1

CHAPTER I



INTRODUCTION


1.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter gives background information to the study that is an investigation into
the effectiveness of advertising case of AVM Africa. It also outlines the statement of
the problem, purpose of study together with the objectives, research questions derived
from the objectives and the key assumptions. Guidelines of the research are included
as delimitations of the study. Limitations likely to hinder enough research form part of
the chapter. Key terms that will be constantly referred to in this whole study are
defined at the end of the chapter. A summary is given to wrap up the chapter.

1.1 Background to the Study

AVM AFRICA has been enjoying monopoly power ever since its incorporation. The
increase in motor vehicle imports in recent years and the introduction of the multi
currency lead to the increase of more players in the bus and truck manufacturing and
distribution industry these players include Croco Motors Distributors, Scanlink,
Deven, Japanese and South African based companies gave competition to AVM
Africa. Most of AVM Africas major customers have been overtaken by these local
and foreign companies and AVM has to retain such customers. As a result of its
monopoly power, AVM AFRICA has been engaging in advertising but with little
focus on it and there is now need for the company to embark on an improved
advertising strategy so as to capture new business and to retain existing customers.

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1.2 Statement of the problem

Companies enjoying monopoly power are known for not engaging in advertising, but
when a company ceases to be a monopoly, it has to try and keep pace with
competition. The researcher is eager to know if advertising can help a company to
keep pace with competition. The researcher chose to carry out a study on whether
AVM Africa can improve advertising in order to keep pace with both local and
foreign competition. AVM Africa is facing stiff competition from both local and
foreign companies which have taken some of the companys business. These
companies also end up offering top of the range products and lucrative deals in terms
of payment structure.
1.3 Research Objectives

1. To explore on the impact of advertisement, on AVM`s sales
2. To determine the appropriate advertising media for manufacturing companies.
3. To make recommendations on ideal advertising approaches for AVM Africa

1. 4 Research Questions

1. What effect does advertising has on sales performance?
2. What advertising media is appropriate in manufacturing companies?
3. Which form or approaches on advertising should a firm use?
4. Should manufacturing companies advertise to enhance their sales
performance?

1.5 Assumptions

During the research process, the researcher made the following assumptions:
a) The respondents have an understanding regarding the subject of advertising.
b) Information from respondents will be accurate, complete, and relevant and
therefore there is reliability and validity on the research.
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c) Research instruments and methods are ethically acceptable
d) Respondents are willing to give information and concrete statistics thus
authenticating findings of the study.
e) Respondents answering the questionnaires will give a true reflection of the
organizations they represent.

1. 6 Significance of the Study

To AVM Africa:
This research will serve as a reference on various ways of advertising with the
motive of improving sales volume.
Furthermore, the research will aid the advertising team in developing ways and
skills of advertising. Lastly, the research paper will assist the finance and the
marketing department in calculating monthly advertising budget given a sales
target.


To The Researcher:

1. The research will enlighten the researcher on advertising issues which can be
applied by companies.
2. The research also gives a platform for the researcher to link theory and
practise.
3. The research helps the researcher to gain knowledge of advertising and why it is
essential to organisations.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

1. Financial resources for the research project were a challenge however through
donations from well wishers, friends and relatives.
2. Consistent power cuts made documentation a challenge however this
challenge was addressed by going the extra mile through over night and at
times weekends.
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1.8 Delimitation
1. The research will be restricted to operations of AVM Africa located in Msasa
Harare.
2. The researcher is going to carry out a study for a period of one year from
August 2010 to August 2011.
3. Confidentiality: confidential company information useful to the research
project was not easily accessible as it was considered highly sensitive.

1.9. Definition of key terms

Advertising- According to Petley (2002), advertising is the means by which goods or
services are promoted to the public. The advertisers goal is to increase sales of these
goods and services by drawing peoples attention to them and showing them in a
favourable light.

Advertising media- Pelsmacker et al, (2007), define advertising media the type of
communication channels that can distributes a message, examples are newspaper ,
television, magazines and cinemas. The media have played a major part in the
evolution of ads through the provision of access to consumers and decision making
groups by supplying an environment for specific forms and styles of ads by
developing a cause structure and research into audients characteristics and through a
recognition of the interplay of ads and campaigns (Scholosser at el, 1999).
Case Study- Involves the study of a case which could be a situation, individual, or an
organization. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2001) the case study
examines a bounded system or a case over time.
Sales volume it is the quantity of total sales in any given period, usually measured
monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Advertising Costs-these are expenses incurred when a company is advertising for
example finance needed to insert an advert in a newspaper or magazine.


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1.10 Conclusion

This chapter has managed to introduce the research to the reader. A research on the
effectiveness of advertising on AVM Africa was introduced with objectives,
background to the study, limitations and delimitations on the research were also
highlighted.


























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CHAPTER II


LITERATURE REVIEW


2.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter explores views from authoritative sources on the subject of effectiveness
of advertising. And hence gives detailed information such as types of advertising, role
of advertising, models of advertising, measuring advertising effectiveness, tools used
to assess company performance. There are a variety of literatures that outline the
importance of advertising to customer creation, retention and sales performance and
provide a convincing argument of why the research project is of importance. This
chapter seeks to explore literature that has been codified and said about the
effectiveness of advertising.

2.1 Advertising Defined
Saxena (2007) defines advertising as a paid form of mass communication and can be
traced to an identified sponsor. Blythe (2005) defines advertising as a paid message
inserted in a medium, further explains that advertising is mainly about getting the
customers attention and arousing interest. Bernstein (1998) defines advertising as the
origination and /or communication of ideas about products in order to motivate
consumers towards purchases. In his definition, advertising is a communication tool
and it also has a role in customer persuasion towards making a purchase.

Advertising has the ultimate goal of influencing the perception of the target
customers. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) quoted in Jefkins (2005)
adds that advertising presents the most persuasive possible selling message to the right
prospects for the product or service at the lowest price. In general this definition again
highlights that advertising communication is persuasive to the right prospects at the
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lowest price. However the aspect of right prospects and lowest price is not always
relevant since advertising is a mass communication tool that reaches to all target and
non-target audience. As well, prices are not always low since other firms
implementing skimming pricing may be excluded from this definition. This has been
quantified by Cannon (1992) when he described advertising as mass communication
by an identified sponsor.
According to Petley (2002), advertising is the means by which goods or services are
promoted to the public. The advertisers goal is to increase sales of these goods and
services by drawing peoples attention to them and showing them in a favourable
light.
Kotler (1998) adds to the definition when he highlights that it should be non-personal
presentation of products and services or ideas by an identified sponsor. In his
definition, advertising is revealed as a non presentation which reveals that the
advertiser does not have to be present. Also the sponsor has to be identified for it to be
an advert. If the sponsor is not identified, this becomes publicity. This definition of
advertising tallies with the one by Foster (1982) when he defines it as a paid form of
promotional activity by an identified sponsor.

According to Kellner (1990) the process of advertising also involves the promotion of
a product or service and is extremely pervasive in contemporary society. To maximise
sales, companies will pay a premium for wide exposure through the mass media.
Advertising space is common, but not restricted to these realms; billboards, public
transportation, movies (product placement), schools and clothing.

