INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Agriculture has been an important part of the Philippine economy for a

very long time. It has provided citizens of this developing country the raw material

it needs for us to be able to provide ourselves with our basic necessities such as

food, clothing and shelter. Specifically the agricultural sector has been the

backbone of this country to provide us with the most basic of our necessity which

is food. This business sector is instrumental in making us self-sufficient in our

food needs such as rice, corn, fish products, poultry and livestock products and

other raw materials needed in the production of processed food that we consume

daily.

With the agricultural sector continuously growing it has spawned the need

for agricultural marketing companies that provide our farmers whether in the rice,

corn, vegetables and fruits, poultry, livestock and fish producing sectors with

products that help them be able to produce higher quality and larger quantity

from the products they market. It has also given employment to many other

sectors of the community because of the opportunities these agricultural

marketing companies open up when they try to market their products to the

agricultural sector.

Isabela is one of the provinces in the Northern part of Luzon that is

dependent in the agricultural sectors production for the revenues it generates not

only for the government but also the communities that are within its boundaries.

Santiago City is considered to be the financial hub of this province and it is where
majority of the businesses within the province are opening their offices and

where they try to concentrate their investments and thus within area covered by

this City is where you can find almost anything you need for your business.

One of the many businesses that is very profitable in this part of Isabela

Province are agricultural marketing firms that provide farmers not only within

Santiago but also its neighboring towns and municipalities. Santiago City

continuous to grow with its opportunity for agricultural marketing firms.

Marketing strategies implemented by agricultural marketing firms within

the area could provide the sales agent of said firms approach easily their clients

and in effect be able to market their product in accordance with the financial

goals set forth for them. Being able to introduce not only the benefits it will give

their clients but also on how they are to provide discounts, special promos and

financing terms are dependent on the marketing strategy their company

implements. The sales performance of a company is dependent on how their

target market are knowledgeable on the products that they sell and also the

programs that the offer their client base whether it be on how products are

priced, the terms they offer new customers and also the promos that they give to

their regular customers.

In this regard therefore, this study aims to determine the different

marketing practices being implemented by agricultural marketing firms within the

City of Santiago and determine its effects on the sales performance of the

company.
 It is the primary concern of this study to be able to determine problems

that are encountered by the marketing department of agricultural marketing firms

on the different marketing strategies that they implement and its possible effects

on the sales performance of the company.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the “Contemporary Marketing Strategies of

agricultural marketing firms in Santiago City, Isabela” to know if the different

agricultural marketing firms in Santiago City are still using contemporary

marketing strategies and its possible effect on the sales performance of their

firms. .

Specifically, it seeks to answers the following questions:

1. What is the perception of the respondents in how marketing activities are

practiced by their firm in relation to:

a. Managerial intent

b. Managerial focus

c. Purpose of exchange

d. Type of contact

e. Duration of exchange

f. Managerial movement

g. Managerial level

h. Nature of Communication

i. Formality of Exchange

j. Overall Approach
 2. How would the agricultural firms rate themselves in relation to competitors

within the same industry and area?

a. After-tax return on total assets

b. After-tax return on total sales

c. Total sales growth

d. Overall customer satisfaction

e. Market share

f. Gain in market share

g. Overall company performance/success

h. Overall company’s competitive position

Significance of the Study

The study focuses on determining marketing strategies and its effect on

the performance of the different agricultural marketing firms in Santiago City,

Isabela.

The result of the study will then be beneficial to the following:

Management. This study would provide the different Agricultural

Marketing Firms additional knowledge on marketing strategies and show them its

effect on their financial performance. It would also give them more understanding

on how they would be able to improve their marketing strategies for them to be

able to handle better their primary customers.

Consumers. This study would ensure that the next time the sales force of

different agricultural marketing firms in Santiago City visits them about old and

new product they would be given proper treatment and also provided with better
buying options so that they will continue their loyalty to the marketing firm that

they are patronizing.

Researchers. This study will give the researchers a better understanding

on the different marketing strategy an establishment implements and this enable

them to use it after they graduate either thru businesses that they will put up or

when they work in a company with the same working environment.

