUR

3.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the analysis, interpretation and findings of the data collected. The

data was collected by the use of questionnaires. This was later coded and analysed using

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Tables and graphs were used to

represent some of the findings.

3.2 CUSTOMERS ANALYSIS

3.2.1 Patronage of TCCBCGL’s Products

When respondents were asked about their patronage of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling

Company of Ghana Ltd’ (TCCBCGL)’s product, 92.4% of 105 respondents replied in the

affirmative whilst 6.7% replied negatively in spite of that the research team still went

ahead to seek their views on other issues concerning TCCBCGL. However, 1% refused

to answer that question. The information gathered shows that majority of the respondents

purchase TCCBCGL’s products.

Table 1 Distribution - Purchase of TCCBCGL's products

RESPONSE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE (%)

Yes 97 92.4
No 7 6.7
No Response 1 1
Total 105 100
(Source: Field Data, Research Team, 2008)

40
 3.2.2 Customers’ Knowledge of TCCBCGL’s Products

Respondents were asked to list the various products produced by ‘The Coca-Cola

Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd’ (TCCBCGL), different combinations were offered but

none left out the Coca-Cola product. Table 2 below presents in detail what was realised.

Table 2 Distribution - Product Knowledge

Product Combination Number of Percentage (%)

Respondents
Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Krest, Bonaqua, Dasani, 100 95
Coca-Cola & Fanta only 2 2
No response 3 3
Total 105 100

(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

3.2.3 Purchasing of Competing Products.

Respondents were asked whether they patronise any other competing products. As shown

in Figure 1, sixteen percent (16%) of respondents do not buy similar products from other

competing companies and 84% buy similar products from other competing companies.

This confirms that a high number of respondents patronize competing products.

84
100
80 yes
60 no
40 16
20 41
0
 Figure 1 Distribution - Purchase of Competing Products

3.2.4 Patronage of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotions

When quizzed about their patronage of TCCBCGL’s sales promotions, 44.43% indicated

that they had never patronised TCCBCGL’s sales promotion; 42.41% just once and

16.16% patronize TCCBCGL’s sales promotion anytime it s organized. This reveals that

though majority of the persons interviewed never patronize TCCBCGL’s sales

promotion, a substantial number 42.41% of the customers have patronized the

TCCBCGL sales promotion just once. This is shown in Figure 2 below.

16. 16%
44. 43%
anytime
42. 41% once
not at all

Figure 2 Distribution for Patronage of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotions

42
 3.2.5 Sales Promotional Techniques that Attract Customers

Respondents were asked to list as many sales promotional techniques that have attracted

them to TCCBCGL’s sales promotions. As indicated in figure 3, thirty six percent (36%)

got attracted to TCCBCGL’s sales promotion because of raffles; 32% of the respondents

were not attracted by any of the sales promotional techniques; a group consisting of 20%

of respondents were attracted to the sales promotion by the price cut. Eight percent (8%)

said they were attracted to TCCBCGL’s sales promotion because of the gifts they

offered. The remaining 3% indicated that they were attracted to TCCBCGL’s sales

promotion by coupons and the remaining 1% said they got attracted to TCCBCGL’s sales

promotion by the technique of contests. The above reveals that generally, majority of the

respondents were attracted to sales promotion using the technique of raffles. Also, a high

percentage of respondents were indifferent.

36
40 32 price cut

30 gift
20
20 raffle
8
10 3 contest
1
0 coupon

no response

Figure 3 Distribution - Sales Promotional Techniques that Attracted Respondents.

43
 3.2.6 Rating of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotion

Respondents were asked to rate TCCBCGL’s sales promotional technique using the

scale 1 to 6 with 1 representing excellent and 6 representing poor. 12% of the respondents

rated TCCBCGL’s sales promotion as excellent. Another group representing 29% of

respondents rated it as very good; 34% of the remaining group rated it as good; the

remaining 1% rated it as bad and 12% did not respond. This reveals that majority of the

respondents rated TCCBCGL’s sales promotion as good. (12% and 29%). The results on

rating are depicted in fig. 4 below.

12%
24%

1% Excellent
29%
VeryGood
Good
34% Bad
No Response

Figure 4 Distribution - Rating of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotion

3.2.7 Repeat Purchase of TCCBCGL Products after Sales Promotional

Campaigns

In finding out about the repeat purchase of TCCBCGL’s products after a sales

promotional campaign, as shown in Table 3, fifteen percent (15%) did not give any

response; 8% indicated that sales promotion is not a factor to compel them to purchase

TCCBCGL products because they will patronise as and when they want. A large number

44
of respondents, representing 77% of respondents indicated they will continue to patronise

TCCBCGL products after any sales promotion exercise. This serves as an evidence of the

fact that majority of the customers continue to patronize TCCBCGL’s products after sales

promotion.