According to McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance (1987)
the formation of modern advertising was intimately bound up with the emergence of
new forms of monopoly capitalism around the end of the 19
th
and beginning of the
20
th
century as one element in corporate strategies to create, organize and where
possible control markets, especially for mass produced consumer goods. Mass
production necessitated mass consumption, and this in turn required a certain
homogenization of consumer tastes for final products. At its limit, this involved
seeking to create world cultural convergence, to homogenize consumer tastes and
engineer a convergence of lifestyle, culture and behaviors among consumer segments
across the world.
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According to Jones (2005) commercial advertising media can include wall paintings,
billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema
and television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web
pop-ups, skywriting, bus stop benches, human billboards, magazines, newspapers,
town criers, sides of buses, banners attached to or sides of airplanes (logojets, in-
flight advertisements on seatback or overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts
and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic
bands on disposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart
handles(grabertising), the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and
the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an identified sponsor
pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising.

As noted by Jacobs (2001) a recent advertising innovation is guerrilla marketing,
which involve unusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places,
giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and
interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising
message. This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and embedded ads, such as
via product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, and various
innovations organisation social network services such as My Space.

Based on these definitions above, it can be noted that the authors does agree that
advertising is a non personal communication by the organization to its various publics
through various media. Of course the functions of advertising can be used from
organization to organization to achieve their varying objectives but common for all
is the aim of supporting the core business. The authors disagree on the aspect of
target market as some believe advertising is to specific target market yet some sees it
as a mass communication tool.

2.2 TYPES OF MEDIA USED IN ADVERTISING

Advertising as Jones (2005) defines it is a sort of machine made mass production
method of selling which supplement the voice and personality of individual salesman.
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It is thus a process of buying/ sponsor/ identified media space or time in order to
promote a product or idea. For a careful scrutiny of the above definition, the following
points emerge:
Advertising is a paid form and hence commercial in nature.

Advertising is non-personal. Unlike personal selling, advertising is done in a non-
personal manner through the intermediaries or media. Whatever the form of
advertisement, it is directed at the mass audience and not at the individual.
Advertising promotes ideas, goods and services.
Advertising is identifiable with its sponsoring authority and advertiser. It discloses or
identifies the source of opinions or ideas.
Advertising is thus:
1. Impersonal
2. A communication of ideas
3. Aimed at mass audience
4. By a paying sponsor
2.2.1 Print Media
The print media carry their messages entirely through the visual mode Jacobs (2001).
These media consist of newspapers, magazines and direct mail which seems to be an
obsolete way nowadays hence will focus on the first two.

2.2.1.1 Newspapers:
According to Jacobs (2001), newspapers remain one of the best direct marketing
media, it virtually reach most people in the cities and towns of our country. Marketers
can easily reach particular markets. From the viewpoint of the advertiser, newspapers
are advantageous. They are local in context and appeal and provide opportunity for
direct communication between a product and its local dealers or intermediaries. Since
they supply news, they offer an atmosphere of factual information and of currency
that may be favourable for some advertising situations. Jacobs further highlighted that
broad audience can be reached and the advertiser may choose specific area to be
covered and can be placed on very short notice.


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2.2.1.2 Magazines:
According to Jacobs (2001) magazines are also means of reaching different markets,
both original and material, and of general and specific interest. Magazines are divided
into those parts that serve business, industrial consumers, ladies, sports etc. The
diversity of magazines is tremendous. The primary advantage of magazines
advertising are selectivity of market targets, quantity reproduction long life, the
prestige associated with one magazine and the extra service offered by many
magazine publications. Consumers sometimes keep individual copies for long period
of time, reread them or pass them to others.

2.3 Outdoor and Transit Media

2.3.1 Outdoor Advertising:
According to Frankenberg and graham (2003) outdoor advertising involves the use of
sign and billboards, posters or displays and electric spectacular (large, illuminated,
sometime animated sign display). This form of advertising has the advantages of
communication quick and simply ideas of repetition and of the ability to promote
products that are available for sales. Outdoor advertising is particularly effective in
metropolitan and others can use this medium to bring the products to the attention of
consumers or reminding them of the product while on shopping trips or area disposed
towards shopping. It may be economical to reach a large mass of people or a small
local market.

2.3.2 Transport Advertising:
Kotler (2005) described transport advertising as adverts inserts which appears on the
inside or outside of taxis, buses, railway and other modes of passenger transportation.
According to Saxena (2007) marketers may use this form of advertising to attain high
exposure to particular groups of consumers on their way to and from work, and
tourists. Repeat exposure is possible for a majority of the people in our country who
use public transport. It is a low cost medium and the message can be delivered in
several geographical areas.

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2.4 EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING

2.4.1 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Advertising:
There are several techniques which are used in measuring the effectiveness of
advertisement; Blythe 2005 explains these techniques in the table overleaf:

Table 1: below shows the several techniques which are used in measuring
effectiveness of advertisement.
Technique Descriptions and explanation
Pre-tests Evaluations of advertisement before it is
released. Pre-tests are sometimes carried
out using focus groups.
Coupon returns, or enquiries The advertiser counts up the number of
enquiries received during each phase of
an advertising campaign. This allows the
marketing management to judge which
adverts are working best, provided the
coupons have an identifying code on
them.
Post campaign tests
(post tests)
The particular testing method used will
depend largely on the objectives of the
campaign. Communications objectives
(product awareness, attitude change,
brand awareness might be determined
through surveys, sales objectives might be
measured according to changes in sales
that can attributed to the campaign this is
difficult to do because of othe factors
(changes in economic conditions for
example that might distort the finding.
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Recognition Tests and recall tests In recognition tests, consumers are shown
the advertisement and asked if they
recognize it. They are then asked which
adverts he/she remembers seeing recently
,in an aided recall test the consumer is
shown a group of ads (without being told
which is the one the researcher is
interested in) and is asked which one
he/she has seen recently.

Source: Blythe (2005, p227)
According to Blythe (2005) measuring advertising effectiveness is needed to
determine whether proposed advertisement should be used and if they will, they might
be improved and whether going campaign should be stopped, continued or changed.
In accomplishing these purposes, pretests and post test are conducted. The former
tests before exposing target consumers to advertisements and the letter after
consumers have been exposed to advertisements and the letter after consumers have
been exposed to advertisements.
For an effective advertising programme, the advertising manager requires a basic
understanding of the medium that is going to carry it.
For effectively using advertising the management must test advertising to know which
of the advertisement have proved profitable and why as compared to others.
2.4.2Tracking
According to Hally (1987), one way to measure advertising effectiveness is known as
ad tracking. This advertising research methodology measures shifts in target market
perceptions about the brand and product or service. These shifts in perception are
plotted against the consumers levels of exposure to the companys advertisements
and promotions. The purpose of Ad Tracking is generally to provide a measure of the
combined effect of the media weight or spending level, the effectiveness of the media
buy or targeting, and the quality of the advertising executions or creativity

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2.4.3 Purchase Behaviour
According to Kellner (1990) todays competitive era one is constantly bombarded
with advertisements .Empirical evidence show that advertisements have an influence
on the purchase behaviour of customers. Consumer purchase decision is also
influenced by the value they feel they would derive from purchasing that particular
product or service. Consumers expect a return on investment that is price against
value. In other words consumers expect value for each dollar they spend.
At the other end of the spectrum the marketers expect a return on the investment they
make (advertising).The return may be in the form of increased sales or profitability or
an increases in the value of the firm. A bulk of this goes into advertising expenditure.
Naturally marketers expect a return on the investment (ROI) on this. Their expectation
stems from the likely impact, marketing investment have on the sales performance
and thus profitability of the firm.