For future researchers. This study can be used as a research material

for future studies that are of the same subject matter. It could also be used as a

baseline for data that they need to collect for their research.

Theoretical Background

Theoretical Framework

Owing to dramatic changes in the context of marketing – such as physical

distance, time, economy, deregulation, globalization, customer expectations, and

new information technology – the way in which marketing is practiced is

changing. Many of the factors that are causing changes in marketing practice,

the following represent some of the major examples:

 the increasing emphasis on services and service aspects of

products;

 the focus on financial accountability, loyalty and value

management;

 the transformation of organizations;

  the shifts in power and control within marketing systems; and

 the increased role of information technology-based interactivity

The “contemporary marketing practice” group is one among several

research groups that have sought to understand the nature of these changes in

the context and practice of marketing.

One of the findings is that organizations really increasingly are focusing on

attracting, developing and retaining business as relationship marketing called for.

This is in contract to transaction marketing that emphasizes attracting business,

but less so retaining business. The logic is that it can be up to ten times more

expensive to win a new business that to retain business, and that the cost of

bringing a new customers to the same level of profitability as a lost customer can

be sixteen times more.

Another finding is that managers are placing a greater emphasis on

managing their marketing relationships, networks, and interaction, both internally

with employees and externally with suppliers, customers and other important

markets.

Yet, a third finding has been that in many organizations there is a

pluralistic approach to marketing and how it is being practiced – with relationship

marketing being carried out in conjunction with transaction marketing. In an effort

to clarify and reconcile the various views of marketing, researchers developed a

classification scheme that builds upon content analysis of how European and

North American research centers have defined marketing in the literature.

 The Contingency Theory has been widely accepted in management

discipline since the early 60s. The theory emerged from the criticisms of

the classical theories that advocates “one best way” of organizing and

managing organizations. Contingency Theorists posit that there is no one

best way to organize different organizations working in different

industries and conditions. The appropriate management style and

organizational structure depend on the environmental context of the

organization concerned.

One of the most influential studies in the emergence of the

Contingency Theory is the work of Burns and Stalker (2009). They

investigated the relationship between internal management practices and

the external environment factors of 20 industrial organizations in the

United Kingdom to discover its effect on economic performance. They

found two different management practices in use, which they classified

as “Mechanistic” and “Organic” systems. The Mechanistic System was

appropriate for organizations that operated under stable conditions.

These organizations employed routine and well understood technology.

Tasks and duties of employees were clearly defined by heads of

departments. Communication within such organizations was designed

vertically and its content tended to be instructions from superiors.

The Organic System, on the other hand, was more suitable for

organizations that worked under an unstable, changing environment. The

system enabled the organizations concerned to adapt to environmental

changes. It did not pay much attention to rules and procedures. To cope

with the changes, the organizations used lateral communication, which

resembled consultation rather than vertical command; hence the span of

supervisory control was much wider than in the mechanistic model.

Burns and Stalker emphasized that each system is appropriate

under its own specific conditions. Neither system was superior to the

other under all situations.

Literature Review

Transaction marketing

Can be described as having an economic transaction focus. It is

categorized as a transactional exchange. The parties involved are the firm and

the buyers in the general market. The pattern of communication is firm “to”

market. The best way to describe the contact is arms-length and impersonal.

The relationship is discrete in terms of duration and formal. An active seller and

passive buyers describes the balance of power. Transaction Marketing involves

a firm attracting and satisfying potential buyers by managing the elements in the

marketing mix. This approach involves creating discrete economic transactions

that are generally treated in isolation, at arms-length, and in the context of a

formal, impersonal process. Following from this, buyers in the market are

passive in the communication relationship. The seller actively manages the

exchange, and manager’s communication “to” buyers in the mass market. At a

managerial level, managers focus on marketing a product/brand to an identified

group of customers. Marketing activities are usually relegated to customers.

Marketing activities are usually relegated to functional marketing areas, and

manager’s focus on developing internal capabilities related to the marketing mix.

Co-ordination with other functions in the firm is limited, and the planning horizon

for this type of marketing is generally short-term (Williamson, 2011).