Table 3 Distribution - Repeat Purchase by Customers

Response Frequency Percentage (%)

No 8 8
Yes 81 77
No response 16 15

Total 105 100

(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

3.2.8 Customers Switching from TCCBCGL’s Products Due to Sales

Promotions by Other Competitors

Respondents were required to rank switching using a scale of 1 to 4, 1 being most likely

to switch and 4 representing will never switch. Eight percent (8%) of the respondents are

most likely to switch to other competitors’ products because of their sales promotions;

18% are likely to switch; 11% reserved their comments on whether they will switch or

not; 40% said they were not likely to switch and 23% of the respondents said they were

never going to switch. From the analysis above, it can be inferred that sales promotions

organized by competitors will not cause a significant shift from the consumption of

TCCBCGL’s products to other competing products. This is because majority of the

customers will still patronize TCCBCGL’s products irrespective of the sales promotions

that will be conducted by their competitors.

45
 11% 8%
18%
23%

40%
most likely

likely

not likely

never

no response

Figure 4 Distribution - Customers’ Loyalty to TCCBCGL’S Products

3.2.9 The Encouragement of Sales Promotion in Ghana

In the bid to find out from the respondents if sales promotion should be encouraged in

Ghana, as shown in Table 4, majority of respondents 82% were of the opinion that sales

promotion should be encouraged in Ghana; 11% of the respondents do not want it to be

encouraged and 7% did not give any answer to this question.

Table 4 Distribution - Whether Sales Promotion Should be Encouraged in Ghana or

Not.

Frequency Percentage (%)

Response
No 11 11
87 82
Yes
No response 7 7
105 100
(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

46
 3.2.10 Customers’ Perception about Sales Promotion in Ghana

The various perceptions that customers have of sales promotion in Ghana, is indicated in

Table 5. This research shows that majority of the respondents think that sales promotion

is a means of increasing sales and rewarding customers and therefore must be

encouraged.

Table 5 Distribution - Customers’ Perception about Sales Promotion in Ghana

Frequency Percentage (%)

Response

Rewarding royal customers 3 2.9

Disposing off expired products 2 1.9
Enticing people to contribute towards events 1 1
Ways of increasing sales 32 30.5
Advertising 1 1
Rewarding loyal customers and increasing Sales 20 19
Rewarding customers, enticing people to contribute to
19
events and increasing sales 18.1
Rewarding loyal customers, disposing off expired
13
products and increasing sales 12.4
Enticing people to contribute to events and increasing
6
sales 5.7
All 6 5.7
No response 2 1.9
105 100
(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

3.2.11 80Gender Distribution of Respondents

70
From the research conducted, as shown in figure 5, seventy percent (70%) of the
60
respondents were y
cmale while 30% were female. This shows that a greater number of the
n 50
e male
respondents were u 40
male.
q
e
rF female
30
no response
20
10
0 47

Gender
Figure 5 Gender Distribution

3.2.12 Age Distribution of Customers

As indicated in Figure 6, the research conducted shows that 8% of the respondents were

within the age range of 18-21years; 46% were between the ages of 22-29years. 33% were

between the ages of 30-39 years; 10% were between the ages 40-49 years. 1% between

the ages 50-59years and 2% above 59 years.

From the data collected, it is evident that TCCBCGL’s customers are youthful because

87% are aged 39years and below.

48
 1 10 2 8

18-21 years
22-29 years
33 30-39 years
46
40-49 years
50-59 years
Above 59 years

Figure 6 Age Distribution

3.2.13 Educational Background of Respondents

The educational backgrounds of respondents are represented in Figure 7. One percent

(1%) of the respondent has had basic education; 18% have had secondary education; 64%

have had tertiary education; 5% had their professional education; 2% did not indicate

their educational level. This means that majority of the respondents have had their tertiary

education.

Figure 7 Distribution - Educational Level

49
3.3 CHANNEL MEMBERS’ ANALYSIS

3.3.1 The Task Performed By Channel Members

The total number of respondents for the channel members interviewed is 21. Thirty eight

percent (38%) of them are retailers, 57% are wholesalers / distributors and 5%

representing one percent of channel members assisted in developing new business for the

trade. From the analysis whose distribution is represented by the Table 6 below, it is

obvious that majority of the channel members are distributors.

Table 6 Distribution - Type of Channel Members

Type of Channel Members Number of respondents Percentage (%)

Retailers 8 38
Wholesalers/ Distributors 12 57
Business development 1 5
Total 21 100

(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

50
 3.3.2 Number of Years Channel Members have been Working with

TCCBCGL

Table 7 represents the number of years channel members have been working with

TCCBCGL. Majority of the channel members have been working with TCCBCGL for

over 2 years. In addition, quite a high number of channel members (14%) have also been

with TCCBCGL for five years.

