CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

Promotion is a key element in marketing. Successful promotion is the third essential ingredient or element in marketing strategy. Prospective buyers must learn about both the products distinctive want satisfying characteristics and its availability. Establishing and maintaining communications links with target market segments are main tasks assigned to promotion. Promotion is a component of the 4ps that make up the marketing mix by far the most effective.
Pride and Ferrell (2008) defined promotion as a communication that builds and maintains favourable relationship by information and persuading one or more audiences to view an organization positively and to accept its products. According to them, promotion informs potential customers about the product.
What it is, what it does; how it can be use and where it can be purchased.
Kotler and Keller (2008) peruse promotion as the means by which firms attempt to inform persuade and remind consumers directly or indirectly about the products and brands they sell. Promotion represent the voice of the organization and its brands and are means by which it can establish a dialogue and builds relationship with customers.
Stanton (1981) defined promotion as the design and management of marketing b sub system for the purpose of informing and persuading present and potential customers.
Ekakitie (2010) sees promotion as the systematic design and communication of product(s) ideas, knowledge and attribute to identified market segment with a view to eliciting customer response through the use of appropriate communication medium and technology. Me Neal (1966) defined promotion as any communication activity whose purpose is to move forward a product, service or idea in a channel of distribution. He added that promotion is used by marketers to inform consumers of the availability and attributes products and at certain times.
Achuba and Osuagwu (1994) perceived promotion as the art of transmitting information for marketing purposes. It is the process of establishing communication relationships between a marketer and its publics. Dean (1946) defined promotion as the flow of persuasive communication between the firm and various selected audience. Kotler(1997) asserted that modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product/service and pricing it attractively and marketing it accessible to target customers. Companies must also communicate with their customers. Aluko (1998) described promotion as those activities that are designed to bring a company’s goods and services to favourable attention of customers. He also asserted that promotion is characterized by product information function, company’s sales effort to current and prospective customers among others. Odugbesan and Osuagwu (1996) perceived promotion as those decision and methods of communicating all aspects of the organizations product and services to reach the target consumer or audience. With the various definitions of promotion given above, the literature review will further be enriched with a brief history of the Nigerian telecommunication industry in recent times. This will thereafter be followed by various methods of promotion and it various application in the telecommunication industry.

NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY A BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINE

A little History and industry statistics: The Nigerian Telecommunication industry has experienced exponential growth in the last ten years, going from active subscriber line of 400,000 and tele density of 0.04% to active subscriber line of over 90million and tele density of 64% as of July 2011. The country telecom market has been described as one of the fastest growing telecommunication market in the world. The driving factor is the government’s robust policy which fully liberalized the sector about a decade ago when the story of progress and development in the sector really started to unfold.
Nigeria is located in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, and has a total land area of 923,768 square kilometers (356,669 square miles), making her the 32nd largest country in the world. Nigeria is made up of 36 states and the Federal capital territory (Abuja) with a population of over 150million people making her the most populous nation in Africa. Thus we are a happy country that likes talking. Telecommunication services are critical to the development of all aspects of a nation’s economy, ranging from banking and education to agriculture and healthcare, etc.
Nigerian communication commission is the body responsible for the regulation of the activities of telecommunication industry. It was established by law in 1992, but commenced full market liberalization and sector reform in 2000. The national telecommunication policy which came into force in the year 2000, apart from giving an overall direction for telecommunication development, also ensured that policy would remain consistent with other national policies.
There is no environment without market challenges and telecommunication industry is not exempted. Operators in the Nigeria telecommunication industry will complain of inadequate power supply, Multiple Taxation, vandalization of facilities and some other issues. While I want to say that the Nigerian government is taking very definite steps to address these challenges, such challenges are hardly strong enough to threaten the existence of industry operations, their operations or threaten their annual returns. It is also interesting to know that some of these challenges are being turned into attractive business opportunities by the present administration. For instance, government policy on power generation is attracted quite a number of foreign investors into the country. Solving the problem of energy will boost the activities of the telecom operators reduce their headache and increase their returns

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Ekakitie (2010) sees promotion as the systematic design and communication of product(s) ideas, knowledge and attribute to identified market segment with a view to eliciting customer response through the use of appropriate communication medium and technology. Me Neal (1966) defined promotion as any communication activity whose purpose is to move forward a product, service or idea in a channel of distribution. He added that promotion is used by marketers to inform consumers of the availability and attributes products and at certain times.
Achuba and Osuagwu (1994) perceived promotion as the art of transmitting information for marketing purposes. It is the process of establishing communication relationships between a marketer and its publics. It is on this background the researcher wants to investigate the effectiveness of promotional mix elements in the telecommunication sector Nigeria.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The major objectives of the study are:

1.  To ascertain the effectiveness of promotional mix elements in the telecommunication sector

2.  To ascertain whether promotional mix attract customers attention

3.  To ascertain the profitability of promotional mix to the telecommunication

1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher; 

H0: there is no effectiveness of promotional mix elements in the telecommunication sector

H1: there is an effectiveness of promotional mix elements in the telecommunication sector

H02: there is no profitability of promotional mix to the telecommunication sector

H2:there is profitability of promotional mix to the telecommunication sector

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to the telecommunication sector. The study will also be of great benefit to the researchers who intends to embark on research on similar topics as it will serve as a guide. Finally, the study will be of great importance to academia’s, lecturers, teachers, students and the general public.

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers effectiveness of promotional mix elements in the telecommunication sector Nigeria.The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study       

b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities. 

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

EFFECTIVENESS: Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression

PROMOTIONAL MIX:The promotional mix is one of the 4 Ps of themarketing mix. It consists of public relations, advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. In this lesson, you'll learn how a marketing team uses the promotional mix to reach company objectives and goals

ELEMENTS:An essential or characteristic part of something abstract.

TELECOMMUNICATION: Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, words, writings, images and sounds or information of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study

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