Impact of Promotional Activities on Organizations Sales

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Table

List of Figures

Abbreviations

Executive Summary

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Context Information
1.2 Telecommunication service
1.3 Statement of the problem:
1.4 Objectives of the study:
1.5 Significance of the study:
1.6 Limitations of the study:
1.7 Organization of the study:
1.8 Introduction to Literature Review
1.9 Review of Theoretical Perspective
1.10 Conceptual Framework
1.10.1. Introduction to Promotion
1.10.2 Components of Promotional Activities
1.10.3 Roles of Promotional mix
1.10.4 Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix
1.11 Review of Journals and Articles:
1.12 Review of Thesis
1.13 Research Gap
1.14 Introduction to Research Methodology and Design
1.14.1 Research approach:
1.14.2 Research Design
1.14.3 Population and sample:
1.14.4 Data collection procedure:
1.14.5 Method/Tools of data analysis:

CHAPTER II
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Company Profiles
2.2.1 A Brief Introduction to Telecommunication Sector in Nepal
2.2.2 Major telecommunication providers in Nepal:
2.2.3 Companies Performance
2.3 Respondent Profile
2.3.1 Gender
2.3.2 Age
2.3.3 Education level
2.3.4 Occupation
2.3.5 Classification of Respondent on the Basis of Preferred Service Provider
2.4 Assessing the Prevailing Promotional Activities
2.4.1 Source of Information
2.4.2 Impact of Promotional Activities
2.4.3 Reason for Preference
2.4.4 Source of Information for New Product
2.5 Compare the Promotional Strategies
2.5.1 Comparison of Promotional Activities
2.5.2 Comparison of effectiveness of Promotional Activities
2.5.3 Attractiveness of Promotion
2.5.4 Evaluation of Promotions
2.5.5 Consumer using more Products
2.5.6 Reliability
2.6 Analysis of Data
2.6.1 Analysis of Revenue Generated By NTC and Ncell:
2.6.2 Analysis of Market Share of NTC and Ncell in Voice Call
2.6.3 Analysis of Market Share of NTC and Ncell in Internet
2.6.4. Analysis of advertisement expenses done by NTC and Ncell
2.6.5 Analysis of Impact of Promotional Activities on the Purchase Decision
2.6.6 Analysis of Comparison of Promotional Activities
2.6.7 Analysis of Attractiveness of Promotion
2.6.8 Analysis for Evaluation of Promotional Activities
2.7 Findings and discussion
2.7.1 Findings
2.7.2 Discussion:

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION AND ACTION IMPLICATIONS
3.1 Conclusion
3.2 Action Implications
3.2.1 Practical Implications
3.2.2 Research Implications

REFERENCES

ANNEXES

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1.1: AIDA and Promotional Mix

Table 2.1: Major services offered by NTC

Table 2.2: The major services offered by Ncell

Table 2.2.3.1: Income of NTC and Ncell

Table 2.2.3.2: Market Share of Voice Call

Table 2.2.3.3: Market share of Data/ Internet

Table 2.2.3.4: Advertisement expenses

Table 2.3.1: Gender Classification

Table 2.3.2: Age Classification

Table 2.3.3: Education Level

Table 2.3.4: Occupation

Table 2.3.5: Classification of Respondents on the Basis of Service Providers.

Table 2.4.1: Source of Information

Table 2.4.2: Impact of Promotional Activities

Table 2.4.3: Reason for Preference

Table 2.4.4: Source of Information for New Products

Table 2.5.1: Comparison of Promotional Activities.

Table 2.5.2.a: NTC

Table 2.5.2.b: Ncell

Table 2.5.3: Attractiveness of Promotion

Table 2.5.4.a: NTC

Table.2.5.4.b: Ncell

Table 2.5.5: Consumer using more Products

Table.2.5.6: Reliable

Table 2.6.1: Mean and CV of Revenue Generated

Table 2.6.2: Mean of Market Share of Voice Call

Table 2.6.3: Mean of Market Share in Internet

Table 2.6.4: Mean of Advertisement Expenses

Table 2.6.5: Impact of Promotional Activities..

Table 2.6.6: Mean to Compare Promotional Activities

Table 2.6.7: Mean for Attractiveness of Promotion

Table.2.6.8: Mean for Evaluation of Promotional Activities

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: AIDA Model

Figure 1.2: AIDA model and Promotional Mix

Figure 1.3: Components of Promotional Activities

Figure 2.2.3.1: Income of NTC and Ncell

Figure 2.2.3.2: Market Share of Voice call of NTC and Ncell

Figure 2.2.3.3: Market Share of Internet

Figure 2.2.3.4. Advertisement Expenses of NTC and Ncell

Figure 2.3.1: Gender Classification

Figure 2.3.2: Age Classification

Figure 2.3.3: Education Level

Figure 2.3.4: Occupation

Figure 2.3.5: Classification of Respondents on the basis of Preferred Service Providers