Table 7 Distribution Showing Channel Members’ Length of Service

(Source: Field Data Research Team 2008)
Number of respondents Percentage (%)
Number of Years with TCCBCGL
1 year 1 5
2 years 4 19
3 years 1 5
4 years 2 10
5 years 3 14
6 years 2 10
7 years 1 5
8 years 2 10
9 years 2 10
10 years 2 10
15 years 1 5
Total 21 100

3.3.3 Stocking of TCCBCGL Product’s during and after Sales Promotion.

On the issue of stocking of TCCBCGL’s products during sales promotion as indicated in

Table 8, seventy six percent (76%) of the channel members were found to always stock

during sales promotions; 19% occasionally stock TCCBCGL products during sales

promotions and 5% of the channel members never stock TCCBCGL products during

sales promotions. This means a greater number of the channel members always stock

TCCBCGL’s products during sales promotions.

Table 8 Distribution of Channel Members’ Stock Levels during Sales Promotion

51
 Number of respondents Percentage (%)
Response
Always 16 76
Occasionally 4 19
Never 1 5
Total 21 100

(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

3.3.4 Customers’ Demand for TCCBCGL’s Products during Sales

Promotion Organized for Consumers

In relation to demand for TCCBCGL’s products during sales promotions organised for

customers, 91% of the channel members indicated that customers demand more products

when TCCBCGL organizes sales promotion whilst 9% of the channel members indicated

that customers did not demand more products when TCCBCGL organizes sales

promotions. This is depicted in figure 8.

91 %

9%
no
yes

Figure 8 Distribution - Customers’ Demand during TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotions

52
 3.3.5 Consumer Sales Promotion Techniques that Affects Channel

Members

In trying to find out the types of consumer sales promotions that affect channel members,

it was found out that, majority of the channel members stated that, contest has the most

impact on their performance. This is shown by table 9.

Table 9 Consumer Sales Promotion Techniques that Affect Channel Members

(Source: Field Data Research Team 2008)

Sales Promotional Technique Number of respondents Percentage (%)

Coupons 1 5
Price cut 2 10
Contest 7 33
Rebates 5 24
Sampling 5 24
Contest and sampling 1 5
Total 21 100

3.3.6 Channel Members’ Recollection of Recent Sales Promotion

In trying to find out what channel members perceived to be the recent sales promotions

organised. 5% of the respondents recollected price cut as the last promotion organized by

TCCBCGL; 19% recollected contest as the last promotion organized by TCCBCGL;

28.5% recollected rebates as the last promotion organized by TCCBCGL; 9.5% of

recollected premium as the last promotion organized by TCCBCGL; 28.5% recollected

sampling as the last promotion organized by TCCBCGL and 9.5% of the channel

members did not recollect any promotion. This proves that majority of the channel

members recollected rebates and sampling as the latest promotion organized by

TCCBCGL. The pie chart in Figure 9 below shows the data distribution of channel

members’ recollection of the last sales promotion organized by TCCBCGL.

53
 Figure 9 Distribution-Recollection of the most recent sales promotion organized by TCCBCGL

3.3.7 The Effect of Competitors’ Sales Promotional Activities on the Sales

Level of TCCBCGL’s Channel Members

In finding out how competitors’ sales promotional activities affects the sales volume of

TCCBCGL’s channel members, Figures 10 shows that, 71% indicated that sales

promotion by the competing companies affects the sales of TCCBCGL’s products. Whilst

29% said it does not affect their sales level.

This reveals the fact that majority of the channel members believe that sales promotion

by the competing companies affect the sales of TCCBCGL product.

29%
.

71% no
yes

54
 Figure 10 Does Competitors’ Sales Promotional Activities Affect Channel Members’
Sales Levels?

a. Reasons Why Competitors’ Sales Promotional Activities Affect The Sales Level Of

TCCBCGL’s Channel Members

After finding out that sales promotion by other competing companies affect the sales of

TCCBCGL products, as shown in Table 10, eighty seven percent (87%) of channel

members cited decrease in the sale of TCCBCGL’s products as the main reason for the

drop in their sales. 13% did not give any reason.