Raymond (1970) argues that the effectiveness of advertising conveys different
meanings to different groups. To a general manager; it would obviously mean the
impact the advertising has on the firms profitability. This background makes it
sufficiently on the trend in advertising research. With marketing communication used
to create awareness and building a long lasting relationship, many studies have
focused on copy and media effects and awareness building about the product. Metrics
have been developed to assess and measure consumer awareness and loyalty.

The effect of the advertisement rest on the theory of message repetition, it can be
classified into three main effects: a current effect on behaviour, a carryover effect on
behaviour and a non behavioural effect on attitude and memory (Pechmann and
Stewrt 1988; Sawyer 1981;Sawyer and Ward 1976).Most of these studies focus on
many technical issues involved in efficiently capturing the unbiased effects of
advertising, given the limitations of field data (Hanssens Parsons and Schultz 1990)
Deeper analysis of these studies finds that the effect of advertising are significantly
greater than zero but do vary by market and product characteristics.

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2.4.4 Sales Performance
There is increasing awareness over the need to measure the impact of marketing
activities on the sales performance. Practitioners are increasingly under pressure to
report their contribution to the overall firms performance. The inherent complexity in
quantifying the marketing activities has often become a barrier in developing metrics
for marketing measurement. Sullivan and Abela (2007) report that the ability to
measure the internal marketing performance causes a significant impact on sales
performance, profitability, stock return and marketing stature within the firm.

In recent years a number of studies suggest that a firms advertising (Frieder and
Subrahmanyam; 2005 Grullon, Kanatas, and Weston 2004; Joshi and Hanssens2007)
directly affect stock returns. This is in addition to the indirect effect of advertising
through increase in sales revenues and profits. Srinivanas and Hansens (2007) carried
out an extensive literature survey on the impact of advertisement on market and firm
value.

Few studies have addressed the effect of advertising on sales. Little has been
researched on capturing the impact of how the effects vary by creative medium or
vehicle, and time of day for broadcast advertisement (Bhattachayra and Lodish 1994).
In particular, no study has researched the effects of advertising by these three factors
simultaneously.

Naik and Raman (2003) present an insight as to how a marketer is keen on measuring
the effectiveness of advertising investment on market performance. To assess these
effects marketers often use regression analysis. Arguing that OLS models introduce
biasing effects, they put forward the Weiner Kalman Filter (WKF) that provides
estimates that are closer to the true parameters.

Advertising effectiveness lies in its capability to help stimulate or maintain sales
(Eachambadi 1994; Vidale and Wolfe 1957). Thus advertising is frequently used as an
independent variable in explaining changes in sales Lilien (1994). Abraham and
Lodish (1990) believe that advertising effectiveness has to be captured by the
additional sales of a product over and above those that would have happened in
absence of any advertising .Although advertising managers have long believed that
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advertising impact on sales can persist longer than the current period (Clarke 1976),
the tendency to assume that advertising effect on sales is short term is yet prevalent.

They further argue that the longer uses of advertising are better than less and shorter
uses of it irrespective of the nature of contribution of advertisement on sales (Jones
1992, 1995). The inability of the measures to differentiate the impact of advertisement
between its short term and long term effects have resulted in wastage of advertising
expenditure (Abraham and Lodish; 1990, Bass 1969).

Eechambadi (1994) uses the analogy of capital budgeting process to capture the
effectiveness of advertisement spending on sale and profitability. He suggests that the
brand managers be allowed to spend as much as they want on advertising if the return
they generate is able to beat an internally agreed hurdle. His belief rests on the
premise that absolute size of the advertisement budget does not matter but the return
on that budget is the criteria for advertisement effectiveness.

Abraham and Lodish ; 1990 however revealed a number of acceptable ways that have
been adopted for measuring sales response to advertising. They also states that though
the increase in sales is a true measure of advertising effectiveness, in reality it is
difficult to measure the increase that is due to a particular advertisement. It is rather
difficult to correlate the response in sales with the advertising programme. However a
few methods have been discussed below which are generally used to measure the
sales response to advertising:

Nettaps method-the term Nettaps has been framed from the term net-ad-produce-
purchases. This method, which has been developed by Daniel Starch and Staff
Company, requires the measurement of both readers and non-readers who purchased
and who did not purchase the brand under investigation. The Nettaps method is useful
in relative measurement of the sale-effectiveness of various advertising
techniques/approaches. But the method is subject to a high level of false reporting and
open to interviewer bias. Moreover we have considered advertising influence as the
only factor which results in purchases.

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Controlled experiment-in experiment market, any one element of marketing mix is
changed. It is compared with the sales of another similar market. The elements
presence observance is a reason for difference in sales. Instead of two markets, the
experiment can be carried on two groups of consumers. The inventory audit is the
dealers inventory before and after the ad is run. Sales Results Tests-the additional
sales generated by the ads are recorded, taking several routes. Past sales before the ad
and sales after the ad are noted. The difference is attributed to ad impact. According to
Sullivan and Abela (2007) Attitude Test- this is an indirect measurement of the post-
testing effects of ads on attitudes towards the product or brands. The change in
attitude as a result of advertising is assessed. The assumption is that the attitude
towards the product may lead to purchases. Most ads are designed to either reinforce
or change existing attitudes. An attitude is a favourable or unfavourable feeling about
a product.

2.4.5 Expenditure
The basic duopoly model leads to an equilibrium which can be determined
analytically (Dixit, 1979); this basic model does not demonstrate any dynamic
behaviour, Introducing advertising into the model allows firm endogenously alter
demand which does invoke dynamic behaviour, but is analytically intractable. Graham
and Ariza (2003) present a model that optimises allocation of the firm advertising
expenditure using a simulated anneling approach.Sterman et al (2007) use an
approach that combines duopoly theory with the behavioural theory of the firm.

Research on the response to advertising had primarily looked at the shape of the
response function, and the interaction of advertising with other promotional mix
elements.Luo and Donthu (2001) apply the Data Envelopment Analysis to the
question of how to measure the efficiency of the advertising in the traditional media.
Further, Yunjae Cheong (2006) uses the similar model to carry out a study on the
evaluation of advertising media spending efficiency. This model focused on how one
could measure, maximise and benchmark the effects of advertising media spending
thereby improving the effectiveness of advertising.

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Yew,Keh and Ong (2005) report that intensive investment in advertising contributes
positively to the one-year stock market performances of non-manufacturing firms.
However, their results were inconclusive whether manufacturing firms benefit from
investment in advertising as measured by the three-year stock market performance.
Mathur and Mathur (1995) using event study methodology concluded that investors
react positively to announcements of advertisement changes leading to higher market
value for the firms.