Figure 2.4.1: Source of Information

Figure 2.4.2: Impacts of Promotional Activities

Figure 2.4.3: Reason for Preference

Figure 2.4.4: Source of Information for New Products

Figure 2.5.1: Comparison of Promotional Activities

Figure 2.5.2.a: NTC

Figure 2.5.2.b: Ncell

Figure 2.5.3: Attractiveness of Promotion

Figure 2.5.4.a: NTC

Figure 2.5.4.b: Ncell

Figure 2.5.5: Consumer Using More Products

Figure 2.5.6: Reliable

ABBREVIATIONS

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Executive Summary

Promotions are very significant elements of marketing activities. All over the world, the large multinational corporations to medium and even small firms recognize that there is no best alternative than promotion to communicate with consumers and motivate them to purchase their products or services. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of promotional activities of NTC and Ncell. Promotion is a comprehensive terms, and covers the entire gamut of advertising, publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. In the present competitive world if any business organization has to survive it needs to keep an eye on various forces operating in the market. More over competitors constantly try to win over others. In this scenario, every business organization needs to monitor the changes taking place in the market so that they are not caught by competitors.

The purpose of this research study is to determine the impact of promotional activities on the company sales. The research will be limited to NTC and NCell. After initial exploratory research to ascertain current promotional activities employed, a survey questionnaire was created to determine consumer demographic data, consumption behavior, attitudes towards promotions, and the effects of promotional activities on consumer purchasing behavior which creates impact on the company’s sales. The data is collected on a primary and secondary basis. The secondary data are collected from websites, visiting the Nepal Telecom Office and Ncell office. And the primary data are collected from the user of NTC and Ncell products. The first version of questionnaire was given to 10 students of Modern Nepal College randomly. And the questionnaire was updated as per the respondents’ suggestions and to decrease the likelihood of errors. Sample data was the collected and then the collected data was analyzed using statistical tools. The result were then reviewed to determine the impact of promotional activities on the company sales, the effectiveness of promotional activities, attractiveness of promotional activities

The findings of this research study show that the promotional activities of Ncell are better than NTC. In comparison to NTC, Ncell has allocated large sum of money for promotional activities. Mostly the consumer are aware of the product form And because of various range of products are services offered by NTC it is more preferred by the customers. The main consumer of these products are students and the source of information to them are existing users (word of mouth), advertising. NTC price cut strategies are mostly liked by the consumer an Ncell’s bonus schemes are preferred by the Ncell users. The findings also indicate that promotional activities make an impact on consumer purchasing behavior causing impact on company’s sale

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Context Information

Promotion is defined by Merriam Webster as “the furtherance of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising, publicity, or discounting” (Merriam-Webster OnLine, internet, 2010). Today, promotion has evolved to encompass the “coordination of all promotional activities (media advertising, direct mail, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, packaging, store displays, website design, and personnel) to produce a unified, customer-focused message” (Ferrell & Hartline, 2008, p. 282). Because promotions are one of the most noticed of marketing activities, promotions can greatly impact any company's market share and sustainability. It is therefore imperative to understand which promotions consumers prefer and the effect of promotions on customers and customer behavior.

Most business organizations operate in a complex and competitive environment where demands are constantly changing. To confront this challenge, management of business organizations has had to increase the levels of resources with attention focused on attracting and retaining customers. This situation has prompted the marketing concept that Kotler (1988) describes as the determination and subsequent satisfaction of customer needs and wants more efficiently and effectively than one’s competitors. In this era of intense competition, especially within the telecommunication sector, the criterion for measuring success would much depend, on creating awareness, persuasion and informing customers of the existence of offerings. This has however resulted in several marketing communications tools being employed by marketers to help them succeed in this game of competition. Telecom organizations are managing their marketing communications activities in an integrated manner, with the coordination of message, media and timing, developed in support of the overall organizational objectives.

The most essential aspect of any business is selling their brand(s) since sales sustain any business’ existence. Selling, as a marketing function, involves promoting the product. This entails the use of personal selling, and advertising, including other direct mass-selling methods. Perhaps, this is the most visible aspect of marketing. Invariably, sales must necessarily begin with some form of awareness creation. However to build sales, promotion must be seen or heard by potential buyers and cause them to react to the information in some way desired by the marketer.

The core purpose of this research paper is to study the impact of different sales promotion tools on company’s sales. Hence, the Research on promotional tools is certainly vital to recognize the most influencing tools to compete with its competitors. The purpose of research is to study closely the fondness of customers on a variety of promotional tools.

1.2 Telecommunication service

A service provided by a telecommunication provider or a specified set of user-information transfer capabilities provided to a group of users by a telecommunications system is called Telecommunications service. The telecommunications service provider has the responsibility for the acceptance, transmission and delivery of the message and the telecommunications service user is responsible for the information content of the message.

Telecom services now include fixed-network services (data retail, Internet retail, voice retail and wholesale) and mobile services. Fixed-data services include all dedicated/private line, packet and circuit-switched access services (for example frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, IP, Integrated Service Digital Network, DSL, MMDS, and satellite).No differentiation is made between the type of traffic or application carried by these services. All types of transmissions non-voice data, image, video, fax, interactive services and even voice can be carried by these services regardless of whether the source format is analog or digital. All revenue reflects service provider annualized retail revenue paid for by the business and residential end user of the service; no wholesale or carrier-to-carrier revenue is included.

