INTRODUCTION
1.1  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Pricing involve deciding the amount which the buyer should pay for the product a lot that the cost of the product will determine the minimum price of the product. Competition will affect the price ceiling of a product for big firm may influents the pricing pattern either up or down with the smaller firms following their leader, consumer demand can also increase or reduce the price.
Government too has a say in pricing especial where the price of a product is set without following the government pricing policy guideline. (Kelvin Stom 1976) went forward to define price as money or any other form of legal tender paid as an equaled of labour rent and wages.
(Bush and Houstor 1988) define price as the value assigned to the utility are receives from goods and services.
Firms are always faced with two goals whether to increase their profit share or to increase their sales value. It is most common that despite the fact that companies are competing in their different territories, they are all working towards profit maximization.
Information gathered from Nestle Nigeria plc website, Nestle Plc Lokoja, shows that Nestle Nigeria plc is one of the nestle group which has it’s parent company in Switzerland. The highly respected and trustworthily food nutrition.
Health and Wellness Company renewed worldwide for its top quality product. Nestle Nigeria began it simple trading generation in Nigeria. In the year 1961 and presently now has grow into one of the leading food manufacturing and marketing company.
The company website shows that Nestle Nigeria plc was finally known to be food specialist Nigeria limited before it got it present new name in July 1991. Its regular impact of nestle product into Nigeria can be directed back to the 1920, the company was listed on the Nigeria stock exchange on April 20th 1979 and as at December 2011 the number of shareholder owns sixty two percent (62%) of the company equity.
The company has an impressive array of top quality brand in fat, cereals, Nestle, Nutred Nestle cereal family cereal, Nestle golden morn, Beverage drink, Nestle milo, confectionary nestle chocomilo, Balon-magi, cub magi, chicken crayfish, moxi cub, success-magi machop and table water Nestle pure life. The company also markets coffee-nestle classic and nestle 3-in- land fall cream milk product Nido.
The company is also one of the leading food company in Nigeria, realizing that a manufacturing company has more obligation to the market department was established around 1976, later the department was merged with sales department and charged with the responsibility of marketing analysis, marketing planning and all selling effort.
According to the manager, as the company grows they are calls for need for further expansion. The sales department was carved out to cope with the wide market during the time of carrying out; the natural market was divided into three major areas, north market area, east market area and west market areas.
As the market grows, it later become necessary to further divided the market areas into region for proper coverage. The regional office of the company can be found in Lagos, Ibadan, Aba and Kano. Further expansion of the market calls for more divisions in which most those regions were further divided into zones and districts.
1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Most companies and firms have failed today because they do not realize that getting information and knowledge on pricing policies and its strategies in marketing of their competitive goods. Also most managers marketing such origination and firms has not given much attention to how pricing policies and strategies can be met in marketing of their competitive goods in other to keep the companies and firms in the market. Since the problem faced by companies, managers and marketers is how to get intimation about pricing policies and strategies from the target market and is likely response to marketing mix and as well as above completion and other uncontrollable variables. This research can also help in getting solution to the problem.
1.3  OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The general objective is to access the pricing policies and strategies the marketing of competitive goods.
Other specific objective includes;
1.4  RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
For the purpose of this research work, Null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis will be used i.e (Ho) and (Hi) respectively.
H1: That the competing brand price affect the sales of the company product.
H0: That the company’s product does not affect the quantity purchased. The two hypothesis are of different
H1: That the company’s product affects the quantity of purchased.
1.5  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of the study is to show the assistant of pricing policies and strategies in marketing of competitive goods. The impact of pricing policies and strategies help firm in maximizing profit.
Pricing helps a firm in serving in a market above it competitor and help in keeping customers. Also to point out the effectiveness, price maintains a firm stabilization in marketing competitive goods.
A company with a good pricing policies and strategies will experience expansion because when its profit is maximized it will have upper hand than its competitors as a result of high patronage by consumers or customers.
1.6  SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study is designed to cover the assessment of pricing policies and strategies in marketing of competitive goods and is efficient in managing an organization or business. Other areas covered by this study include the objective of pricing, importance of pricing, pricing policies marketing function for decision making in a business.
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1.7  LIMITATION AND CONSTRAINTS
The limitation encountered by the study are inevitable and are needed to be attended to. One of the major limitation faced in the curse of carrying out this research work was that, getting some employees was not easy (top management and executive officers) to bear out their mind on this subject matter there was time constraint between attending lectures, getting the required data for writing this work to a presentable level.
With all these, there was financial constraint in trying to gather both the primary data and secondary data. However, some of the limitations were overcome to some reasonable extent which made for the timely presentation of this project work.
1.8  DEFINITION OF TERMS