Topic

Impact of IMC (integrated marketing Communication) on

Consumer buying behavior

1. Why this topic:

As it is discuss in the introduction that the telecom industry/sector is one

of the fastest growing sector of Pakistan, in which the intensity of

competition is very high ( five major competitor). All the players are

following aggressive competitive advertisement and promotional

strategy. But still they are facing the challenge of retaining their

customer and developing long term customer relation (loyalty). So that

from this study we will measure the contribution and impact of the

integrated marketing communication (companies communication mix)

on the consumer buying behavior.

2. Introduction:

In the fastest growing telecom sector of Pakistan there are five main players in the field of

telecommunication sector and the level of competition is very intense due to this competition.

But still the sector experienced remarkable growth in the past ten years. To benefit from the high

growth rate the companies much not just sell the products but also have to retain and maintain its

customers.

As it is included with the marketing process, integrated marketing communication finds and

holds its position in every organization. “Integrated marketing communications is the process

which a company adopts in order to put together and coordinate its messages and media to

deliver, clear reinforce communication”. As it is clearly stated in the about definition of imc that

it is a process through which a company communicates its offering to the final customers and its

target market. Various marketing concepts discussed that Imc can significantly help the

organization to boosts its performance. In terms of Consumer buying behavior it is true that the

effective application of the integrated marketing communication can gain the consumers trust

and loyalty through providing them brand awareness and creating strong positive brand

association.

Integrated marketing communication also effect on the consumer buying behavior (how they

think about a particular product, what they purchase, how they purchase, when they purchase,

from where they purchase).

PURPOSE STATEMENT

How integrated marketing communication affect the consumer

buying behavior.

4. Objective of the study:

To study the relation between the Integrated marketing communication and the

consumer buying behavior of the consumers in the telecommunication sector of

Pakistan.

To study how IMC and the consumer buying behavior are correlated with each

other.

How can we increase the performance of a telecom company by using integrated

marketing communication?

What the factors that usually contributes to the buying perception and behavior of

the consumers?

5. Significance of the study:

          This study will be a significant endeavor in

This study will also be beneficial to the students and instructors in marketing

management and to understand the relationship between the integrated marketing

communication mix and consumer buying behavior, when they employ effective

learning in their classroom setting particularly in different concepts related to the

use of effective integrated marketing communication to generate a positive

consumer buying behavior. By understanding the needs of the students and

benefits of quality education, these instructors and students are assured of a

competitive advantage.

Moreover, this research will provide recommendations on how to use the

integrated marketing communication effectively for having a favorable consumer

behavior through developing brand awareness and positive and long term brand

association of the customer with the brand particularly in the telecom sector of

Pakistan.

Moreover, this study will be helpful to the telecom industry and business

practitioners in training and informing them in the area of integrated marketing

communication.

It will also serve as a future reference for researchers on the subject of integrated

marketing communication impact on the consumer buying behavior.

More importantly this research study will serve companies in telecommunication

sector of Pakistan to learn about the factor that usually contributes to the buying

perception and behavior of the consumers.

Interactive Graph

Interpretation:

As we see that the variable having no relation between them that’s why the graph shows a

constant line

Scatter plot

T-Test

Warnings

The One-Sample Test table is not produced.

One-Sample Statistics

N MeanStd.

DeviationStd. Error

Mean

age cat 0a,b . . .

occupation 0a,b . . .

a. t cannot be computed because the sum of caseweights is less than or equal 1.

b. t cannot be computed. There are no valid cases for this analysis because all caseweights are not positive.

Literature review:

The Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

            IMC is considered to be the major communications development of the last decade of the

twentieth century. Most organizations even proclaim it as the key competitive advantage of

marketing. The Integration of Communications, like anything else, attempts on combining,

integrating, and synergizing the different elements of the promotional mix. Its goal is for the

messages to look, sound, and feel alike to the consumers, despite the differences of the mixture

of mechanisms used in relaying the messages to its consumers.