Fixed-voice services is another service that reflects retail voice service revenue for all services that are sold as such to end users and includes the provision of local and long-distance services related to voice (calling charges, line rental/subscription and connection fees are included in this category), enhanced voice services, data and fax transmission over the circuit-switched PSTN, and retail voice over IP revenue- paid for by the business and residential end user of the service; no wholesale or carrier/to/carrier revenue is included.

Mobile telecom services generate income from mobile telephone calls and mobile data usages (SMS and mobile data access) from all mobile operators in that regional market. Income from mobile telephone calling charges, mobile data access, SMS charges, line rental/subscription and connection fees are included in this category. Wholesale/carrier services are not included as a component of business IT spending. Wholesale/carrier services reflect carrier revenue from carrier-to-carrier service transactions. Telecommunications services are a global market worth over US$ 1.5 trillion in revenue. Mobile services account for roughly 40 per cent of this, while mobile subscribers worldwide currently outnumber the use of fixed telephone lines by more than two to one. Over the past decade, the market has witnessed far-reaching changes, with the introduction of competition into a sector that was once principally a monopoly. There are large numbers of the players providing the telecommunication services in recent days.

1.3 Statement of the problem:

Promotional activities are rarely the concern of most of the business organization in Nepal. They believe the investments on promotional activities are the waste of resources and waste of time. Predominantly, the focus of this study is to identify the promotional strategies adopted by leading telecommunication business like NTC and Ncell and its impact on the company’s sales and to make comparison of their strategies that is how they compete with each other in terms of making promotion strategies.

Some of the research problems that the researcher found are as follows:

- What are the promotion strategies of the two leading telecommunication companies?
- Which of these (NTC or Ncell) are more efficient in promotion and Why?
- What are the key factors that are considered on designing their promotions strategies or campaign?
- How does promotion impact the sales, especially in the case of marketing of telecom services?
- How much budgets are allocated by these companies and how are they utilizing it?

1.4 Objectives of the study:

Since the promotional activities are not much performed by the business organization, this study is conducted to determine what are the promotional strategies adopted by the telecommunication business (NTC, Ncell) to attract the customers, how they increase the demand of their products, how they present the information to their customers, which of them are more efficient in promotion and how and why they are making promotional strategies to increase their company sales.

The specific objectives of the study are listed below:

- To compare the promotional strategies of NTC and Ncell.
- To examine the effects of promotion strategy on company’s sales.
- To assess the prevailing promotional activities of NTC and Ncell.
- To identify the relevant measures for improving promotional activities of NTC and Ncell.

1.5 Significance of the study:

The ongoing research project allows the researcher to go through various literatures relevant to impact of promotional activities on sales in service industry aspect and thus enhances researcher knowledge with respect to this important field of Nepalese service industry. This study will be beneficial to the present researcher to have knowledge about the prevailing practices of service advertisement in Nepal Telecom. The ongoing research enhances and sharpens the skill of the researcher as he/she will be directly involved in survey activities in order to collect relevant information to support the research project.

- For organization this research helps to find sales promotion techniques to be adopted at a given time that affect the company’s sales volume and also to look at the effect of sales promotion on organizational performance.
- For marketer and retailers, they could well plan their resources to get the highest profit.
- For marketers and retailers, they will be able to know the consumer buying behavior, so that they can make use of the right and the most successful promotion techniques to catch the attention of the customer.

1.6 Limitations of the study:

The limitations of the study are listed below:

- The study is based on the secondary data and the data analyzed and evaluated of the last five years period only.
- The study is based on the primary data also but the respondent chosen are limited and random.
- There are lots of companies doing promotional activities but the study is limited to the comparative study of NTC and Ncell
- Statistical tools and techniques are only used.

1.7 Organization of the study:

This academic report is organized in five chapters.

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter includes the background of study, statement of problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study and limitations of the study.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

This chapter reviews the existing literature on the concept of promotional activities, company sales and their relations. And it also contains the review of some journals, articles and thesis.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

This chapter contains the techniques and methods of the study applied in the research process. It includes research design, research approach, source of data, population and samples, data collection procedures and processing, tools and methods of analysis.

Chapter 4: Data Presentation and Analysis

This chapter consist the information about the collected data. Here the collected data are presented, analyzed, interpreted with using statistical tools. It also includes organization profile, respondent profiles, findings and discussion.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Action Implications

In this chapter the conclusion of study is made with noting practical implications resulting from the discussion of the topic.

And at the end of the study, Bibliography and Appendices are incorporated.

1.8 Introduction to Literature Review

The literature review is a summary of previous research on a topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research or interest. Within the review the author provides a description, summary and critical evaluation of each source, i.e. the strengths and weaknesses. The literature review may also identify gaps or controversies in the literature and topics needing further research

This chapter deals with the review of literature related to the area of the present research. The main purpose of performing the review of literature was to supplement the level of knowledge of the present researcher in the area of Promotional activities with reference to telecom industry of Nepal. For this, the chapter as a whole has been developed into various section. The first section of the chapter presents with the review of related conceptual perspectives.