2.5 ADVERTISING IN ZIMBABWE

According to Advertising, Branding and Marketing Study from Plunkett Research,
Ltd., there are presently around 20 full-service accredited advertising agencies in
Zimbabwe; with combined annual media billings estimated at approximately US$2.5
million. Since the crash of the international market, Zimbabwe has seen a growth of
interest in advertising on the internet. There have not been that many sites built
specifically for the Zimbabwean market, with an estimated 100,000 users. (Laura
Brown, Managing Director of Web-Dev)

Although banner advertising on the World Wide Web has been a fundamental part of
the dotcom bubble, Zimbabwean cyberspace has not seen much use of this medium,
writes Tony Mechin. A major player in the African ISP market recently launched their
new continent-wide portal, www.Africaonline.com, and according to Ngandu (1997),
of their Internet Business Services division said that they had placed adverts in each of
the eight countries` web sites and the response was good. The users of the internet in
Africa are largely the people who make up the market for goods and product. This is
the reasons for the importance of banner advertising in Africa according to J. Ngandu
of Africa online.

2.6 EMPERICAL EVIDENCE

Roland S Vaile (1926) conducted an analysis of the effect of advertising on sales from
1920-1924. The study was published in the Harvard Business Review. The author
compared the sales of the firms that increased their advertising to those that decreased
18

their advertising and those that did not advertise. All advertising referred to magazine
advertising expenditure. The study then tracked the sales indices associated with each
category over the five year period, 1920-1924.

The study found out that increasing advertising was associated with increasing sales
for each of the following four years. In contrast, decreasing advertising was associated
with decreasing sales for each of the four years. Firms that did no advertising had
steady sales, a better scenario than that had positive but decreasing advertising over
those years.

Meldrum and Few Smith, Inc (1979) conducted a survey of few managers in firms to
examine the effectiveness of advertising on sales during the period 1974-1975. The
study surveyed managers in 4786 firms via primary mailing followed by a reminder
mailing to those who did not respond. The research showed a strong impact on market
share of maintaining advertising expenditure. Firms that did not cut advertising
expenditure experienced higher sales than those companies that cut advertising
expenditures.

McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance studied the effect of
advertising on sales between 1981-1982. The study analysed the performance of six
hundred manufacturing firms with market data obtained using standard and poor
Compustat data. The study grouped firms by whether they decreased, increased or
maintained their advertising expenditures during the period in question. The study
shows that firms that did not cut their advertising over both years had their sales grow
to almost 340%. In comparison, firms that cut advertising in either one or both years,
had much more modest increase in sales that grew to a little 200%. These results
provide strong evidence that not cutting advertising helps to increase sales growth at a
high level thus providing also evidence that advertising can lead to an increase in
sales.

Frankenberg and Graham (2003) analyzed the effects of advertising on profits. The
authors focused on a large sample of 2662 firms covering the years 1971-2000. The
sample covered 994 firms selling consumer products, 1334 firms in B2B products and
334 firms in services. The authors found that increases in advertising resulted in
19

significant increases in earnings. This effect is statistically significant in consumer and
B2B products than in the services. Also increased earnings caused by advertising
exceeded the increased cost of advertising.



2.7 Justification of the study

Much literature was acquired on the effectiveness of advertising in improving sales
volume. The researcher had to move on in trying to explore on the same concept but
judging from the fact that a company that was once a monopoly but now facing
competition. The researcher went on to uncover some advertising strategies that can
be implemented so as for advertising to be effective since effective advertising
although costly but they yield better sales volume. Previous studies focussed more on
retail industries but the study is focusing on manufacturing industry. Previous studies
on the above researches showed that there were carried out in developed countries like
USA and Canada (European markets) but this is based on a third world country
namely Zimbabwe, thus an African market. The previous studies were carried out
decades ago for example that o Roland S Vaile that was carried out from 1920 1924
but this study seeks to look at the most recent perspective effectiveness of advertising
by a manufacturing firm (AVM Africa).

2.8 CONCLUSION

T The chapter focused much on the review of literature related to the current subject
of study. It started with the introduction, which highlighted the preceding subheading
in point, form. The theoretical framework provides some information on the ongoing
and some background on the effectiveness of advertising. Previous research findings
gave an insight on how other researchers on the same subject discovered on
advertising. Justification of the current study gave the researcher some room to
explain why he decided to undertake research in the subject. A summary rounded up
the chapter. The next chapter will be focused on the methodology used in acquiring
research information.
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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


3.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter mainly focuses on the research design employed in this research paper. A
precise description and explanation of the research methods employed is to be done in
this chapter. This chapter is concerned with the methodology utilized to achieve the
aims of the research. This will be discussed in the remainder of this chapter. Firstly
the research paradigm and the case study methodology will be considered. An
explanation of how the interviews, observations and questionnaires were administered
will also be done. The researcher will also show how he has blended the different
methods such that they can complement each other`s weaknesses. The advantages
derived from applying each and every method will also be highlighted. Due to the
nature of the research questions, the researcher will use more of secondary data
sources in addition to the above mentioned methods.

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
Research design refers to the planning, formatting and the theoretical structure under
which the study can be carried out (Vierra, 1988). According to Creswell (2003)
research design is a formal plan of action for a research project which helps to lay out
the research questions, methodologies, implementation procedures and data collection
21

and analysis for the conduct of a research. Furthermore, Creswell (2003) maintains
that the type of design one chooses for a study has a major impact on the accuracy of
the results.


3.2 Descriptive research design

Shuttle worth (2008) defines descriptive research design as a scientific method which
involves observing and describing the behaviour of a subject without influencing it in
any way. The descriptive research method was used in this research; this research
method was regarded by Cohen and Manion (1989-90) as being concerned with
conditions or relationships that exists, practises that prevail, beliefs, point of view,
attitudes that are held and effects that are being felt .This design will include a case
study, questionnaires and interviews. Shuttle worth (2008) further argues that the
method is useful where it is not possible to test and measure a large number of a
sample needed for more quantitative types of experimentation.

The major advantage of the method is that subjects are observed in a completely
natural and unchanged natural environment. However, one major drawback of the
method is that it is difficult to replicate the study and review the results since
observation studies are not repeatable. Thus as much as the limitation is understood by
the researcher, this type of study is an invaluable scientific tool for this research.

3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The researcher mainly used two instruments to collect primary data that is
questionnaire and interviews.

3.3.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire is a form of qualitative research technique which is aimed at
exposing a single entity or phenomenon which is very difficult to expose when using
22

other research methods such as observation. The questionnaires were distributed to
sales representatives and customers. It comprises of series of questions that are
supposed to be completed in by the respondent.

Thomas and Nelson (2001) view a questionnaire as a useful tool in obtaining response
from a wide geographical area that may be used to ask for opinions and knowledge.
The simple reason for using questionnaires is attributed to the fact that it is simple to
administer and allows some time for the participant to complete at their own
convenient time thus allowing them more time to make informed decisions and to
participate without much pressure on their back. This research instrument was self
administered in line with the research questions and objectives.

Open-ended and closed questions were designed on the questionnaires in order to
maintain simplicity, collect as much information as possible and at the same time the
process of gathering comprehensive information is firmly under control. Casley and
Kumar (1988) argue that open ended questions allow respondents to give answers
using any language suitable to them, allowing them to speak their views. They
however argue that the questions create problems for quantitative analysis because of
array of respondents that can be obtained.