Table 10 Distribution Showing Reasons Why Channel Members’ Sales Level is

Affected by Competitors’ Sales Promotions

Number of Respondents Percentage(%)

Reason
Sales decrease 13 87
No response 2 13
Total 15 100
(Source: Field Data Research Team 2008)

b. Reasons why competitors’ sales promotional activities do not affect the sales level

of TCCBCGL’s channel members

From the total number of 6 channel members who do not agree that competitors’ sales

promotional activities affect their sales volume, 50% attributed it to the fact that

TCCBCGL’s customers are loyal. 16.66% said it is because of counter sales promotions

organized by TCCBCGL. Another 16.66% said it is because sales levels do not change

55
and 16.66% again said they have not paid attention to other competing companies’ sales

promotion.

Table 11 Distribution Showing Reasons Why Channel Members’ Sales Level is not

Affected by Competitors’ Sales Promotions

Reason Frequency Percentage (%)

Customer loyalty 3 50
Counter sales promotion by TCCBCGL 1 16.66
Consistency in sales volume 1 16.66
Have not paid attention to other competitors’
1 16.66
sales promotions
Total 6 100

(Source: Field Data Research Team)

3.3.8 Channel Members’ Loyalty to Reselling TCCBCGL Products.

In finding out whether TCCBCGL’s channel members were likely to switch to reselling

competitors product due to their sales promotional activities, the graph in Figure 11

shows that, 5% of the channel members were most likely to switch; 5% were likely to

switch; 57% were not likely to switch whilst 33 % of the channel members indicated that

they would never switch from TCCBCGL products due to sales promotion organised by

competing companies. This means that majority of the channel members are not likely to

switch from TCCBCGL product due to sales promotion organised by competing

companies.

5% 5%
33%
most likely
likely
57%
not likely

56 never
Figure 11 Channel Members’ Loyalty

3.3.9 Encouragement of Sales Promotion in Ghana

We also sought to find out whether channel members think sales promotion should be

encouraged in Ghana or not? As indicated in Figure 15, , majority of the respondents

constituting 95% think sales promotion should be encouraged whilst 5% of the

respondents think sales promotion should not be encouraged.

5%

95%
no ye s

Figure 12 Distribution on Encouraging Sales Promotions in Ghana

Reasons Given for the Encouragement of Sales Promotion in Ghana

Out of the 20 respondents who agreed that sales promotion should be encouraged in

Ghana, 80% think sales promotion should be encouraged because it increases the sales

level of company’s products and 20% think sales promotion should be encouraged

because during sales promotion, dealers and consumers are rewarded. They all want sales

promotions to be encouraged because during those times they are given souvenirs such as

freezers, umbrellas, chairs and tables and this helps them to achieve target. This is

indicated in Table 12 below.

57
 Table 12 Distribution - Why Sales Promotion should be Encouraged in Ghana

Reasons Frequency Percentage (%)

16 80
Increase in sales level of the company’s product
Reward dealers and consumers 4 20
Total 21 100

3.3.10 Overall Perception of Sales Promotion in Ghana

On the perception of sales promotion in Ghana, channel members were of the view that it

is a good exercise organised to reward both loyal customers and channel members and

also to increase sales.

Table 13 Distribution - Channel Members’ Perception of Sales Promotion in Ghana

Reason Frequency Percentage (%)

Rewarding loyal customers 1 5
Rewarding loyal customers and enticing people to
1 5
contribute towards events
Rewarding loyal customers and increasing sales 1 5
Disposing off expired products and increasing sales 1 5
Enticing people to contribute towards events and
1 5
increasing sales
Rewarding loyal resellers, rewarding loyal customers,
1 5
and disposing off expired products
Rewarding loyal resellers, rewarding loyal customers,
8 38
and increasing sales
Rewarding loyal customers, disposing off expired 2 10

58
product and increasing sales
Disposing off expired product , enticing people to
1 5
contribute towards events and increasing sales
Rewarding loyal resellers, loyal customers, disposing

off expired product, enticing people to contribute 1 5

towards events and increasing sales

Increasing sales 3 14
Total 21 100
(Source: Field Data Research Team, 2008)

3.4 COMPANY ANALYSIS

3.4.1 Introduction

In this section, the survey looked at The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of

Ghana’s(TCCBCGL) channel members, how they are categorised, the company’s role

towards the channel members, the role of the channel members, the frequency of

TCCBCGL’s sales promotional campaigns, their sales promotional techniques, sales

promotional objectives and the effect of TCCBCGL’s sales promotional campaigns just

to mention a few.