1.9 Review of Theoretical Perspective

Since the research is more concerned on the impact of promotional activities on company’s sales, the works by a number of scholars are explored to make it more relevant theoretically and conceptually. In this respect, the work of Kotler and Armstrong (2008), Wells, Burnett, William James, Myers and Aaker, and Arens (2009) are used as the guiding foundation for learning about the effectiveness of promotional activities and sales as the key thematic construct to be considered for this research.

In this study, the first and foremost concern is to understand about various promotional strategies, sales, effect of promotional strategy on company’s sales in context of telecom industry in Nepal In this respect, it is quite relevant to acknowledge the works of various scholars for their conceptual insights.

Promotion is one of the strongest tools to boost up company’s sales. Promotion is the marketing term used to describe all marketing communications activities and includes personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, trade fairs and exhibitions, advertising and sponsorship. Promotion needs to be precisely coordinated and integrated into the businesses global communications message, and this is called Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). IMC integrates the message through the available channels to deliver a consistent and clear message about your company’s brands, products and services. Any movement away from the single message confuses the consumer and undermines the brand.

The most essential aspect of any business is selling their brand(s) since sales sustain any business’ existence. Selling, as a marketing function, involves promoting the product. This entails the use of personal selling, and advertising, including other direct mass-selling methods. Perhaps, this is the most visible aspect of marketing. Invariably, sales must necessarily begin with some form of awareness creation. However to build sales, promotion must be seen or heard by potential buyers and cause them to react to the information in some way desired by the marketer.

In order to elicit this desired action, the message is presented according to a simple "master formula" (model) which is: Attract the "attention" of your prospect; "Interest" your prospect in the product; cause your prospect to "desire" the product, and demand "action" from the prospect. This is known as the AIDA concept, one of the numerous models adopted by marketing practitioners.

Figure 1 .1

AIDA Model

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1.2

AIDA model and Promotional Mix

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Getting prospect’s attention is the first task for company to make sales. If the promotional activities such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling etc. does not gain attention, it does not matter how many people see or hear, it would yield no positive impact on the business. However, many attention-getting devices such as a large headline, computer animations, news or shocking statements, attractive models, babies, animals, special effects are now available. In short, anything different or eye catching may do the trick. Indeed, catching and holding the interest of the prospect is much more difficult than could be imagined.

To sustain interest, every communication needs to speak the target audience’s language. In addition, every communication must also provide evidence to convince the customer that a particular brand is the best choice

Churchill Jr. & Peter (1998) maintain that arousing the prospect’s desire to buy a particular product is one of marketer’s most difficult tasks. A company, for instance, must convince customers that the product can meet their needs.

Getting the prospect’s action is the final requirement and definitely not an easy task. Prospective customers must be led beyond considering how the product might fit into their lives but to actually trying it or allowing for product demonstration. Arens (1999) emphasizes that appealing to important needs can get more action and provide the kind of information buyers need to confirm their decisions. In a general sense, to obtain optimum results from promotions, the activities must highlight strongly felt customer needs that can only be uncovered through careful research.

Above the line (ATL), below the line (BTL) and through the line (TTL), in organizational business and marketing communications, or different strategies companies use to sell their products.

In a nutshell, while ATL communications use media that are broadcast and published to mass audiences, BTL communications use media that are more niches focused. While both ATL and BTL communications can be used to either build brand awareness or drive sales through specific offers (promotions), it is BTL communication that gives the marketer the ability to tailor their messaging in a more personal manner to the audience. ATL promotions are also difficult to measure well, while BTL promotions are highly measurable, giving marketers’ valuable insights into their return-on-investment. These insights can then be used to inform the next BTL communication to the audience and tailor the messaging based on the feedback received.

“Through the line" refers to the strategy involving both above and below the line communications. This strategic approach allows brands to engage with a customer at multiple points (for example, the customer will see the television commercial, hear the radio advert and be handed a flyer on the street corner). This enables an integrated communications approach where consistent messaging across multiple media creates a customer perception. ( https://www.feedough.com/atl-btl-ttl-marketing/)

Above the line Promotion

ATL is a type of promotion through television, cinema, radio, print, and Out-of-home to promote brands or convey a specific offer. This type of communication is conventional in its nature and is considered impersonal to customers. It differs from BTL advertising, which uses unconventional brand-building and promotional strategies, such as direct mail, sales promotions, flyers, point-of-sale, telemarketing and printed media (for example brochures) – and usually involves no motion graphics. It is much more effective than when the target group is very large and difficult to define.

The term comes from top business managers and involves the way in which Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s biggest advertising clients, was charged for its media in the 1950s and 1960s. Agencies made commission from booking media (Television, cinema, radio, press, out-of-home and magazines). As below the line had no media involvement there was no commission to be made for the advertising agencies. The accountants thus labeled the different media ATL and BTL depending on where it would sit in the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts (ATL where they made a profit and BTL where they did not) Since then, models have changed and clients are no longer charged for their media in that way.

The line

ATL means mass media. However the media landscape has shifted so dramatically that advertisers have reconsidered their definition of mass media.