            IMC emerged and grew as a result of different factors. First is the movement of the

marketing budget below the line, moving away from the mass media advertising. Second are the

media explosion and its accompanying fragmentation. Third factor is the demassification and

splintering of the market. Fourth is the emergence of the niche and unitary markets, as well as its

greater segmentation. The revolution in the information technology, which is still sweeping the

world, is the fifth factor. The sixth to eleventh factor are the following: (6) More development of,

easier access to, and usage of huge consumer databases that effectively underpin marketing

communication of all types; (7) The importance of reinforcing consumer loyalty thru relationship

marketing; (8) The importance of building and increasing a brand’s image based equity; (9) The

recognition of the brand as the primary driver of corporate success; (10) The development and

diffusion of digital technology; and lastly, (11) The spread of multinationalization and globalism,

supported by economic and political means.

            IMC was here, although the emphasis was on making it effective, rather on what it was.

In the year 1990s, a set of studies, most of which are with ad agencies, showed and proved that

IMC, in fact, is really effective. It increased the impact of communications, made the creative

ideas even more effective, and provided greater consistency on communication. In addition, it

also improved the client return on communication investment.

            Therefore, another definition for IMC is that it is a new approach to marketing

communications planning being driven by technology, customers, consumers, and by the

organizational desire of allocating its finite resources properly. IMC is still an emerging

discipline and integration. It is considered as the transition between the old historical product-

driven, outbound marketing systems versus the marketplace of the twenty-first century,

characterized as being the new information-driven, interactive consumer focused.           

The Seven Main Elements of Modern Promotion     

            The seven main elements of the modern promotion relates to the IMC concept. Each

element has to be consistently coordinated and juxtaposed thru the different medias, in order for

consumers to perceive the messages as one message. This is irrespective of the form or media

used. The only important element is for communication, via any or all of the promotional mix

elements, which then need to be integrated.

Advertising

            Advertising can be a powerful tool within the overall marketing communications mix. It

is a dynamic and constantly evolving sector, faced with numerous challenges brought about by

the new competitive world of technology. And due to this fact, new means of evaluation for its

relative value of contribution towards the overall effectiveness of its communication needs to be

found.

            There are many available techniques in assessing the effectiveness of the advertisement

on communicating its intended message, even before the ad is actually shown to the public. Pre-

testing is one, in which it identifies the effectiveness of a given advertisement, although it does

not guarantee its success in the marketplace. Adidas can implement this, as this is the most

common measure used by companies. It will further save the company through the avoidance of

huge spending on unproductive advertisements.

Sales Promotion

            Promotion campaigns can be evaluated through a number of methods and measurements.

First is the analysis of the sales data and information from the registered purchases. Comparisons

between the pre-promotion period, promotion period, and the post-promotion period can also be

conducted, as well as the evolutions in sales, market shares, trial, repeat purchases, increased

penetration on market, differences by region, etc. In addition, redemption rates can also be

calculated for the coupon campaign. Consumer surveys, on the other hand, is a way to test how

and to what extent does the consumer recalls, likes, and intends to benefit from the coupons,

extra volume, or premiums. It also measures how promotion campaign affects the brand image,

as well as the longer-term buying intentions and behavior of its consumer. Experiments can also

be designed to pre-test the variety of promotion schemes. This can be done thru variations of

incentive value, type of incentive, and the distribution and/or advertising media used in finding

the most effective among the different types of promotions. Lastly, a sales force feedback can be

utilized to give the manufacturer an idea about the impact of trade promotions. All of these

measures can be used by Adidas since they have enough budget for it, and it has a lot of

advantages on their part. The final choice regarding the combinations and the specific allotment

for each, now depends on the management‘s discretion.

Direct Marketing

            Direct marketing is one of the communication tools in which its effectiveness can be

easily measured. The purchasing trends, as well as the differences between the buying behavior

of customer segments and even individual customers, can be tracked in detail, using the database

information as its basis. And, if integrated with the information on timing and the measured

effects of marketing campaigns, it can answer a series of interesting questions. This includes

questions on the buyers’ purchasing frequency and the specific item he is inclined to buy the

most, as well as the budget allocated for that purchase. It can also answer questions regarding the

effects of their latest sales promotion campaign, as well as matters on customer base and the like.