3.4.2 Channel Members

TCCBCGL listed the following as their channel members:

 Super markets

 Restaurants

 Gas stations

 Hotels

 Groceries

59
  Fast food joints

 Bars

 Pubs

3.4.3 Categorization of Channel Members

According to The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd. (TCCBCGL) channel

members are categorized as:

 Direct – Those under the direct supervision of TCCBCGL

 Indirect – Those who are not directly controlled by TCCBCGL

3.4.4 TCCBCGL’s Role towards Channel Members

The company’s (TCCBCGL) responsibility towards channel members includes:

 To regularly supply channel members with the company’s products

(drinks and water)

 Supply channel members with equipments (coolers, umbrellas, tables and

chairs etc)

 Give them guide lines towards business development

 Provide them with supervisors to direct them

3.4.5 Roles Performed by Channel Members

The roles that channel members perform are as follows:

 Sell TCCBCGL products all over the country

60
  Remain loyal to the Coca-Cola brand.

 Protect the company’s (TCCBCGL) equipments.

 Break bulk.

3.4.6 Sales Promotion- Target & Techniques

On sales promotion, TCCBCGL stated that it is aimed at both channel members and

consumers. They also stated that the aim is to increase sales either way and by so doing

motivate the consumer to demand more and consequently encourage channel members to

stock more. TCCBCGL uses both trade oriented and consumer oriented sales promotion.

The approach they use is to assign each channel member weekly and monthly sales

targets that should be attained and such members are usually rewarded with give-aways

and souvenirs that go mostly to the customers.

3.4.6 Product Range

TCCBCGL indicated that its product line includes:

 The Coke range –Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola light/diet;

 The Fanta range - Fanta orange, Fanta lemon; Fanta pineapple; Fanta fruit

cocktail

 Sprite

 The Krest range - Krest ginger ale; Krest soda water ;Krest Bitter lemon

 The Schweppes range - Schweppes bitter lemon; Schweppes soda water

 BonAqua

 Dasani

61
  Burn energy drink

3.4.7 The Frequency and Essence of TCCBCGL’s Sales Promotion

TCCBCGL indicated that it organizes retail promotion on all its products once a year.

The company indicated that sales promotion adds value to the company’s operation and

gives them a good public image, because it motivates their customers /channel members

to buy more of their products. The main objective for organizing sales promotion is to

increase their sales and profit margins.

3.4.8 Rating of the Various Promotional Tools

In rating the various tools available to them, TCCBCGL rated sales promotion as first

followed by advertisement with personal selling running third and public relations as the

last promotional tool they utilised. This is because they believe that sales promotion has a

direct effect on sales volume. Advertisement on the other hand is used to target the wider

public and keeps them informed about their sales promotional activities. Backing sales

promotion with advertisement helps them to achieve the desired objectives as it has a far

– reaching effect.

3.4.9 The Effect of Sales Promotional Campaign on Sales and Profit

Margin

TCCBCGL finds sales promotion to be very effective as it brings in substantial gains to

the company. For instance, the company in 2006 to 2008 increased the prices of its

products; and with the help of sales promotion increased its sales volume and profit.

62
Between the months of July and August in 2008, TCCBCGL organized sales promotion

and their main targets were dealers and retailers, this increased sales and the company’s

profit margins. See Table 14 for the percentage increase in sales after sales promotion

over the five years.

Table 14 Distribution - Effect of Sales Promotion on Sales Level (2003-2007)

YEAR PERCENTAGE (%) INCREASE IN SALES

2003 4

2004 5

2005 6

2006 4

2007 5

(Source: TCCBCGL)

3.4.10 The Cost of Sales Promotion

The cost of sales promotion in relation to Return on Investment (ROI) far outweighs that

of other promotional tools.

63
 3.4.11 The Integration of the Various Sales Promotional Tools

TCCBCGL normally integrates sales promotion with advertisement and personal selling.

This is because advertisement and personal selling aid in creating awareness of the sales

promotion.

4 CHAPTER FIVE

4.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 SUMMARY

From the data collected and analysed, it is evident that majority of ‘The Coca-Cola

Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd.’ (TCCBCGL) customers do not patronise their sales

promotions, whilst those who do, have patronised it only once. All the same, the

customers rated TCCBCGL’s sales promotional campaigns as good.

The findings also revealed that, most customers got attracted to TCCBCGL’s sales

promotional campaigns because of raffles. Channel members say the last sales

promotional technique used by TCCBCGL were rebates and sampling. Most of the

channel members also stock more products during sales promotion because demand is

high.

64
Furthermore, the data collected indicated that majority of both channel members and

customers will not switch to competing brands due to sales promotions. Although most

channel members and customers agreed that sales promotions should be encouraged in

Ghana, they have the general perception that sales promotions are organised to increase

the sales level, once in a while to reward customers or to get rid of expired products.

Lastly, the study showed that sales promotion leads to an increase in TCCBCGL’s sales

& profit margins and it also combines well with advertising.

5.2 CONCLUSION

From the findings of the study, one will conclude that most customers and channel

members are loyal to the Coca-Cola brand although majority of the customers do not

participate in their sales promotional campaigns. This means that currently, sales

promotions per se do not encourage brand loyalty.