For some marketers the "line" divides the realm of "Awareness or Attention focused marketing" and that of "Interest + Desire focused marketing". Since audience numbers in the Interest and Desire phase of the AIDA sales model narrow down to a fraction of the Awareness audience, the line could be drawn right below the awareness set of activities.

It could also be argued this is a reverse definition, i.e. the Line came before the above definition did. The Line more likely refers to the profit line of the agency, with above the line activities being more profitable (or at least profitable) for advertising agencies, and below the line activities of little value to agencies since they didn't involve large budgets and hefty kickbacks from media buying houses.

Below the line promotion

BTL promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having short duration. It is efficient and cost-effective for targeting a limited and specific group. It uses less conventional methods than the usual ATL channels of advertising, typically focusing on direct means of communication, most commonly direct mail and e-mail, often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates. BTL service may include those for which a fee is agreed upon and charged up front.

BTL is a common technique used for "touch and feel" products (consumer items where the customer will rely on immediate information rather than previously researched items). BTL techniques ensure recall of the brand while at the same time highlighting the features of the product.

Another BTL technique involves sales personnel deployed at retail stores near targeted products. This technique may be used to generate trials of newly launched products. It helps marketers establish one-to-one relationship with consumers while mass promotions, by definition, make it difficult to gauge consumer-response, except at the time of sales. Examples include tele-marketing, road shows, promotions, in-shop and shop-front activities, display units.

The terms "below the line" promotion or communications, refers to forms of non-media communication. Below the line promotions are becoming increasingly important within the communications mix of many companies, not only those involved in FMCG products, but also for industrial goods. Below the line sales promotions are short-term incentives, largely aimed at consumers. With the increasing pressure on the marketing team to achieve communication objectives more efficiently in a limited budget, there has been a need to find out more effective and cost efficient ways to communicate with the target markets. This has led to a shift from the regular media based advertising. In other words, below-the-line sales promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having only a short term or temporary duration.

Below the Line uses less conventional methods than the usual specific channels of advertising to promote products, services, etc. than Above the Line strategies. These may include activities such as direct mail, public relations and sales promotions for which a fee is agreed upon and charged up front. Below the line advertising typically focuses on direct means of communication often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates.

Trained sales personnel, often young women, are deployed at retail Stores, near the shelves of targeted products. These young women convince customers visiting these shelves about the better aspects of their brand compared with others. This is ideal for new launches as it generates trials, which if successful result in repeat sales.

In addition, above the line is much more effective when the target group is very large and difficult to define. But if the target group is limited and specific, it is always advisable to use BTL promotions for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Through the line

More recently, in the past 5 to 6 years, agencies and clients have switched to an "Integrated Communication Approach", or "through the line" approach. TTL is a neologism describing an existing process, according to Altaf Jasnaik, Corporate Communications and Branding Manager at Sharp Middle East & Africa. In the TTL approach, a mix of ATL and BTL are used to integrate a marketer's efforts and optimize returns from these separate investments.

This switch in the TTL approach has shifted its emphasis more towards BTL. The idea remains to optimize the return on marketing budget spent by focusing one's energy on winning smaller yet more crucial BTL battles than ATL wars with well-funded competition. A few examples are: bus stand hoardings, pamphlets, small informational sheets along with the newspaper, etc. (J.Stanton, 7th Ed., 1984; Pp.103-107)

Table 1 .1

AIDA and Promotional Mix

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1.10 Conceptual Framework

1.10.1. Introduction to Promotion

The word “strategy” is derived from the Greek word “stratçgos”; stratus (meaning army) and “ago” (meaning leading/moving). Strategy is an action that managers take to attain one or more of the organization’s goals. Strategy results from the detailed strategic planning process”. Promotion strategies have been in constantly growth since 1960’s and have today become one of the key factors in making strategies about promotion mix.

Promotion is the element in the marketing mix that serves to inform, persuade, and remind the market of a product and/or organization selling it, in the hopes of influencing the recipients’ feelings, beliefs, or behavior (Stanton et. al, p 461). Promotion is to communicate with individuals, groups and organization to directly or indirectly facilitate exchanges by informing and persuading one or more of the audiences to accept the organization’s products (Pride & Ferrel, marketing, p. 437). Promotion performs the major role of communicating to the buyers. Generally, people buy that product about what they are familiar with. So, maximum efforts today, of a business organization is to introduce themselves well among the people. Promotion includes all the activities the company undertakes to communicate and promote its products to the target market (Kotler, Principles of marketing). Promotion is the persuasive communication with the customers. Promotion strategies will be executed by using the tactical elements of the Marketing Communications, or Promotions Mix. The five main aspects of a promotional mix are; advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation and direct marketing. Promotion strategy is majorly performed with the motive of increasing brand equity and purchase intention by using the tools of promotion mix i.e., advertising; sales promotion publicity, public relation and personal selling.

Hence, promotion is persuasive communication to inform potential customers about the existence of products, to persuade and convince them that those products have emerged with want satisfying capabilities. Consumers really, speaking, buy a bundle of expectations to satisfy their economic, psycho- social wants and desires. The promotion offers the message, the communication of these benefits to consumers. Hence, promotion message has two main purposes; persuasive communication and tool of competition.