Database marketing

Focuses on information and economic transaction. A firm and buyers in a

specific target market are the parties involved. The communication pattern is

firm “to” individual. The contact is personalized yet distant. The duration is both

discrete and over time. Although the relationship is formal, it is personalized via

the use of technology. The balance of power can be described as an active

seller and passive buyers. Database Marketing involves businesses using a

variety of information management tools or techniques to develop and manage

longer-term exchanges between the company and its targeted customers. In this

type of marketing, the focus is still on the market transaction, but now involves

both economic and informational exchange. A marketing specialist relies on

information technology to form a type of relationship, thus allowing firms to

compete in a manner different from mass marketing. More specifically, the intent

is to retain identified customers over time. Communication patterns are

generally driven and managed by the seller. Marketing is still “to” the customer

rather than “with” the customer. Exchanges are not close, and are both
facilitated and personalized with technology. They do not generally involve on-

going interpersonal communication and interaction between individuals. The

exchange is discrete, although they endure over time. Managerial investment for

Database Marketing is in the tool or technique, and supporting technology and

information. In this type of marketing, the managerial focus widens to include

both the product/brand and specifically targeted customers.

Database Marketing has proven to be an interesting practice. Although

initially considered a part of relational exchanges, Coviello, Brodie and Munro

(2007) have this marketing practice falling within the transactional exchange

paradigm. As an example, the “communication pattern’ dimension shows that

communication shifts from firms “to” markets/individuals in Transaction and

Database Marketing to individuals/firms “with” individuals/firms in Interaction and

Network Marketing. Similarly, the “duration” of exchange for both Database and

Transaction marketing is essentially discrete, and “managerial investment” is in

the form of internal marketing assets. As such, although the literature has

tended to treat Database marketing as a relationship building tool, this approach

to marketing seems to fit more appropriately within the conceptual realm of

transactional exchange rather than relational exchange. This classification of

marketing practice allows for an array of approaches to the market. At times the

approach in the buyer/seller exchange is more transactional and other times

more relational. It is important that there is a match in the exchange situation

(Seiler, 2010).
 Interaction marketing

There is an interactive relationship between a buyer and seller. The

individual buyers and sellers form a dyadic relationship. The communication

pattern can be described as individuals with individuals across organizations.

The duration of the relationship is continuous, ongoing and mutually adaptive.

This duration may be short or long term. There are both formal and informal

exchanges at both a business and social level. The balance of power between

the buyer and the seller can be described as mutually active and adaptive.

Another way to describe it is as interdependent and reciprocal. While Database

Marketing involves a certain type of relationship that is distant and personalized,

Interaction Marketing implies face to face interaction within relationships.

Marketing occurs at the individual level based on social processes and personal

interactions. Relationships are established between individuals, and can occur

in both a formal and informal manner, with the parties being mutually active and

adaptive. Interaction Marketing is truly “with” the customer in both a formal and

informal manner. Both parties are mutually active and adaptive. Interaction

Marketing is truly “with” the customer since both parties in the dyad invest

resources to develop a mutually beneficial and interpersonal relationship.

Interaction Marketing is not the responsibility of only the marketer, nor are those

that engage in Interaction Marketing necessarily in the position of seller. Rather,

this approach can involve a number of individuals across functions and levels in
the firm, and may encompass both buying and selling activities (Peppers &

Rogers, 2008).

Network Marketing

Can be described as the connected relationships between firms. There

are multiple parties involved. These include the seller, buyers and other firms

that have an impact (directly, or indirectly) on the relationship. Firms

communicate with firms involving individuals. The contact can range from

impersonal to interpersonal and distant to close. The relationship is continuous

and can be described as stable yet dynamic. This relationship can also be short

or long term. Network marketing can be formal and informal at both a business

and social level. In terms of the balance of power, all firms are active and

adaptive. Finally, the framework describes Network Marketing as occurring

across organizations, where firms commit resources to develop a position in a

network of relationships. This is generally accomplished through business and

social transactions overtime resulting from the development and maintenance of

individual, interaction-based relationships. Therefore, Network Marketing

encompasses relationships at both the individual and firm level. Because the

relationships are part of a larger network, there is much variety. They can range

from interpersonal to impersonal, have varying levels of power and dependence,

as well as degrees of communication.