            The number of responses in relation to the number of direct mails sent, or the number of

orders relative to the total response can be calculated within days or weeks after the campaign.

Similar thing can be done with the telemarketing campaign or direct response ad. Thru the

counting of the number of orders, calculation of their monetary value, and analysis of the

customers that placed an order, the assessment of the result of the mail order catalogue campaign

is made possible. Pre-tests can also be done prior to the execution of the campaign. One of which

is the list testing, where the mail is sent to a random sub-sample of the database that the marketer

intends to use. Another is the offer made, which is one of the key success factors in a direct

marketing campaign. In addition to this, the creative execution, as well as the copy of a mail or

direct response ad, can also be tested. There is also the need for the assessment of the optimal

frequency of direct marketing campaigns for various target groups. This is in response to the

problem against the loss of valuable opportunities.

Marketing Public Relations (MPR)

            Standard measurements such as recall, awareness, comprehension, or measurements on

attitudes can be used whenever proactive MPR is implemented. Take this as an example: after a

major MPR-originated news story has appeared, recall of the story and its key points (coupled

with correct brand identification) could be measured. After the running of the MPR activity,

measurements on the attitude changes towards an organization or a particular product, can now

proceed. However, similar to the advertising, there are certain time lags between the MPR

activity and the actual sales.

Sponsorship

            The effectiveness of sponsorship campaigns are the most difficult in terms of its

measurement. Despite that fact, there is still the need for its measurement. One way of measuring

its effectiveness is thru the exposure of the target groups relative to the sponsor’s brand. This can

be done by the registration of the frequency of the exposure of the sponsor’s brand to the

members of the target groups. Next is the measurement of the communication effects of the

campaign. The main goal here is to gather relative facts, like how many people are aware of the

brand before and after the event, and the like. Feedback of participating groups can also be

sought by interviewing the event participants. Lastly, examination of the development undergone

by the sales and market shares, is another way of the assessment of the sponsorship campaign’s

effectiveness.    

E-Communications

            One of the basic types of measurement for this is the asking for feedback at the website.

This can be done by leaving a contact e-mail address or insertion of a form specifically designed

for feedbacks. Second are to conduct online or offline surveys. Although more complicated

compared to the first, it can gather a lot of information about the customer, like his status,

attitudes, satisfactions, and intentions. This information can also be further use for optimization

of the website, in terms of information content, service, navigation characteristics, ease of

interaction and transaction, as well as the building of customer relationships. Log-file analysis is

also useful in terms of tracking and analyzing the behavior of the web surfers. Cookies, on the

other hand are used in analyzing website traffics. The effectiveness of online advertising and

sales promotion can also be measured thru the number of click-troughs generated, number of

interactions effectuated, or the redemption rates of e-coupons.

Relationship Marketing

            A Recency-Frequency-Monetary Value (RFM) model is used to measure the

effectiveness of relationship marketing. Three indicators are monitored for each customer, using

this approach. They are the time elapsed since the last purchase, the frequency of the placing of

orders by customers, and the average amount of money spent by a customer per purchase. For

each variable, a number of categories can be defined, as well as the target group, using past

experiences together with the response rates of different categories, as their basis.

http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/05/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-imc-

campaigns.html#ixzz1S3X0XWPP

Model:

Impact integrated Marketing communication on the Consumer buying behavior on telecommunication sector of Pakistan,.

Topic:

IMC program Consumer buying behavior

brand Association

Satisfaction

Brand Awareness

Questionnaire

Dear Participant,

This survey is aimed at analyzing impact of the IMC (integrated marketing communication) on the sales particularly in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan, other than this it is aimed to evaluate the quality and the effectiveness of the telecommunication sector companies IMC programs.

It would not take more than 05 minutes to fill out this survey. It is ensured that all the information provided in this survey will be kept confidential and anonymous and will be used only for our research project. Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated.