1.10.2 Components of Promotional Activities

As one of the marketing mix elements, promotion includes all the activities directed to the targeted consumers, that lead to facilitate the process of contacting with them for the purpose of formatting a sense of the importance of the commodity in achieving a high degree of consumers satisfaction of their wishes and needs comparing with the competitors commodities (Mahmud I. Nour et al. 2014).

Promotion is one of the key factors in the marketing mix and has a key role in market success. Promotion is used to ensure that consumers are aware of the products that the organization is offering. The promotional mix is the combination of the different channels that can be used to communicate the promotional message to the consumers. The channels to be used are; advertising, direct marketing, public relations and publicity, personal selling, sponsorship and sales promotion.

Figure 1.3

Components of Promotional Activities

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

a. Advertising:

Advertising is one of the elements of the promotion mix which is considered prominent in the overall marketing mix. This attribute is as a result of its visibility and pervasiveness in all the other marketing communication elements. Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. “Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor.” Non personal communication refers to mass media (e.g. radio, magazines and newspapers) that help to transmit a message to large groups of individuals at same time. (Belch, et.al; 2007:231)

The music/sound used in Ncell and NTC TV, Radio advertisement is catchy and touching so that customers easily recognize or recall the brand whenever they heard it in TV or Radio advertisement. They use TV and radio with good commercial advertisement. Broachers, magazines, newspaper are other best media of promotion. They even use display board in the main location and other sales agent to reach the customer easily.

b. Personal Selling:

Personal selling which involves personal contact is gradually becoming the backbone of service marketing organizations such as NTC and Ncell. If promotion is communicating with potential customers, then, personal selling is perhaps the best way to do it. Kotler (2006) defines personal selling as face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions, and procuring orders. Unlike the other tools of the communication mix, personal selling permits a direct interaction between buyer and seller. This two-way communication means that the seller can identify the specific needs and problems of the buyer and tailor the sales presentation in the light of this knowledge . (Philip Kotler, 2005; 776)

Both NTC and Ncell are involve in heavy promotional activities including personal selling where they both meet the customer directly and exchange the information regarding their schemes, new product, new offers etc. In comparison to NTC, Ncell has involved in personal selling more.

c. Sales Promotion:

Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product. Any activity intended to generate a temporary boost in sales. This includes several communications activities pursued in an attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales. Such efforts are usually geared towards stimulating product interest, trial, or purchase. It is specifically designed to boost quick sales and ultimately create loyalty. For example the BOGOF promotion, or Buy One Get One Free. Others include couponing, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories (such as free blades with a new razor), introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation), and so on. Each sales promotion should be carefully priced and compared with the next best alternative. (Koirala, marketing decisions; 302).

For example: Nepal Telecom (NT) has decided to provide 100 MB data free of costs to students subscribing to the company’s GSM or CDMA mobile phone service under a scheme launched for those appearing in the SEE exam this year. NTC has reduced in cost of the ADSL service for both Unlimited and Volume based packages. All Unlimited ADSL packages below 1Mbps offers have now been automatically upgraded to 5Mbps speed at reduced cost. (https://www.ntc.net.np/pages/view/nt-promotional-offers)

And Ncell has provided services worth Rs 1.87 billion as gifts to its customers under the promotional campaign Khusiko Bahar, Ncell ko Upahar. Customers participating in the plan receive a guaranteed free daily gift like internet package, bonus balance, night talk time to SMS and MMS. The campaign offers free gifts to both existing and new Ncell pre-paid and pro-plan customers. The amount of the gift varies from customer to customer . (http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/)

d. Public Relations (PR):

Public relations (PR), is the overall term for marketing activities that raise the public’s consciousness about a product, an individual or issue. Shimp (2000) explains PR simply as an organizational activity involved with fostering goodwill between a company and its various publics. PR can be relatively cheap, but it is certainly not free. Successful strategies tend to be long-term and plan for all eventualities. Research has indicated that promotional budgets have recently increased tremendously.

Both NTC and Ncell have maintained good public relation which has caused good word of mouth among the consumer. One of the reasons behind increasing of subscribers of NTC and Ncell is also positive word of mouth among the customers.

e. Publicity:

Publicity is the disseminating of information by personal or non-personal means, which is not directly paid for by the organization, nor is the organization the source. It is the use of the media to provide free coverage in their stories related to their product. Unlike advertising that relies on purchasing power to get a message across, publicity relies solely on the quality of content to persuade others to get the message out. (Grasby, et.al; 2000; 145)

NTC and Ncell have used hoarding boards in various places, organized various trade fair and exhibition center for the new customer and existing customer to introduce their product to them.