This approach may be conducted at a general management level by

members of other functional areas in the organization performing marketing

duties, or from outside the organization. Relationships may be with customers,

distributors, suppliers, competitors, and so on (Copulsky & Wolf, 2009).

In Marketing scholarship, Transaction Cost Analysis and

Relationship Marketing are two separate paradigms. The determining

factors of relationalism in any exchange are social norms such as

solidarity, mutuality, flexibility and bilateral power. The focus is not simply

on the exchange, but on the process involved in maintaining the

relationship. He also states that exchanges are relational in nature and the

governance structures range along a continuum from discrete transactions

to highly relational exchanges. This is in contrast to the transaction cost

perspective of which examined how organizations are governed in order to

protect their self-interest by engaging in discrete transactions and through

vertical integration (El-Ausary & Bush, 2007).

Management’s ability to bring attention to a product and to differentiate it

in a favorable way from similar products goes a long way towards determining

that product’s revenues. Thus management needs to engage in positioning.

Positioning entails developing the image that the product projects in relation to

competitive products and to the firm’s other products for some products. The best

position is directly against the competition. This strategy is especially suitable for

a fir that already has a solid differential advantage or is trying to solidify that

advantage. For other products, head to head positioning is exactly what not to

do, especially when a competitor has a strong market position. One view is that
under dogs should try to be the opposite or at least much different than the

market leader. Certain producers are known for their high quality products and

high prices. Sometimes, a company’s positioning strategy entails associating its

product with a product class or attribute provide an exception. In their article, the

authors began by first performing a qualitative analysis by having the

respondents create case studies of their organizations. They examined the actual

practices and then created a classification of these practices to be used to

perform quantitative analysis. Although culture was a construct, the focus of the

article was a re-examination of the relational marketing construct and marketing

practices (Coviello, Brodie & Little 2007).

Ask a student of marketing, “What are the tools of the marketing

manager?” and the response that has been drilled into them is “the

marketing mix, or the 4 Ps.” But does this response aptly capture the

nature of the current business environment? Missing is the role and

importance of relationships in business-to-business, which has been well

recognized in the literature. Business markets are characterized by buyer-

seller interdependence (Burns, 2009 & Bush, 2007).

Daramola (2006) stated that “. . . building one-to-one relationships

with customers is the heart of business marketing.” (pp. 36) Relational

marketing is clearly used by businesses and contributes greatly to

business performance. However, a precise definition of relational

marketing is not clear in the literature and the term relationship marketing

is used to capture several differing themes or perspectives (El-Ausary,

2007). For example, in some streams of literature this term focuses on the

relationship of the business with their customers with the emphasis on

retention (Gary, Carpenter, Sherry, 2006 & Piercy, 2007). However, the

relationship with suppliers, partners, and other non-business entities are

not considered.

Another view of relationship marketing focuses on the use of

technology to acquire, maintain and manage customers (Saren, Tzokas

2008 & Schilit, 2010). As such, it can be considered as an elaborate form of

database marketing. Yet another perspective considers the relationship

more in terms of a cooperative between the buyer and the seller. The role

of the buyer is more involved and is more characteristic of a partner

because of his/her involvement in the development and design of the

products and services that are offered by the seller. The relationship in this

buyer-seller dyad is based on the relational characteristics of promises,

trust and personal interactions (Pels, Brodie, 2010 & Singh, Sirdeshmukh,

2010). The final perspective is an all-inclusive strategic view of relationship

marketing which includes databases: loyalty programs, customized

services, personalized relationships, strategic alliances (Siu, Kirby, 2009 &

Slater, Olson, Hult, 2006).

Relationship marketing offers a new paradigm for the field. An

understanding of contemporary marketing should include the concept of

relationships (Spencer, 2008; Stratis, Powers, 2011; Strong, 2005 & Tapp,

2011). Coviello et al. (2007) attempted to resolve this issue when they
examined a paradigm shift in marketing in terms of relationship marketing

by pooling a variety of research streams on relational marketing and

developing a classification scheme. Their research encompasses four

types of marketing practices: transactional marketing, database marketing,

interaction marketing, and network marketing. Transaction marketing

includes the management of the 4 Ps in order to attract and satisfy

customers. Database marketing involves the use of technology based tools

to target and retain customer. The key to database marketing success is in

managing data selection, data integrity, privacy issues, supplier relations,

and data analysis and application.

