INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
For a company to excel above others in the competitive market, such a company must surely value the importance of advertising. Advertising is a powerful marketing communication tool use by companies to fulfill the promotional task. All about advertising is a sponsor sending a message, called advertisement through one or more mass media (word-of-mouth, radio television, newspaper and magazine, internet, fliers, posters, point of purchase) to reach large number of potential buyers of a product. By itself, advertising is a vital marketing tool that helps to sell goods, services, images and ideas through information and persuasion. Many companies consider advertising a superior promotional tool to personal selling, sales promotion or publicity. This is because advertising provides multiple presentations to masses of people with one message, compared with personal selling that involved individuals contact with each prospect.
Estimating the impact of advertising on buyers helps management to decide on advertising role and scope in the marketing programme and choose specific objectives. Identifying and describing the target audience is the first step in developing an advertising strategy. The next is to set specific objective and decide on the advertising budgets. There may be an adjustment (up or down) of this initial budget as the specific advertising activities are determined. The creative strategy determines how the objective will be accomplished as specific message need to be designed for each advert.
In view of Onyebuagu (1995:365), he is of the opinion that immediate purpose of advertising is not physically to bring buyers and sellers together but to communicate sales motivation information, ideas and suggestion to particular target prospect or customers so as to increase the probability to make sales. This explains why some companies invest high amount of money in advertising, to ensure that their product are brought to the knowledge of the consumers who will reciprocate by patronizing such products. Irrespective of a product, without adequate advertising to compliment the efforts of other promotional tools such products may not sell, where it does, it’s continuity is in doubt.
Advertising to some extent is the most visible element of promotional mix, which at the same time attracts most of controversial system to it’s impact on consumer buying decision. Among the firm’s promotional decisions in media selection and scheduling decision, these involves determining the best medium or means to deliver an advertising message to the prospective consumers or customers.
Advertising is for everybody including kids, young and old. It is done using various media types, with different techniques and methods most suitable and businesses use advertising to accomplish varied goals, and companies place those adverts in diverse medias. Businesses advertise in media that reach specific markets. When a business introduces a new product, advertising provides a means to make a large market aware of the product. Businesses frequently use advertising to show how their product has more benefits, or is more effective than similar competitor products. When a business communicates information about it’s operations, or illustrates why it’s product is the best choice for consumers, the company uses institutional advertising.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Most times, organizations whether large or small do not realize that advertising is part of the promotional tool and the key to continuous existence of many businesses. There have been concerted efforts by organizations too enhance sales volume in their businesses. Organizations both large and small has adopted different methods to achieve it’s goals and objectives aimed at improving it’s sales turnover and increasing market share. But inspite of all the effort being made, businesses are still experiencing low or decreasing patronage, as consumer are either unaware of the organization’s product or service offering or they have developed a stronger habitual behavior on the uses of the a particular product, leading to customers being unaware of newly made or improved product and this leads to low patronage.
Specially it has become necessary to determine; what has actually been responsible for reduction in the firm’s sales turnover and market share?
Whether the problem could be attribute to consumer being unaware of the business, product and service of the firm? Whether the problem emanates from the quality of the product they sell or whether is wrong perception by the consumers? Whether the problem could be attributed to inadequate advertising and inability to advertising during the peak seasons?
The study focuses on the role of advertising in marketing of new business to ensure patronage at all seasons or periods.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The basic objectives of this study are;
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
One of the importance of this study, is that it will help the management of Shoprite to discover failure in their advertising techniques and steps on how to make improvement on them. The study will also help to know how best or the best way through which improvement in advertising could be achieved.
Furthermore, the study will unveil the failure and problems that industries do encounter from its competitors. The study will also reveal measures which the industry will embark on, so as to perform far better than its competitors, and also to know how to satisfy its customers.
Again, it will create awareness on the part of choice of the product in line with the customer’s needs.
It will improve the knowledge of the readers of this work towards the importance of advertising and will also act as a secondary data to them in the process of a write up in relation to this topic.
It will help the researcher to be advanced on the benefit of advertising.
1.6 FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESIS
H0
: The level of awareness of Shoprite is not as a result of advertising.Hi
: The level of awareness of Shoprite is as a result of advertising.H0
: Advertising does not have impact on the marketing of goods and services in Shoprite.H2
: Advertising has impact on the marketing of goods and services in Shoprite.H0
: Advertising does not influence consumer patronage in Shoprite.H3
: Advertising influences consumer patronage in Shoprite.1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The focus of this research work, is to examine the role of advertising in marketing of new businesses – a study of Shoprite, Enugu.
The work therefore, did not consider other variables under promotional mix. However, in view of limited resources, time and other constraints, emphasis was placed on advertising by Shoprite within the state.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
iii. New Business: According to Wikipedia (2007), new business concerns all the activities involved in realizing new business opportunities, including product or service design, business model design and marketing.
th
edition, defined, competition as a situation in which people or organizations compete with each other for something that not everyone can have.