The foresaid are the major components of the promotional activities. Similarly some other components are:

f. Direct Marketing:

Direct marketing specifically ensures sending a promotional message directly to consumers rather than via a mass medium. It is aimed at creating and exploiting a direct relationship between producers and their customers. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has defined direct marketing as an interactive system of marketing that uses one or more advertising media in acquiring a measurable response and/or transaction at any location. Similarly, direct marketing is described as the use of mail, fax, e-mail, or internet to communicate directly with or solicit response or dialogue from specific customers and prospects (Kotler & Keller, 2006)

Here NTC and Ncell sends various promotional message to their customer via email or SMS to make them aware of the product, package, schemes, offer etc.

g. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions:

Such approaches are very good for making new contacts and renewing old ones. Companies will seldom sell much at such events. The purpose is to increase awareness and to encourage trial. They offer the opportunity for companies to meet with both the trade and the consumer.

NTC and Ncell have been organizing various trades fair and exhibition to introduce new product to the existing customer and to attract new customers. It is mostly done in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.

h. Sponsorship:

Since traditional media have become more expensive, sponsorship is viewed by marketers as a cost-effective alternative. Events and experience or sponsorship is another marketing communications tool comprising company-sponsored activities and programs designed to create daily or special-related interactions. In other words, a company can build its brand image through creating or sponsoring events. Sponsorship is a cash or in-kind fee paid to a property (which may be a sports, entertainment, or non-profit events or organization) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property. Sponsorship is getting involved and/or investment in events or causes in order that an organization can achieve objectives such as increased awareness levels, enhanced reputation, etc. The elements of the promotional mix are then integrated to form a unique, but coherent campaign. (Lee, et.al; 1997;pp. 286).

NTC and Ncell sponsorship programs include sporting activities such as Futsal and the sponsorship of specific radio and television programs, donations to charitable institutions, traditional festivals, and scholarship awards.

NTC and Ncell both are the market leader and a biggest profitable company in Nepal; they sponsor most of the national and international sports and cultural programme. Thus sponsorship also has become a good means of promotion for Nepal Telecom.

i. Online Promotions:

Online promotions will include many of the promotions mix elements which we considered above. For example advertising exists online with pay per click advertising which is marketed by Google. You can sponsor are website for example. Online businesses regularly send out newsletters which are targeted using e-mail and mailing lists, which is a form of direct marketing. Indeed websites are premium vehicle in the public relations industry to communicate particular points of view to relevant publics . (Boone, et.al:2010)

1.10.3 Roles of Promotional mix

Promotion is the voice of your company which send out your brand’s message loud and clear to the audience. Various media platforms can be used to promote your company and brand. They include television, radio, shopping outlets, billboards, magazines, and social media. Promotion is a key element in putting across the benefits of your product or service to the customers. Well-designed marketing and promotional strategies ensure long-term success, bring in more customers and ensure profitability for businesses. Various promotional strategies can be used to promote and market your business depending on the goals, objectives and priorities of your company. Without marketing promotions, company’s brand or service would not be able to garner the attention of the pre-occupied customers.

- Sales of the goods in imperfect market:

Promotion helps in the sales of the goods in imperfect market. In the imperfect market conditions, the product cannot be sold easily only on the basis of price differentiation. It is the promotional activity that provides information about the differences, characteristics and the multi-use of the products of various competitions in the market. The customer is attracted to purchase the goods on the basis of such information successfully.

- Filling the gap between producers and consumers:

Promotion helps in filling the gap between producers and consumers. Due to the tough market condition, mass selling is quite impossible without promotional activities. The distance between producers and consumers has so widened in present days to get them touched with the product that promotional activities are necessary.

- Facing intense competition:

Promotion helps in facing intense competition in the market. When a manufacturer increases his promotional spending and adopts an aggressive strategy in creating a brand image, others are also forced to follow the suit. This leads to ‘promotional war. Without promoting the goods, the competition is not possible in the market. So, it is necessary to face the competition in the market with the help of promotional activities

- Large scales selling:

Promotion helps in the large selling of goods and services. Sales promotion is the result of large-scale production. It can be achieved only by appropriate methods of large scale selling. Large scale selling is possible with the help of promotional activity. Due to the large selling of goods, there will be more chance of promotion of goods. So, it is necessary to sell lot of goods in the market for promotional activities

- Increased speed of product acceptance:

Promotion helps to increase the speed of the products acceptance. Most of the sales promotion devices such as contests, premium coupons, etc. can be used faster than other promotion methods such as advertising. The increase in rapid speed of product acceptance has occurred with the help of promotional activities. As the promotional activities are done, there will be direct effect in the increment of a speed of the product. Increase in the speed of product acceptance is very important in the competitive market. So, it is necessary to increase the speed of product.

- Effective sales support:

Promotion helps in the sales support of the product. Sales promotion policies are under the supplement to the efforts and impersonal salesmanship. Good sales promotion materials make the salesman’s effort more productive. Promotion helps in the sales of theproduct. It provides good support in selling the different types of goods. Sales of different types of goods in the market are very necessary to increase the market economy.