In order to allow codification of data and analysis of data the closed questions were
also used. Casey and Kumar (1988) state that, closed questions help respondents to
get clarification on the type of response sought making it easy to code and analyze
data. However such questions close the door on further probing.

The questionnaires comprised multiple choice questions, close ended, open ended,
structured and unstructured questions. The major strength of using questionnaires was
that meaningful and thoughtful data was acquired given that respondents were given
time to respond at the time convenient to them. The questionnaires also enabled the
researcher to cover a large portion of the sample in no time. This is because no time
was spent asking questions; it was just a matter of dropping and picking the
questionnaires.

23

One weakness encountered in the use of questionnaires is that some questions were
left unanswered. Another difficulty is that some respondents did not respond to the
questionnaire at all. However the challenges cited above can be minimised by offering
incentives to respondents and if some questions are not answered the researcher will
make probing questions during interviews on the subject which the respondent did not
respond to.


3.3.2 Interviews

Adequate and planned interviews to the sales representatives were carried out in order
to gain their suggestions, opinions and views on the subject in question. The
interviews augmented information from questionnaires. This had advantages of
further probing responses as well as in the identification of different aspects. The
major advantage of conducting interviews was that instant feedback was obtained and
this allowed the researcher to clarify issues and probe further so as to come up with
more detailed data. Also the personal interviews provided the researcher with the
opportunity to use non-verbal communication; hence a better understanding of
response was obtained.

The major drawback in carrying out the interviews was that it was time consuming
with arrangements being difficult to make and some scheduled interviews were
cancelled due to tight schedules on the part of the sales representatives. Further some
of the respondents could not give out all the information that they knew for
confidentiality purposes. To reduce this problem the researcher insisted maximum
level of privacy to whatever information the respondent was to issue out.

3.4 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF DATA
According to Cook and Campbell (1979) define validity as the best available
approximation to the truth or falsity of a given inference, proposition or conclusion
and in line with this Troachim (2006) writes that validity is the best available
approximation to the truth of a given conclusion. According to Best and Khan (1993)
24

validity refers to the degree which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific
concept that the researcher is attempting to measure. Maxwell (1996) agrees with
Khan (1993) when he suggested validity as the extent to which data collection
methods accurately measure what they were intended to measure. The questionnaire
method enables the respondents time to interpret the questions hence giving quality
data. Interviews also enable the researcher to complement usage of the questionnaire
method, thereby giving quality and accurate data.
To ensure validity a range of question types were used including open ended, probing
and closed questions. Further, the respondents were carefully selected to ensure they
are qualified to answer the questions. At the beginning of the interview, the purpose of
the study was presented to help the interviewee to gain better understanding. It was
also necessary to pilot test the questionnaire on respondents similar to intended
sample of the study so that the weaknesses of the questionnaire could be identified
and corrected.
Saunders et al (2003) argues that reliability is the degree to which data collection
methods will yield consistent findings, similar observations would be made or
conclusions reached by other researchers or there is transparency in how sense was
made out of raw data. Therefore, a reliable instrument should produce precise and
stable results and is increased when various questions are used to measure a variable
of interest.
To ensure reliability of the research existing theories were reviewed from different
authors and researchers. Further, based on literature review, concepts were carefully
defined and then the framework of reference was developed. Lastly, continuous
quality checks have been conducted by the researcher in consultation with the
supervisor.
3.5 POPULATION
Pratt et al (2007) defines population as the total number of elements available in the
undertaking of a study.Wegner (2001) defined population as the sum of all possible
observations of the random variable under study. The population in this study is the
totality of the customers and the marketing and sales personnel of AVM Africa which
sums up to three hundred.
25

3.6 SAMPLING
Sampling is defined as the process of selecting a subset of randomized number of
elements of the population of a study and collecting data about their attributes. A
sample is a subset of a population that represents the population (Pratt et al, 1992).
Information was obtained from the sales and marketing personnel who are in direct
conduct with the customers of AVM Africa. Random sampling technique was used in
selecting the sample units.
3.6.1 Sampling method
Non-probability sampling was employed and convenient sampling method was picked
and found to be suitable for the research.
3.6.2 Convenient Sampling
Convenience sampling is the non-probability method in which the interviewer will
decide the choice of sampling units based on their convenience. This method was used
because it enabled the researcher to choose sales or marketing personnel who were
readily with minimum effort.

The main advantage of this method is that it is cheap and not time consuming. This
method suits the researcher because she wanted a cheap and fast method due to
various constraints.

The major weakness of this method of sampling is that it is not a representative of the
whole population therefore the method may result in bias.
3.6.3 Sample size
Leedy (1997) and Croswell (1994) suggested that, it is generally encouraged that a
sample must be at least 10% of the entire population so as to have a better degree of
representation. A sample size of ten sales and marketing personnel and twenty
customers was used.

3.7 DATA TYPES
Primary and secondary data was employed to produce reasonable conclusions and
recommendations in the evaluation of advertising on organisational performance.
26



3.7.1 PRI MARY DATA
Primary data was gathered for the purpose of the research and obtained by a way of
questionnaires and personal interviews. The main sources of this data were sales and
marketing personnel of AVM Africa.
3.7.1.1 ADVANTAGES
The first merit for the use of primary data is its suitability for the purpose of the
research. Another weight associated with primary data is that it is current hence up to
date. In addition primary data has a great proximity to the truth
3.7.1.2 DISADVANTAGES
One drawback of primary data is that it is time consuming to gather. The other
downside is that primary data is expensive to collect. However, these challenges were
addressed by employing agents to assist in questionnaire and interview administration.
Donations and personal savings were used to pay those who assisted in questionnaire
administration.
3.8 SECONDARY DATA
Secondary data comprises information that is already available and has been collected
for other purposes other than the current research (problem at hand).Business
magazines, AVM financial report (monthly budget and monthly sales analysis) and
the internet was used to gather secondary data.
3.8.1 Advantages
Secondary data is cheap to collect. Secondary data is also easy and quick to collect
since the data gathering process does not involve travelling and booking
appointments.
3.8.2 Disadvantages
To a greater extent secondary data is irrelevant since it was initially collected for a
different purpose other than the current research. In addition the data is also not up to
date since most of the articles were written sometime back. This challenge will be
countered by the use of primary data which is up to date and specific to the current
study.
27

3.9 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS
The researcher used a combination of tables, pie charts and graphs to present the
findings on data presentation .The researcher inferred meaning to qualitative data that
was obtained by way of personal interviews and questionnaires as well as secondary
data.
Data analysis involves reducing accumulated data to a manageable size, looking at
patterns and applying statistical techniques. The researcher used thematic method of
analysis in analysing the data collected from open-ended questions. Themes like
ideas, values, hopes and concepts that were important to people in relation to a
particular issue were analysed to get relevant information. The data gathered from the
questionnaire was analyzed based on the objectives of the research and the research
questions to be answered. When analyzing data, the mass of data was organized and
meaningfully reconfigured.