Another conclusion that the study came to is that, the returns on sales promotion as

compared to the other promotional tools is more measurable in terms of increase in sales

level and profit. “The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd”. (TCCBCGL)

therefore sees sales promotion as a tool for influencing consumer buying decision,

increase sales and profit.

Also, sales promotions combine well with the other promotional tools and this helps the

TCCBCGL achieve its promotional objectives.

65
Lastly, there is also the perception that most companies organise sales promotions for

selfish reasons that is just to increase their sales and profit margins and not to reward

customers.

4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study, we wish to make the following recommendations

to “The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited (TCCBCGL) :

i. Since majority of the customers do not patronise its sales

promotional activity, TCCBCGL should not target its sales promotional

activities at existing customers but rather focus on winning and

maintaining potential customers.

ii. Secondly, TCCBCGL should organise sales promotions to reward

loyal customers. This will help increase brand loyalty amongst exiting

customers.

iii. TCCBCGL should ensure that their sales promotional campaigns

are justified and not done just anyhow. Other than that it will loose its

credibility and this can affect the brand image.

iv. Also, TCCBCGL must actively involve its channel members in

sales promotional activities. When the channel members become actively

involved in the sales promotions, it will induce them to carry the product

to the customers.

66
v. TCCBCGL can use sales promotions as one of the ways of

motivating its channel members. E.g. organise sales promotions to reward

the longest serving channel member or the channel member with the

highest sales over a certain period.

vi. Finally, sales promotion on its own is not very effective because

most of the time, it is short-lived. So it is recommended that, the

promotional tools should be largely used as an integrated whole to achieve

synergy.

67
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, J.M (1999) Marketing an Introduction Text, (4th ed), New York: Irwin

McGraw.

Beem, E R and Shaffer H.G (1981), Triggers to customer Action-Some elements in

theory of promotional inducements. (pp81-106), Cambridge: Marketing Science

Institute.

Belch, G E and Belch, M A (1995), Introduction to Advertising and Promotion, New

York: Irwin McGraw.

Coca-Cola, (2007), Company Accounts, Accra

Cummins, J and Mullin, R (2003) Sales Promotion: How to Create, Implement

and Integrate, Philadelphia: Kogan Page

Churchill, G A and Peter, J P (1998) Creating Value for Customers New York:

McGraw Hill.

Dibb, S et al (1994), Marketing Concepts and Strategies, (2nd ed), Boston: Houghton

Miffline Company

Farris, P W et al (2007) Marketing Metrics: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness &

Channel Management, Philadelphia: Wharton School

Ghana Value Added Tax (VAT) Commission, (2005) Volume Analysis Report, Accra

Guiltinan, J P and Schoell, W F (1995), Marketing Management, (pp.76) (5th ed),

New York: McGraw Hill.

Jabber, D (1998), Principles of Marketing, (2nd ed), New York: McGraw Hill

68
Kotler, P (2003) Marketing Management, (11th ed) New Jersey: Pretince Hall

International Inc

Kotler P., Armstrong G. (1999), Principles of Marketing, (7th ed) Englewood Cliff,

NJ: Pretince Hall International Inc.

Perreault, W D and McCarthy, J (2000), Essentials of Marketing, New York: Irwin

McGraw Hill.

Peter, JP and Donnelly, JH (1992), Marketing Management, (3rd ed) Illinois: Irwin

Quelch, A J (1983), Growth of Sales Promotions, Harvard Business Review,

Rogers, A (1976) Sales Promotion: Fast Growth Faculty Management In Harvard

Business Review

Zikmund, W G and D’Amico, M (2001), the Power of Marketing, Ohio South

Western College Publishing.

ON-LINE SOURCES

http://contests.about.com/od/sweepstakes101/p/whatarecontests.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition

http://www.quirk.biz/resources/88/What-is-eMarketing-and-how-is-it-better-than-

traditional-marketing

http://retail.about.com/od/glossary/g/pop_display.htm

69
 APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CUSTOMERS/ CONSUMERS

Dear Sir/Madam,
We are final year students studying Marketing at Greenhill College, Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

One requirement of our programme is that we conduct a study on a market related topic
and we have chosen the topic “The Effect of Sales Promotion on Consumers- A Case
Study of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd’ (TCCBCGL). The topic
demands that we carry out an interview to gather information for our study.

We would be grateful if you could take some time off and complete this questionnaire
with us. We assure you that information gathered would be treated confidentially.
Please answer the following set of questions.

Section A: General Information

1. Do you purchase Coca-Cola products?
Yes
No
2. Please list as many Coca-Cola products as you can.
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Do you buy similar products from other competing companies?

