SALES PROMOTION AS A MARKETING TOOL FOR NIGERIAN BREWERIES BENIN CITY
ABSTRACT
The study examined sales promotion as a marketing tool for Nigeria Breweries PLC within Benin City. It seeks to explore promotional tools which consumer preferred the most, the factors that promote the effectiveness of sales promotional practice, the impact of different sales promotional tools on consumer buying behaviour and the effect of sales promotion tools on organizational.The study makes use of survey research design which allows the use of questionnaires to collect data from the respondents. The study population consists of the entire customers of the Nigerian Brewery in Benin City, Edo state and a sample of one hundred (150) respondents were randomly selected.The findings show that appearance of sales persons, displays of products or service at events, attachment services offered such as double bonus all day every day, free gifts accompanied with the purchase of drinks such as T-shirts, free samples offered for customer trial at events such as free drinks and short term reduction of prices on certain occasions like Christmas promotes the effectiveness of sales promotional practice in Nigeria Breweries; that there is significant relationship between different sales promotional tools on consumer buying behaviour; that there exists relationship between sales promotional tools and organizational performance; that coupon discount andBuy-one-get-one free positively and significantly affect organizational performance; that there is no significant relationship between price discount on organization performance. The finding also shows that there is no significant relationship between free sample and organizational performance.The study recommended among other things thatNigeria Breweries and other manufacturing organizations in general, should engage always in more promotional mix strategies, and be creative to consumers; this in turn would enhance and boost sales revenue.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study -    -    -    -
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem -    -    -    -    
1.3 Research Questions -    -    -    -    
1.4 Objectives of the Study -    -    -    -    -
1.5 Significance of the Study -    -    -    
1.6 Scope of the Study -    -    -    -    -    -
1.7 Limitations of the Study -    -    -    -
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction -    -    -    -    -
2.2 Meaning of Sales Promotion -    -    -    -    -
2.2.1 Shimps principle of consumer motivation in sales promotion -    
2.2.2 Types of Sales of Promotion -    -    -    -    -
2.2.3 Factors that Contribute to Increase in Sales Promotion Adoption in Nigeria
2.2.4 Prospects and Problems of Sales Promotion -    -    -
2.3 Designing and Managing Sales Promotion -    -    -
2.3.1 Establishing a Sales Promotion Objectives -    -    -    
2.3.2 Selecting the Sales Promotion Tools -    -    -    -    
2.3.3 Developing the Sales Promotions Programmes -
2.3.4 Presenting the Programme -    -    -    -    
2.3.5 Implementing the sales promotion Programme -    -
2.3.6 Evaluating the sales promotion results/effectiveness -    -    
2.4 Promotion Effects on Consumer Buying Behaviour -    -
2.4.1 Attitude towards Free Samples      -    -    -    
2.4.2 Attitude towards Buy-One-Get-One-Free -    -    -    
2.4.3 Attitude towards Price Discount -    -    -    
2.4.4 Attitude towards Coupons -    -    -    -    -    
2.5 Relationship between Sales Promotion and Organization Performance
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction -    -    -    -    -    
3.2 Research Deign -    -    -    -    -    -    
3.3 Population and Sampling
3.4 Operationalization of Variables -    -    -    -    
3.5 Model Specification-    
3.6 Research Instrument -    -    -    -
3.7 Sources of Data -    -    -    -    -
3.8 Methods of Data Analysis -    -    -
CHAPTER FOUR:  DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1 Introduction-    -    -    -    -    -
4.2 Demographic Information of Respondents -    -    
4.3 Preference or Liking of Different Promotional Tools by the Consumers
4.4 Factors that Promotes the Effectiveness of Sales Promotional Practice -
4.5 Impact of Different Sales Promotional Tools on Consumer Buying         Behaviour-        
4.6 Effect of Sales Promotion Tools on Organizational Performance -    
4.7 Discussion of Findings-    
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction-    -    
5.2 Summary of Findings-    
5.3 Conclusions-    
5.4 Recommendations-
5.4.1 Further Studies-    -
BIBLIOGRAPHY     -
APPENDICES: Appendix I -    -
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Operationalization of variables                
Table 4.1 Demographic Information of Respondents                
Table 4.2: Preference or Liking of the Consumer on Different Promotional        Tools    
Table 4.3: Factorsthat Promotes the Effectiveness of Sales Promotional        Practice            
Table 4.4: Impact of Different Sales Promotional Tools on     ConsumerBuying Behaviour                    
Table 4.5 Regression Result                
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
    Obi (2002) described sales promotion as consisting of the related promotional activities that are necessary to supplement personal selling and advertising. Some of these activities include distribution of sample products to customers, exhibitions, or demonstration of products at stores or trade fairs or shows and preparation of printed materials used by sales people or for point-of- sale displays. A combination of the above variables defines a part of firm’s promotional programme that hopes to influence consumers to patronize and become loyal to the organizations offering (Banabo & Koroy, 2011). Hence, promotion in marketing represents those tools that companies use to persuade their prospective customers and existing customers to buy their product.