Fostering a market orientation is the single most important factor in

organizational readiness for database marketing (Tapp, 2011). Interaction

marketing examines the developing of interpersonal and individual buyer-

seller relationships. The network marketing focuses on the position of the

firm in a connected set of interfirm relationships. The hypothesis that these

authors proposed was that transactional and relational marketing are not

mutually exclusive; rather, they are parts of the same paradigm. Although

each of these constructs is clearly different, the basis of the framework

allows for marketing practice to be pluralistic, therefore the constructs are

not necessarily mutually exclusive. In other words, an organization that

practices transaction marketing could also practice other contemporary

marketing practice such as database, interaction, or network marketing.

They propose that the relative emphasis given to either one of these
perspectives differ under different market conditions or business

situations (Thomson, Deborah & Park, 2005).

An increasingly debated topic in the international literature is the

transferability of management and marketing theories and practices across

national borders and different cultures (Tosi, Slocum, 2010; Vorhies,

Morgan, 2008 & Wan, Hoskisson, 2013). The determining factor as to

whether the practices are successfully exported is the comparability of

cultural values between the nations. Enough observable and measurable

significant differences exist among nations that affect behaviors of

consumers and marketers in international marketing research (Witkowski,

2012). A central finding of international management has been that

practices differ in different environments. In the field of sociology, it is

presumed that national culture’s strong and enduring effect on values is

based on the social and cognitive development that occurs in early

childhood. This socialization serves as a framework for structuring the

perception the individuals in the society (Zauberman, 2013). National

culture is the foundation of employees’ understanding of their work, what

they expect from it, and how it is approached. As a consequence, when

management practices do not fit or are incongruent with the deeply held

values of the users of a management practice, there is likely to be

resistance that will diminish the benefits expected its implementation. On

the other hand, management practices that reinforce pre-existing values

are much more likely to be well received, used, and extensively

implemented. Several authors have established the importance of

congruency of values and practices (Zhonga, Nola, & Nicolas, 2009).

Researchers continue to examine the universality and/or applicability

of the management and organizational theories currently popular in the

United States (Wan & Hoskisson, 2013). The convergence theory contends

that managerial practices and theories are universal. In other words,

concepts that are true in one country should also be true in others. In many

countries, there is a heavy reliance on U.S. teaching materials, and

business practices seem to have legitimized this stance. The dominance of

American management theory led to the belief that “one size fits all”:

Effective U.S. management practices will be effective anywhere. This

view is now being replaced with the knowledge that managerial attitudes,

values, behaviors, and efficiency differ across national cultures. There is

no one best way to manage a business. Therefore, differences in national

cultures call for differences in practices.

In the literature, relationship marketing has many uses,

interpretations and

perspectives that its definition is vague. This is probably due to the

complex relationships that the term is attempting to describe. However, a

precise definition of relational marketing is not clear in the literature and

the term relationship marketing is the term used to capture several

differing themes or perspectives (Strong, 2005) For example, in some

streams of literature this term focuses on the relationships of the business

with their customer. The emphasis of the relationship is on retention.

However, the relationship with suppliers, partners, and other nonbusiness

entities are not considered. Another view of relationship marketing focuses

on use of technology to acquire, maintain and manage customers. In other

words, it can be considered an elaborate form of database marketing.

Another perspective considers the relationship more in terms of a

cooperative between the buyer and the seller. The role of the buyer is more

involved and is more characteristic of a partner due to their involvement in

the development and design of the products and services that are offered

by the seller. The relationship in this buyer seller dyad is based on the

relational characteristics of promises, trust and personal interactions

(Spencer, 2008). The final perspective is an all-inclusive strategic view of

relationship marketing which includes databases, loyalty programs,

customized services, personalized relationships, strategic alliances, etc.

This is not the only area in the realm of relationship marketing that has

several interpretations.