Yes

No

70
Section B: Issues on Sales Promotion
4. Have you ever patronized Coca-Cola’s sales promotion?
Anytime
Once
Not at all
5. Which of the under listed attracted you to Coca-Cola’s sales promotion?
Price cut
Gift
Raffle
Contest
Rebates
Coupon
6. How do you rate Coca-Cola’s sales promotions?
Excellent
Very good
Good
Bad
Very bad
Poor
Please explain your answer briefly………………………………………………
7. a) Do you continue to patronize Coca-Cola products after their sales promotion?

Yes
No
b) If yes, why? ……………………………………………………………
c) If no, why not? …………………………………………………………

8. Do you think sales promotions by other competitors of Coca-Cola will make you
switch from patronizing Coca-Cola products?
Most likely
Likely

71
 Not Likely
Never
Please explain your answer briefly………………………………………………
9. Do you think sales promotion should be encouraged in Ghana?
Yes
No

b) If yes, state briefly why you think sales promotion should be encouraged.

……………………………………………………………………………………
…
c) If no, state briefly why you think sales promotion should be discouraged.
………………………………………………………………………………………
10. How do you see (judge) sales promotion in Ghana?( Please choose as many as
you can)
Means of rewarding loyal customers
Means of disposing off expired product
Means of enticing people to contribute towards events
Way of increasing sales
Other(s) please specify ……………………………………………

Section C: Demographic Data

11. Gender
Male
Female
12. Age
18-21yrs
22-29yrs
30-39yrs
40-49yrs
50-59yrs

72
 Above 59

13. Educational Background

Basic
Secondary
Tertiary
Professional

Other . Please specify……………………………………………………………..

THANK YOU!

73
 APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COCA-COLA’S

CHANNEL MEMBERS
Dear Sir/Madam
We are final year students studying Marketing at Greenhill College, Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA)

One requirement of our programme is that we conduct a study on a market related topic
and we have chosen the topic “The Effect of Sales Promotion on Consumers- A Case
Study of ‘The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana’(TCCBCGL). The topic demands
that we carry out an interview to gather information for our study.

We would be grateful if you could take some time off and complete this questionnaire
with us. We assure you that information gathered would be treated confidentially.

Please answer the following set of questions.

Section A: General Information
1. Which task do you perform in the distribution channel?
………………………………………………………………………………………
2. How long have you been Coca-Cola’s channel member?
……………………………………………………………………………………
…

Section B: Issues on Sales Promotion

3. Do you stock more Coca-Cola products in during sales promotions organized for
channel members?
Always
Occasionally
Never
Please explain your answer briefly
……………………………………………………………………………………
74
4. Do customers demand more products when Coca-Cola organizes sales promotions
for consumers?
Yes
No
5. Which of these consumer sales promotion techniques do you think is usual used
by Coca-Cola?
Coupons
Price Cut
Contest
Rebates
Premium
Sampling
6. On a scale of 1-7 (where 1 is the highest & 7 is the least) could you rate (level of
effectiveness) the under listed promotional techniques by Coca-Cola?
Coupons
Price Cut
Contest
Rebates
Premium
Sampling
Other(s) please specify ………………………………………………

7. Can you recollect the last sales promotion organized by Coca-Cola?

Coupons
Price Cut
Contest
Rebates
Premium
Sampling
Other(s) please specify ……………………………………………………

75
8. a) Does sales promotion by competing companies affect your sales?
Yes No

b) If yes, to what extent is do they affect your sales ……………………………

If no, please state reason (s)………………………………………………………
9. Do you think sales promotions by other competitors will make you switch from
reselling Coca-Cola products?
Most likely
Likely
Not Likely
Never
Please state some reasons for your answer
………………………………………………………………………………………
10. a) Do you think sales promotion should be encouraged?
Yes
No
State briefly why you think sales promotion should be encouraged.

……………………………………………………………………………………
… State briefly why you think sales promotion should be discouraged.
……………………………………………………………………………………

11. What is your overall perception of sales promotion in Ghana?(select as many as

you can)
Means of rewarding loyal resellers
Means of rewarding loyal customers
Means of disposing off expired product
Means of enticing people to contribute towards events
Way of increasing sales
Other(s) please specify …………………………………………………

76
THANK YOU!

77
 APPENDIX C
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR “THE COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY

OF GHANA LTD” (TCCBCGL)

Dear Sir/Madam
We are final year students studying Marketing at Greenhill College, Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

One requirement of our programme is that we conduct a study on a market related topic
and we have chosen the topic “The Effect of Sales Promotions on Consumers- A Case
Study of Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd” (TCCBCGL). The topic demands
that we carry out an interview to gather information for our study.