Data reduction is a process of selecting, focusing, abstracting, and transforming data
needed to be condensed for the sake of manageability and intelligence in terms of
issues being addressed. Narrative interpretation of data was used to present data which
was collected. The methods used helped the researcher to interpolate data and thereby
making reliable inferences.

3.10 Conclusion

This chapter focused mainly on outlining and justifying the procedures that the
researcher followed in carrying out his comprehensive study. The chapter provided
the background on how the research was conducted. Administration of instruments
and sampling of respondents was given in detail. The instruments employed in the
study were analyzed and the concepts of validity and reliability of research
instruments were discussed in detail. It explained the data collection procedures in
terms of sampling the respondents, distribution and collection of questionnaires, the
strengths and weaknesses of research instruments as practical approaches to data
gathering. Lastly the chapter explained the data analysis and presentation procedure,
which is expected to add new dimensions to the body of knowledge on the topic of
interest in the next chapter.
28




CHAPTER IV


PRESANTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA



4.1 Introduction

Hitchcock and Hughes (1993) stated that data presentation and analysis might be
described as the attempt to organize, account for and provide explanations of data so
that some kind of sense maybe made of it. In this chapter data was presented using
tables, graphs and pie charts. The data analysis and presentation was done in relation
to the problem at hand, objectives, assumptions, and support literature. The data is
extensively analyzed thereby enabling the researcher to respond effectively to the
research objectives and make conclusions in the next chapter

4.2 RESPONSES FROM PARTICIPANTS

Table 2: Questionnaire respondents

Category Questionnaires sent Response Response rate %
Sales and
marketing officers
10 9 90
Customers

20 16 80

Source: Raw Data
29


The findings above from a questionnaire survey conducted show that there was a high
response rate to questionnaires with employees posting 90% of completed
questionnaires and customers completing and returning all their questionnaires thus
posting a 80%. The researcher made a follow up and also gave a time frame of at most
one week to the respondents before he followed up on those who could not complete
the questionnaire instantly or useful data for use in this research.


Table 3: Interview response rate

Scheduled Meetings Meetings Attended Response Rate %
20 10 50

Source: Raw Data

The table above shows the response rate to the interviews made by the researcher.
From the information above the researcher established that the subjects in this
research participated more in questionnaires than in interviews due to their busy
schedule. However, a 50% response rate, combined with the questionnaires 80%
response rate is sufficient enough to represent the population of the employees who
deal with the clients.

4.3 DATA PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANLYSIS

Table 4: What effect does advertising have on sales performance?

Quarter Advertising cost ($) Sales volume ($)
1
st
17 500 2 890 000
2
nd
19 000 3 330 000
3
rd
21 300 3 970 000
30

4
th
22 700 4 200 000

Source: Quarterly Statement of comprehensive income.

The table above shows data on quarterly advertising costs and their respective sales
volumes. The research data show a corresponding increase in sales volumes as a result
of increased advertising costs. For example, there was an increase in advertising
between the first and second quarters from $17 500 to $19 000 and that was matched
by a respective increase in the sales volume from $2 890 000 to $3 330 000. Despite
the fact that there are other factors contributing to increased sales volume, such a
corresponding increase in both figures cannot be put to the bin hence the strong belief
by this researcher that an increase in advertising had a positive impact on the sales
volume of their respective quarters. This is coinciding with (Frieder and
Subrahmanyam; 2005 Grullon, Kanatas, and Weston 2004; Joshi and Hanssens2007)
who suggests that firm`s advertising directly affect stock returns. This is in addition to
the indirect effect of advertising through increase in sales revenues and profits. This
was also supported by Roland S Vaile (1926) in his study; he found out that
increasing advertising was associated with increasing sales for each of the following
four years. In contrast, decreasing advertising was associated with decreasing sales for
each of the four years. Firms that did no advertising had steady sales, a better scenario
than that had positive but decreasing advertising over those years.
Fig 1 :Relationship between advertising and sales performance

Source: Primary Data
Relationship between advertising and
Sales Performance
95%
5%
Yes
No
KEY
31


As revealed by the doughnut above, the majority of respondents 95%( comprising of
sales representatives only) were of the opinion that advertising both print and
electronic and sales performance are positively correlated. The argument is that when
AVM Africa introduced an advertising system it has a corresponding effect on sales
performance as noted on figure 4.3.1. This has been highlighted that advertising create
demand and for the loyal customers it creates reinforcement to continue association
with AVM Africa.

5% of the respondents argued that advertising does not have any relationship with
sales performance unless if it was sales promotion like gifts and discount .The
respondents further argued that advertising overall has a direct relationship with
overall financial performance of AVM Africa. Abraham and Lodish; 1990 however
revealed a number of acceptable ways have been adopted for measuring sales
response to advertising. They also state that the increase in sales is a true measure of
advertising effectiveness. This is in line with the above analysis.

Below is a graphical comparison of two graphs, the first representing advertising costs
and the second one the sales volumes for the respective quarters.















32

Fig 2: Graphical presentation of advertisement Costs















Source: Company records

Fig 3: Graphical presentation of Sales Volume of the year

Source: Company financial statements
From the above graphs in the first quarter the advertising costs incurred were $16 000
generating cash flow of $2.89 million but in the second quarter they incurred $ 18 000
in advertising costs generating $3.33m cash inflow. Taking a closer look at the two
graphs, the researcher established a relationship between the two variables, that is, an
increase in advertising costs was positively related to a positive sales volume.
McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance also in research
$2,890,000.00
$3,330,000.00
$3,970,000.00
$4,200,000.00
1st quarter
2nd quarter
3rd quarter
4th quarter
16000
18000
20000
23000
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter
Advertising costs
33

concluded that those firms that do not reduce advertising costs end up yielding higher
sales volumes than those that reduce advertising costs.
However, to make certain that his belief hold water the researcher had to look at the
customers inductive motive or factor to doing business with AVM Africa. Such
information is presented below:

Table 5: Comparison of ad induced and other induced customers

Ad induced customers Other induced customers Total number of customers
12 8 20

Source: Raw Data

The table above has grouped the respondents on what induced them to do business
with the firm in question, that is, whether ad induced or other induced. The data shows
that 60% of the respondents had known of AVM Africa through adverts and decided
to do business with the company. Although Frankenberg and Graham (2003) cited
that improved advertising improves earnings, the researcher using the above table
noted that for there to be higher earnings its because of more customers who are
more of advertisement induced.













34

The pie chart below can shows how advertising impact on the sales of AVM Africa.
Fig 4 : Comparison of ad induced to other induced customers


Source: Raw Data

The chart above shows that the larger chunk of customers were resultant of
advertising hence the importance of advertising to the sales volume. It can be
established that of the subjects in this research from the customers side, 60%, of them
were pulled by advertising to AVM Africa. It is in this respect that the researcher can
conclude that advertising has a positive impact on the sales volume of a company.
Previous research by Mc Graw-Hill (1985), G J Tellis and K Tellis (2009) and T
Kamber 2002 provide very strong and robust support for the premise that increasing
advertising helps increasing sales thus advertising having a positive effect on the sales
volumes of manufacturing firms.
4.6 Advertising medium categories accessible by customers

There are two broad categories of advertising media that can be accessed by
customers namely print media and electronic media. The graph below shows these
categories as per the case of AVM Africa.