Another term with multiple meanings is network marketing. (Stratis &

Powers 2011) uses the term to describe vertical integration, while (Spencer,

2008) defined it as “the creation, utilization and maintenance of network (of

relationships between firms)” (pp. 165-191). The aforementioned terms are

often used interchangeably, which only adds to the confusion. In the

literature, relationship marketing and the interaction approach are used

interchangeably and network marketing is not clearly distinguished from

relationship or interaction marketing.

In the marketing literature transaction cost analysis and relationship

marketing are in two separate paradigms. According to (Slater, Olson &

Hult (2006), the determining factors of relationalism in any exchange are

social norms such as solidarity, mutuality, flexibility and bilateral power.

The focus is not simply on the exchange, but on the process involved in

maintaining the relationship. He also states that exchanges are relational in

nature and the governance structures range on a continuum from discrete

transactions to highly relational exchanges. This is in contrast to the

transaction cost perspective of (Schilit, 2010), which examines how

organizations are governed in order to protect their self-interest by

engaging in discrete transactions and through vertical integration.

Relationship marketing is of particular interest because companies

are placing value on establishing longer business relationships. Since

borders are being eliminated, companies realize that in addition to building

partnerships, the managing of a network of relationships should be a key

part of their strategic plan. There has been considerable discussion

amongst academics and managers as to whether or not the transactional

model of marketing is still relevant.

There are three perspectives on the issue of relationship marketing.

The first approach adds a relationship dimension to the traditional

marketing management approach. Piercy (2007) referred to as the

‘marketing mix-plus’ perspective. The next perspective suggests moving

away from transactional marketing to a new relational marketing paradigm.

Both academics and managers have had considerable discussion as to

whether or not the transactional approach is still relevant. The final view is

that transactions and relational exchanges exist at opposite ends of a

continuum.

The Contemporary Marketing Practices (CMP) group proposes a new

paradigm. The group recognizes the limitations of the three above

perspective because of their failure to recognize that the contemporary

business environment allows for more than one approach. The CMP group

stresses the importance of the role of environmental factors, the buyer and

seller’s perception of it, and the impact of the environmental factor on the

exchange. The focus of their studies is on the different ways marketing is

practiced in the contemporary environment. Their main argument is that

both transactional and relational marketing can be practiced together.

Hypothesis

There is no significant relationship between marketing strategies and their

performance.
 METHODS

Research Design

The descriptive survey research method has been chosen to determine

the contemporary marketing strategies of agricultural marketing firms in Santiago

city. It includes the respondent, research design, instrument, data gathering

procedure, and data analysis.

This study is a descriptive survey method that is consists of Quantitative

data. It describe the experience of the respondents in relation to the marketing

strategies implemented by their company. The variables describe what are their

beliefs and perception when it comes to the marketing strategies implemented by

their company and its effect on their performance. The other variables are the

demographic profile of the companies of the respondents including the goods or

services the firm markets, number of years in operation, number of employees,

annual income and average annual sales turnover in the last three years.

Study Site and Participants

The study will have participants directly from the agricultural marketing

firms operating within the city of Santiago who has an above capitalization of One

million peso (Php 1,000,000.00). All of these participants were selected through

purposive sampling. In order to conduct this sampling strategy, the researcher

defined the population first, listed down all the members of the population. From
these eleven (11) firms selected there are 168 employees who are currently

working in these companies.

Research Instrument

The questionnaire on the demographic (goods or services the firm

markets, number of years in operation, and number of employees), & perception

in marketing activities practiced by the firm. The first part of the company

discusses details in relation to the company profile, while the second part

discusses the perception of the respondents in the different marketing strategies

practiced by the company. The basis of this questionnaire is about Adeniyi

Adegbuyi Omotayo (2011). “Contemporary Marketing Strategies and

performance of agricultural marketing firms in South-West Nigeria” a study on the

marketing strategies implemented by Agricultural Marketing Firms in Nigeria and

its effect on their performance.

Data Gathering Procedures

The researchers gathered the data needed on the study through the

following procedures:

1. The researchers sought for the approval of the title from the Dean of the

College of Business Administration.

2. The researchers shall secure the consent of the respondents and will

distribute the questionnaire to them.

 3. When the respondents are already done answering, the researchers

collected and organized the questionnaires and tallied them.