We would be grateful if you could take some time off and complete this questionnaire
with us. We assure you that information gathered would be treated confidentially.

Please answer the following set of questions.

Section A: General Information on Channel Members

1. Who are your channel members? Please list as many as you can.
……………………………………………………………………………………
…
2. How are they categorized?
………………………………………………………………………………………
3. What is Coca-Cola’s role towards the channel members?
………………………………………………………………………………………
4. What role does each channel member perform?
………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Do you target your sales promotion to your channel members?
Yes (please go to question 6 below)

78
 No (please go to question 7 below)
6. How effective is it?
Extremely effective
Very effective
Effective
Not effective
Please provide brief explanation for your answer………………
7. Which of the sales promotional techniques do you use towards channel members?
Trade-oriented sales promotion
Consumer oriented sales promotion
Both
Other(s) please specify ……………………………………………
8. Which of the above techniques is more effective for Coca-Cola?
……………………………………………………………………………
9. Please explain why you think the chosen technique is more effective for Coca-
Cola……………………………………………………...........................................
10. Which of the following trade-oriented sales promotions do you use?
Sampling
Coupons
Premium (Free premium)
Self-liquidating premiums
Contest
Sweepstakes
Bonus packs
Price offs
Event marketing
Event sponsorship
Cross promotion
Other(s) please specify ………………………………………………
Section B: Issues on Sales Promotion
11. What are the products offered by your company? Please list.

79
 ………………………………………………………….........
12. Does your company use sales promotion?
Yes
No
13. If yes, how regular is it organized?
Products Weekly Monthly Biannually Annually

14. a). Does sales promotion add value to your operations?

Yes
No
b) If yes, please state why …………………………………………………………
c) If no, please state why
not…………………………………………………………
15. Which of the following sales promotion objectives do you consider when
organizing sales promotion in general?
To encourage product trial
To induce consumers to buy
To induce intermediaries to stock
To motivate consumers / retailers to buy more
To increase sales and sales volumes
Other(s) please specify ………………………………………………
16. Which of the following promotional tools do you use?
Advertising
Sales Promotions
Personal Selling
Public Relations
Other(s) please specify …………………………………………………

80
17. How would you rate each of the promotional tools (in Q16) in terms of sales
returns on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 is the highest & 5 is the least)
Advertising
Sales Promotions
Personal Selling
Public Relations
Other(s)
Please indicate reasons for the answers above
…………………………………………………………………………………………
18. a) Does sales promotion usually achieve the desired objective (s) set?
Yes
No
b) If yes, please state
reasons………………………………………………………..
c) If no, please specify
why……………………………………................................
19. a) Do you agree that sales promotion can increase profit margins?
Yes
No
b) If yes, please state how ………………………………………………….........
c) If no, please state why ………………………………………………….........
20. a) Do you agree that sales promotion can increase sales?
Yes
No
b) If yes, please state why ………………………………………………..............
c) If no, please state why not…………………………………………………......
21. a) Have you organized sales promotion recently?
Yes
No
b) If no, please state why not…………………………………………….............
c) If yes, when was it organized?……………………………………….............

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22. Who were the targets of those sales promotion events?

23. Was there any increase in sales after organizing your recent sales promotion?
Yes
No
24. Was there any increase in profit margin after organizing your recent sales
promotion?
Yes
No
25. If yes, what was the percentage increase in sales after the sales promotion over the
past five (5) years i.e. 2002-2007
PERCENTAGE (0%) INCREASE
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Sales
26. Is sales promotion expensive as compared to other promotional mix/tools?
Yes
No
27. If yes, which of the tools are cheaper than sales promotion?...................................
28. State briefly reasons why you think these tools are cheaper than sales
promotion? ................................................................................................................
....................
29. What percentage of promotional budget is allocated to sales promotion and other
promotional tools in the following years?
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Sales promotion
Advertising
Personal selling
Publicity
Direct Marketing
Public relation
Internet/E- marketing
Others

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30. Which of the following promotional tools do you normally integrate with sales
promotion?
Advertising
Sales Promotions
Personal Selling
Public Relations
Other(s) please specify …………………………………………..
31. a) Is it suitable to integrate sales promotion and other promotional tools?
Yes
No
b) If yes, what benefits can be derived from such integration? (Please state)
……………………………………………………………………
c)If no, please indicate reason(s) why not………………………………………

32. Do you see sales promotion as a tool for influencing consumer buying decisions?
Yes
No
33. In which of these areas has sales promotion been effective or beneficial to your
organization?
Increase in sales
Increase in profitability
Gain competitive advantage
Gain / establish brand loyalty
Other(s) please indicate …………………………………........

THANK YOU!

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