Thank you for your participation.

Name (Optional)__________________

1. Gender: Male Female

2. Age:

3. Respondent Category (user status):Heavy

user Medi

um user

Low user Non user

4. Occupation

5.

Organization/Institution: ________________________________________________

6. Your mobile service provider?

7.

How do you get Information about your service provider?AdvertisementFriends or family

Company’s source Concert or road shows Others (specify)

Less than 25 Years.

25 – 35 Years.

35 – 45 Years.

45 Years plus.

Businessman Salaried person

Student

Others(specify)________________________

Mobilink Zong Ufone Telenor Warid

Please rank your agreeableness with the following statements using the scale given below

Strongly disagree = 1 disagree = 2 neutral =3 Agree = 4 strongly agree =5

S.# Statement

IMC PROGRAM

1

S DA

2

DA

3

N

A

4

S A

5

DK

0

9. My service provider do advertising frequently

10.My service provider advertise through different mediums

11.Quality of advertisement of my service provider is excellent

12my service provider have a large sales team network that covers diverse target

13My service provider have diverse types of services

14Sales force of my service provider is highly skilled and have knowledge about everything

15my service provider give wide variety of packages to diverse target customers

16My service provider conduct different promotional activities

17 My service provider gives different incentives

18My service provider call frequently to bring me up to date

19My service provider uses Different mediums for direct marketing

20 Quality of marketing is good

21The quality of information I get from customer relation officer is good

Brand association: 1 2 3 4 5

22.the colors associated with my brands are eye catching

23.Slogans attached with the brand of my service provider are motivational

24. The brand name of your service provider is good

25. Jingle associated with your brand is soothing

26. Your brand’s advertising is good

Brand Awareness: 1 2 3 4 5

27. I am quite aware of my service provider

28. I am quite aware of my service provider’s service

29. I am quite aware of my brands’ advertisement

30. I am quite aware of my brand’s facilities

31. I am quite aware of my brand’s packages

Brand satisfaction: 1 2 3 4 5

32i am satisfied with the services of the service provider

33I am satisfied with the marketing of service provider

34I am satisfied with the company public relation of company

35 I am satisfied with the packages

Email:_________________________________________

Hypothesis

This study is about the measures used in monitoring the effectiveness of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) campaigns specific measures has been adopted to measure the impact of IMC on consumer buying behavior. The reasons behind the choice are also given, IMC is considered to be the major communications development of the last decade of the twentieth century. Most organizations even proclaim it as the key competitive advantage of marketing. The Integration of Communications, like anything else, attempts on combining, integrating, and synergizing the different elements of the promotional mix. Its goal is for the messages to look, sound, and feel alike to the consumers, despite the differences of the mixture of mechanisms used in relaying the messages to its consumers. IMC has a great role playing in the telecom sector of Pakistan. All the telecom companies making their self better by using IMC program. It is very helpful and it also have an impact on consumer buying behavior. IMC creates a Brand image for the company and give awareness’ to the public and that’s why the consumer buying behaviour is also chang

Conclusion:

In the fastest growing telecom sector of Pakistan there are five main

players in the field of telecommunication sector and the level of

competition is very intense due to this competition. But still the sector

experienced remarkable growth in the past ten years. To benefit from the

high growth rate the companies much not just sell the products but also

have to retain and maintain its customers. This study help us a lot to

understand the impact id IMC on consumer behavior.

References:

Books

Internet

Library

Web sites

http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/05/measuring-the-effectiveness-of-

imc-campaigns.html#ixzz1S3X0XWPP

Dedication:

"We humbly thank Allah Almighty, the Merciful and the Beneficent, who gave us health, thoughts and co-operative

people to enable us achieve this goal."

Acknowledgment:

“we should like to express the deepest thanks to our teacher Prof. Nadeem Iqal who not only help us in our project but also help us or our class fellows in every matter which relating to the study. He assigning us this project individually that has helped us, in learning the basic concepts of

ENTERPRENEURSHIP”.