    Sales promotion has a direct effect on the consumers buying behaviour, which is an action focus-marketing event (Blattberg & Neslin, 1990). Totten and Block (1994) opined that the term sales promotion refers to several types of selling incentives and methods which aim to yield the immediate sales effects. Three types of methods could be used by marketers to increase sales; first method is the promotion which is used to target consumers and it is called consumer’s sales promotion (price deals, price pack deals, coupons, samples, and loyalty reward programs). The second method is the sales promotion which is directed at the customer, distribution channel or sales staff members and it is called retail promotion (three for two, buy-one-get-one-free, free goods, displays and features advertising). And the last method is called trade sales promotion which is targeted at retailers and wholesalers (trade contest, the point of purchase, trade fair, trade allowance, displays and trade discount and training programs). Sales promotions consist of a large variety of temporary strategic promotion tools whose aim is to generate the desired response from the consumer (Gilbert and Jackaria, 2002). One of the advantages of sales promotion is that it can stimulate the consumers to think about and access brands and make purchases which otherwise they may not have done. Therefore, various types of promotional tools and promotion strategies are utilized by the marketers so that they can know consumer preference and increase their sales. Gilbert (1999) asserted that apart from a price reduction, coupons or rebate given by the retailers and other marketing tools such as free sample, buy-one-get-one-free can induce the consumer to buy more than they want to buy. Different kinds of promotion methods are used by the sellers to attract the customers and increase their sales. The earlier studies haveshown that framing of advertising messages and presentation of price information influences the consumer’s views about prices and their willingness to purchase (Das, 1992; Sinha & Smith, 2000).
    Among, the business firms that had adopted or had been making use of sales promotion in the marketing of their goods and services in Nigeria are all blue chip companies, quoted in Nigerian Stock Exchange such as Nigerian Brewery PLC, Cadbury PLC, Nestle PLC, Christleb PLC, Lever Brothers, U.A.C. Group of Companies, Neimeth Pharmaceutical company, Guinness PLC, 7up bottling company and all seasoning companies etc. (Iheukwumere, 2003).
    Organization effectiveness is a totality of organization performance, a sum of such elements as production, cost performance, turnover, quality of output, profitability and efficiency (Katz & Kahn, 1966). Sales promotion can promote organization effectiveness through an increase in profitability from higher sales. Okoli, (2011) explains that the “essence of setting up a business organization is to make a profit. Without profit, a business is bound to fail”. Loudon and Bitta (2002) said that sales promotion plays a significant effect on decisions which help in achieving the organizational objectives.
Statement of the Research Problem
    Many researchers have conducted studies on the effect of sales promotion. For example, Bamiduro (2001), conducted an analysis of Sales Promotion on Sales Volume in the Beverage Industry, Odunlami and Ogunsiji (2011) examined the Effect of sales promotion as a tool on organizational performance, and Banabo and Koroye (2011) examined the Sales Promotion Strategies of Financial Institutions in Bayelsa State. There are other empirical studies that tested the relationship between sales promotion and organizational effectiveness (e.g. Oyedapo, Akinlabi & Sufian, 2012; Aworemi, 2008). Essentially, very few of such studies have been conducted on sales promotion as a marketing tool in Nigeria Breweries PLC in Benin City where this study is designed to fill the gap in literature.
    Also, the use of sales promotion helps in promoting sales of a particular product but it has many problems which includes: The problem of assessing the growth/development of sales promotion from post-independence till date; the problem of determining factors that contributes to increase in sales promotion adoption in Nigeria; The problem of knowing the prospects and problems of sales promotion; the problem choosing the best available sales promotion tool (s), in other to achieve the set goal and How ethical those companies are whether the various offers projected during the sales promotion are genuine and fulfilled. This study is designed to provide solutions to the problems above.
Research Questions
Base on the statement of the research problem above, this study seeks to proffer answers to the following questions:
Which of the promotional tool does consumer prefer the most?
What are the factors that promote the effectiveness of sales promotion practice?
What is the impact of different sales promotional tools on consumer buying behaviour?
Do sales promotion tools have effect on organizational performance?
 1.4 Objectives of the Study
Flowing from the research questions above, the objectives of the study are:
To investigatepromotional tools which consumer prefer the most;
To find out the factors that promotes the effectiveness of sales promotion practice;
To examine the impact of different sales promotional tools on consumer buying behaviour;
To ascertain the effect of sales promotion tools on organizational performance.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study will be significant to the following:
Management and other stakeholders – it will be of benefit to management and other stakeholders because, it will contribute to new knowledge by filling and reducing the gap that exist in the understanding of sales promotion by management and other stakeholders in the manufacturing sector.
    Marketers and retailers – it will be of significance to marketers and retailers to be aware of what makes consumer behave as they do so that they can utilize the right and the most effective promotion techniques to attract the customer.
Future researchers – it will also serve as a source of references to other researchers in this field.                                                                    
 1.6 Scope of the Study
    With respect to subject matter, this study will focus on sales promotion as a marketing tool for Nigeria Breweries PLC within Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
Likely limitations that may be encountered in the course of this research include;
    Low response rate: low response rate occurs if respondents feel reluctant to fully disclose or answer every question in the questionnaire, inability to obtain a random sample: we may be compelled or forced to use non-probability sampling techniques such as convenient sampling technique which selects any person who is available and willing to participate in a study and the smallness of the sampling size and inability to cover more localities besides Benin-city may limit the conclusions of the study.