4. All the data gathered will be tabulated, analyzed and interpreted.

Data Analysis

After the retrieval of the questionnaires, the data gathered were

organized and presented using tables. To analyze and interpret the data

gathered from the questionnaire used in the study, the following statistical

techniques were used to provide a better application of result. Namely frequency,

percent, weighted mean and ranking.

1. Frequency and Percentage. The percentage is used to determine the

quantitative relation to the whole response. The process of gathering the

percentage was dividing the frequency (sum of responses) by the total

number of responses. It is to be able to make a generalization on the

profile of the respondents on how they make up the population of the

study.

2. Weighted mean is used in analyzing the following qualitative analysis.

Likert’s scale

A five-point likert scale will be utilized to interpret the weighed mean base on

the scale given below.

SCALE RANGE INTERPRETATION

5 4.50 - 5.00 Strongly Agree

4 3.50 – 4.49 Agree

3 2.50 – 3.49 Undecided

2 1.50 – 2.49 Disagree

1 1.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree

 APPENDIX B

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

Part I. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Direction: Please fill up the following and kindly put a check (√) on the
appropriate space provided.

Profile of respondents
Name: (optional)_____________________________________________
Gender: [ ] Female [ ] Male
Age: Educational Attainment:
Position:
Number of years in the company:

Profile of Agricultural Marketing Firm

Goods/Services your firm offers:

Number of years in operation:

Number of employees:
Annual Income:
Average annual sales turnover in last three years:
Part II. Perception on Marketing Strategies practiced by Firm
Rate the item that corresponds to your answer with regards to your perception on
marketing strategies practiced by the firm. Use the following rating.

5 Strongly Agree
4 Agree
3 Undecided
2 Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

Managerial Intent 1 2 3 4 5
Attract new customers
Retain existing customers
Develop cooperative relationship with customers
Coordinate activities between firm, customers and other
parties

Managerial Focus 1 2 3 4 5
Product/service offering
Customer in market
Specific customers in market
Network of relationship between individual and organization in
wider marketing system

Purpose of Exchange 1 2 3 4 5
Generating profit or financial measures of performance
Acquiring customer information
Building long-term relationship with specific customer
Formatting strong relationship with a number of organizations
in market

Type of Contact 1 2 3 4 5
Interpersonal (No individual or personal contact)
Somewhat personalized (Direct mail)
Interpersonal (one-to-one interaction between people)

Duration of exchange 1 2 3 4 5
No future personalized contact with the firm
Some future personalized contact with the firm
One-to-one contact with the firm
Ongoing one-to-one personal contract with people in the firm
Managerial Movement 1 2 3 4 5
Product, promotion price and distribution activities
Technology to improve communication with customers
Establishing and building personal relationship with individual
customers
Developing firms network relationship with market

Managerial Level 1 2 3 4 5
Functional marketers (marketing manager, sales manager)
Specialist marketers (sales agent, major account manager)
Non-marketers who have responsibility for marketing
Managing director

Nature of Communication 1 2 3 4 5
Firm communicating to the mass market
Firm targeting a specifically identified segment or customer
Individuals at different levels in the firm interacting personally
with individual customers
Seminar managers networking with other managers from
different organizations in the firms target market

Formality of exchange 1 2 3 4 5
Formal or business level
Informal or social level
Both formal and informal level

Overall approach 1 2 3 4 5
Managing the marketing mix to attract and satisfy customers in
a broad market
Using technology based tools to target and retain customers in
a specific segment of the market
Developing personal interaction between employees and
individual customers
 Part II. Rating in relation to competitors

This section focuses on the performance of your company relative to

competitors within the same industry and operating in the same environment. To
the best of your knowledge, please circle the number or point that is the best
estimation of your firm’s performance in the industry in the recent past.

Lowest Lower Middle Next Top

20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
A After-tax return on total assets 1 2 3 4 5
B After-tax return on total sales 1 2 3 4 5
C Total sales growth 1 2 3 4 5
D Overall customer satisfaction 1 2 3 4 5
E Market share 1 2 3 4 5
F Gain in market share 1 2 3 4 5
G Overall company performance / success 1 2 3 4 5
H Overall company’s competitive position 1 2 3 4 5