60%
40%
advertisement induced
other induced
35

Fig 5: Accessible advertising media for customers.


Source: raw data

From the above graph it can be noted that print media is widely known and accessed
by customers with 9 of the 16 having access to it more than electronic with only 4 or
even both represented by 3 only. Sales representatives at AVM Africa also
highlighted that print media is the most accessed one as shown above. This is in line
with Jacobs (2001) who suggested that these media consist of newspapers, magazines
and direct mail which seems to be now widespread nowadays hence accessible.










0
2
4
6
8
10
customers
sales reps
both
electronic
print
36

4.7 Advertising media appropriate to manufacturing firms?


Fig 6 :Analysis of advertising media that customers have access to

Source: Raw Data

The figures show that customers have a like for the print media with 63% of them
going for print, 25% for electronic and 12% for both types of media. Employees who
participated also voted for the print media as the most appropriate medium for
advertising. Of these 44% settled for the print media, 23% for electronic media and
33% for both thus cementing the fact that the most appropriate advertising medium is
the print media. This form of media is also supported by Jacobs (2001) who described
as an authentic medium for advertising. The findings of this concur with other
researches done by Frankenberg and Graham (2000), and R Vaile (1926), which
highlighted that print media, is the most appropriate medium for advertising in
developing countries

The reason behind choosing print media as the most appropriate was mainly the
economical side of it, the availability and accessibility, and the coverage of the
medium. Such reasons were attributable to both groups of respondents. Also the fact
that most part of the population do not subscribe to the local media, for example ZTV,
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
print media electronic both
customers
employees
37

due to many reasons that might range from lack of quality service to lack of signals in
some remote parts of the nation. However, they prefer international channels from
satellite dishes that makes it next to impossible to use electronic advertising in
Zimbabwe unless if the company is to advertise on the internet or the few big screens
that can be seen in the street. However after studying the behavior of the target
market, that is, the Zimbabweans, one can easily conclude that the greatest part of the
population has the newspapers and magazines as their primary source of information
and given that a single copy can be shared by many people makes it the best option as
its coverage and economy is acceptable to a developing population as the
Zimbabwean citizens.

However, with the fast advancement in the ICT, there has been a considerable amount
of respondents opting to use both arguing that companies would reap much more
results from advertising in terms of sales volumes. The argument was based on the
premise that most business buyers and consumers are moving towards E-commerce
hence the need to use both media so as to cater for the innovators and laggards of the
technological advancement and the unavailability of hardware and signal for one to be
technologically connected to the world.

Conclusively, the researcher has figured out that the most appropriate medium of the
time is the print media hence the need for the company to engage the print more
vigorously but there is also need for the companys marketing department to take note
of the real time market data, that is, their market intelligence should be on their toes to
be conscious of every change in the tastes and preference of their target market
pertaining to the type of media preferred and any other leads that might lead to the
change in their preference to a certain medium.






38

4.8 CONCLUSION

A close relationship exist between advertising and sales and it can be established that
in this research advertising has been found to be contributing much to the level of
sales volumes the company gets. Also it has been established that advertising is the
major attracter of customers to AVM Africa, that is, it has successfully done its role of
informing, attracting and reminding customers, both old and new, about the products
offered by AVM Africa and getting them to make the purchases that keep the
company afloat.

It has also been noted that the most famous and appropriate medium that makes
advertising effective in Zimbabwe is the print media through the use of newspapers,
general and trade magazines among other types of print media as also cited by Jacobs(
2001). Also of importance is for the marketing team to, know the preference of the
customers in terms of the medium that they regard as the best for them for it leads
them to use such type of media.

The next chapter will deal with the summary, conclusions and recommendations from
the findings found from the research and recommendations for further studies.















39





CHAPTER FIVE


CONCLUSION, SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS


5.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is concerned with the highlights of the study from the research findings
in chapter 4. The major findings are summarized and conclusions were made in
relation to the research questions, which were investigated. The researcher then
provides personal reflections on the process and highlights some of the challenges and
limitations encountered in the study. Finally the researcher provides a pathway for
future research and presents some policy recommendations on effectiveness of
advertising.

5.1 Summary

This study was set out to evaluate the impact of advertising on company performance
as measured by the sales performance of AVM Africa. A sample of 20 customers and
10 sales and marketing personnel was selected. Descriptive survey was used as a
methodology with interviews and questionnaires being used as research instruments.

The descriptive survey and the case study approach method were found to be most
appropriate for this study since it was capable of capturing the respondents
perception and opinions. The questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data
from a sample of thirty respondents made up of ten sales representatives and twenty
customers. The general response rate for questionnaires 85% and interviews was 50%
40

in which case 50% of interviews were not fulfilled and the effort to track them proved
fruitless.

5.3 Conclusion
From the research findings the researcher can conclude that:
Advertising is effective at AVM Africa as measured by the sales performance.
This is so in the sense that advertising from the study increased sales volume
of AVM Africa.
Most of AVM customers have got access to print media as compared to any
other advertising medium like electronic media.
An increase in advertising costs has a positive impact on the sales volume that
is a corresponding increase in sales volume.
AVM Africa as a manufacturing company has to indulge in advertising so as
to improve sales performance.


5.4 Recommendations
The writer recommends that AVM Africa must advertise so as to improve
sales performance
The form of advertising media should be more of print media as it is the most
accessed form of advertising media. Print media can be in the form of
newspapers and magazines. These two are easily accessible as they are cheap
and readily available. However a mix with electronic media can help in
catering for those who cannot access print media.
Despite incurring more expenses due to advertising, AVM Africa should bury
aside that fact as it is yielding more returns (Cash inflows) from those costs.
In addition, the researcher recommends the finance department at AVM
Africa to involve the marketing department during the budgeting process so
that realistic budgets and sales targets are set than to work as independent
separate departments.
41

5. 2 Suggestions for Future Studies
Further studies must focus on the ways of reducing advertising at the same time
increasing sales volume. Further to that, they should be analysis on the most
appropriate and effective instrument to use in print media as a way of advertising.
Most of the researches focused on retail industries but a research into the
manufacturing industries should be carried out so as to critically analyze the impact of
advertising on sales volume.


























42

REFERENCES

1. Babbie E (2004), Survey Research Methods, Wardworth publishing,
California.
2. Hally Turban, David Kind, Dennis Viehland (2006) Electronic commerce
Blackwell publishers Oxford
3. Hanssens A, Parsons H and Schultz C.L. (1990) Advertising Journal
4. Jacobs T.R Advertising, Branding and Marketing Study from Plunkett
Research, Ltd.,
5. Kellner R (1990) Advertising and Sales Promotion 1
st
Edition McGraw Hill
Inc
6. Kottler P (2002) Marketing Management 3
rd
Edition Tata Mcgraw -Hill
7. Mark E. Petley (2002) Strategic Advertising Management 4
th
Edition Prentice-
hall ,Low priced edition London UK
8. Ngandu (1997), Internet Business Services
9. P.Luo and R.Donthu (2001) Data Envelopment Analysis.Tata McGraw-Hill
10. Peter Doyle, Phillip Stern (2006) Marketing Management & Strategy 4
th

edition Prentice Hall
11. Raymond T (1970), Marketing Practitioner Journal
12. Saunders M. et al, (2003), Research methods for business students, 3
rd
Edition,
India: Pearson Education Limited.
13. Schiffman G, Kanuk L (1997), Consumer Behaviour, 6
th
Edition, Prentice Hall
14. Srinivanas and Hansens (2007) Survey of Advertising by Manufacturing
Companies
15. Sullivan and Abela (2007) Marketing Practitioner Journal
16. Wegner T (2000) Applied Business Statistics: Methods and Applications, Juta
Publishers, New York.

43

17. Yew,Keh and Ong (2005), Research methodology 2
nd
Edition, India :Pearson
Education Limited.































APPENDIX 1
44


Questionnaire For the sales representative

I am Paul Dakarai. I am a final year student at Bindura University and currently
studying towards a Bachelor of Business Studies (Marketing) degree. I am carrying
out a research on: An evaluation of the effectiveness of advertising: A Case of
AVM Africa.
Your assistance in filling the questionnaire is greatly appreciated. All information
collected shall be used purely for academic purposes only and will be treated with
maximum confidentiality.

I nstructions:
Kindly tick or fill in your response in the appropriate box or space provided to each
of the questions listed below:


(1.) Advertising media is classified into two broad categories namely print and
electronic. What advertising media do your customers have access to?

Print

Electronic

Both

None

(2) What form of advertising media do you think is recommended?

Print

Electronic

Both
45


None

(3) Can you classify the nature of customers that you have at AVM Africa: (please
tick the box below)

Corporate

Individuals

Others;Specify.
.

.

(4) In your opinion, what effect does advertising have on sales performance?
Positive negative no effect

(5) How many new clients do you attract in a month?

1-5

6-10


11-15

16-20

Other

(6) How many repeat sales do you have per month?


46

1-5

6-10

11-15

16-20
Other

(7) In your opinion is there any relationship between advertising and sales volume?

Yes No


(8) Which advertising media or medium do you recommend should be adopted by
AVM Africa in order to increase its sales performance?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!!!


47

APPENDIX 2

Questionnaire for the customer

I am Paul Dakarai. I am a final year student at Bindura University and currently
studying towards a Bachelor of Business Studies (Marketing) degree. I am carrying
out a research entitled: An evaluation of the effectiveness of advertising: A Case of
AVM Africa.
Your assistance in filling the questionnaire is greatly appreciated. All information
collected shall be used purely for academic purposes only and will be treated with
maximum confidentiality.

I nstructions:
Kindly tick or fill in your response in the appropriate box or space provided to each
of the questions listed below:

(1) Advertising media is classified into two broad categories namely print and
electronic. What advertising media do you have access to?

Print

Electronic

Both

None

(2) What form of advertising media do you recommend to be used by AVM Africa?

Print

Electronic

Both
48


None

(3) Is your buying behaviour on AVM`s products being influenced by advertising
Yes No

(4) If your above is no, explain why?

(5.) Would you recommend other customers to try products from AVM Africa?


Yes No

If your answer to the above no explain why

49

APPENDIX 3
Interview questions for the sales representatives

Respondents: sales representatives


Good day to you! Could you kindly assist me with some answers and comments to the
following questions on the An evaluation of the effectiveness of Advertising case
study of AVM Africa?

1. Which advertising media does your target market has access to?
2. How many customers do you attract in a month?
3. What is the relationship between advertising and sales performance?
4. Which advertising media/medium would you recommend for AVM Africa?
5. Are they any other factors which influence customers to purchase AVM products
besides advertising?
6. If the answer above is Yes,specify:
7. Would you advice the AVM management team to continue advertising in the
future?

Thank you!











50

Contents
APPROVAL FORM .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
RELEASE FORM .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
DEDICATION ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER I ................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background to the Study ...................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ..................................................................................... 2
1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................. 2
1. 4 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 2
1.5 Assumptions ......................................................................................................... 2
1. 6 Significance of the Study .................................................................................... 3
1.7 Limitation of the Study ........................................................................................ 3
1.8 Delimitation.......................................................................................................... 4
1.9. Definition of key terms ....................................................................................... 4
1.10 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II .................................................................................................................. 6
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 6
2.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 6
2.1 Advertising Defined ............................................................................................. 6
2.2 TYPES OF MEDIA USED IN ADVERTISING ................................................. 8
2.2.1 Print Media .................................................................................................... 9
2.2.1.1 Newspapers: ............................................................................................... 9
2.2.1.2 Magazines ................................................................................................ 10
2.3 Outdoor and Transit Media ................................................................................ 10
2.3.1 Outdoor Advertising.................................................................................... 10
2.3.2 Transport Advertising ................................................................................. 10
2.4 EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING ........................................................... 11
2.4.1 Evaluating the Effectiveness of Advertising: .............................................. 11
2.4.2Tracking ....................................................................................................... 12
2.4.3 Purchase Behaviour ..................................................................................... 13
2.4.4 Sales Performance ....................................................................................... 14
2.4.5 Expenditure ..................................................................................................... 16
2.5 ADVERTISING IN ZIMBABWE ..................................................................... 17
2.6 EMPERICAL EVIDENCE ................................................................................ 17
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2.7 Justification of the study .................................................................................... 19
2.8 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 19
CHAPTER III............................................................................................................... 20
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 20
3.0 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 20
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................... 20
3.2 Descriptive research design ................................................................................ 21
3.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS .......................................................................... 21
3.3.1 Questionnaire .............................................................................................. 21
3.3.2 Interviews .................................................................................................... 23
3.4 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF DATA ................................................... 23
3.5 POPULATION ................................................................................................... 24
3.6 SAMPLING ....................................................................................................... 25
3.6.1 Sampling method ........................................................................................ 25
3.6.2 Convenient Sampling .................................................................................. 25
3.6.3 Sample size .................................................................................................. 25
3.7 DATA TYPES ................................................................................................... 25
3.7.1 PRIMARY DATA .......................................................................................... 26
3.7.1.1 ADVANTAGES ...................................................................................... 26
3.7.1.2 DISADVANTAGES ................................................................................ 26
3.8 SECONDARY DATA ....................................................................................... 26
3.8.1 Advantages .................................................................................................. 26
3.8.2 Disadvantages ............................................................................................. 26
3.9 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS ........................................................................ 27
3.10 Conclusion........................................................................................................ 27
CHAPTER IV ............................................................................................................ 28
PRESANTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA ....................................................... 28
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 28
4.2 RESPONSES FROM PARTICIPANTS ............................................................ 28
4.3 DATA PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANLYSIS .................. 29
Fig 4.1 Relationship between advertising and sales performance ....................... 30
Fig 4.3 Graphical presentation of Sales Volume of the year ............................... 32
4.6 Advertising medium categories accessible by customers .................................. 34
4.7 Advertising media appropriate to manufacturing firms? ................................... 36
4.8 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 38
CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................... 39
CONCLUSION, SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................. 39
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5.0 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 39
5.1 Summary ............................................................................................................ 39
5.3 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 40
5.4 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 40
5. 2 Suggestions for Future Studies .......................................................................... 41
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 42