1.10.4 Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix

Promotional mix varies from product and company to another. Advertisement as well as personal selling product and service and augment by sales promotion. The brand image for the organization is often positively developed by public relation. A company though may decide not utilize the four sales elements. Several factors determine the promotional mix to be chosen by a firm, namely: the nature of product, stages of the product life style, the type buying decision, the push and pull strategy among others (Lamb et al, 2014).

a. Nature of Product :

The characteristic of a product can affect communicational mix. For example, product can be group as either a business or a consumer product. True that goods are either customer-tailored to specification, they are meant for mass production. Advertising still plays a vital role in promoting business goods. General awareness and interest are generated in media trade by advertisement. Contrarily, consumer goods need not custom-made and should have a company’s representative to sell them. Thus consumable goods are sold solely by advertising to build brand familiarity. The sales promotion, brand name and packaging are about twice as essential to the buyer as they for the products (Lamb et al, 2014).

b. Stages in the Product Life Cycle :

The production level plays an important role in promotional mix designing. The introduction stage aims at informing the general public about the existence of the product i.e. the target audience. Extensive and public interactive determine the reaction of consumers to a class on trial of the product and how well retailers see the product. Growth stage is meant to persuade the target audience to increase buying. Through promotional activity, intermediaries are used to make products available to buyers and compete with rivals. At the maturity stage aggressive advertising campaigns sale promotion in the form of discount and coupons direct and remind customer or target audience about the commodity. Low sales and losses occur at the decline stage of the product life cycle. Little money is spent on promotion. Most marketers do new product development and the reintroduce the product into the market (Bovee et al. 2013)

c. The Pull and Push Strategy :

The relation to a push or pull communication strategy will be utilized or not constitute the last factor affecting the promotional mix. Wholesalers and retailers are persuaded and convinced to buy and sell product. When manufacturer resort to the use of aggressive selling and trading advertisements. This strategy is called push strategy. The wholesaler has to push the products forward in order to have the retailer to handle the product. The consumer then buys the “pushed” products (Lamb et al, 2014). At the other end of the process, the push strategy encourages the stimulation of the distribution of the products. Instead of targeting the wholesaler in the distribution network, attention is focused on the end consumer or opinion leaders. When faced with rising demand, order is rather placed on the “pulled” merchandise by wholesalers (Kurtz et al. 2011 )

1.11 Review of Journals and Articles:

Many experts, professionals, MBA/MBS students have conducted a number of researches relating to telecommunication industries. Among them very few are related to promotional activities of the telecommunication industries. Although there are many research conducted in telecommunication field, the topic on “Study of Impact of Promotional Activities on Telecommunication Company’s Sale in Nepal” is very few focus area in research work. Nevertheless, similar type of articles, topics, news has been reviewed in this part.

Hameed, et. al (2014), attempted to study on “The Impact of Promotional Tools on Sales Promotion”, and the objective of this research was to investigate the influence of sales promotion and social surroundings that is situational factors on consumer buying behavior. Sales promotion has direct effect on the consumer purchase buying behavior. There are three kinds of methods could be used by the marketer to increase sales, first one is the promotion which is used to target consumer is called consumer sales promotion. Different kinds of promotions tactics are used by the sellers to attract the customer and increase their sales.

Other purpose of this work is to examine the results of different sales promotion tools on consumer buying behavior. The objective of this research is to study closely liking of customer on various promotion tools. By this information, the marketer and retailers can plan best of their resources for getting good results of their sales.

The promotion and price information increase customer perception of price and motivation in buying the product. These sales promotions also vary pre purchase goals of consumers understanding how consumer’s effect different promotion information which helps sellers to plan efficient promotion program. In this paper we are going to know the relationship of the sales promotion with switching barriers and loyalty of the consumers.

In the promotion they also gives different types of services to attract their customers and make them loyal to their store and reasons switching barriers to their customer not to change their loyalty promotion have very much significant and positive relationship on loyalty which shows the result of sales promotion it also shows different promotion effect like attractiveness of alternative, perceived switching, inter personal relationship.

There is also a two retail sales promotion for the retails stores which are working at small places that how they create consumer loyalty by using different types of promotional tools like coupons and too- for- one promotion to start different promotional response consumer traits are also included. Ethnic minority consumers are not considered in sales promotions in some country rather than they are the big market for any country or any place in world and give much profit by doing effective sales promotions.

The research paper tells about the sale promotion. Sale promotion is most important then our sale of product was low. Or we launch the new product in this market that’s why we used the tool of sale promotion. Fast sale promotion, can be see that some buyer are alone and they want to help the shopkeeper. Some shoppers want to shop alone than with family members and in some cases there are shoppers that favor to be gone alone even with no sales man during purchasing.

One of the rewards of promotion is that they can motivate consumer to think and estimate brand and purchase possibilities when they otherwise may not have. Thus, many marketers and retailer use diverse kind of promotion tool and strategies in order to understand the preference of customer and boost their sales. By this information, marketer and retailer could well plan their resource to gain the maximum benefits. (Ashraf, Rizwan, Iqbal, & Khan, June,2014)

Mehmood, et.al (2014), attempted to study on “The Impact of Promotional Tools on Consumer Buying Behavior”, and the core purpose of this research paper is to study the impact of different sales promotion tools on consumer buying behavior. Hence, the Research on promotional tools is certainly vital to recognize the most influencing tools to compete with its competitors. The purpose of research is to study closely the fondness of customers on a variety of promotional tools. With the help of this information, the marketer and retailers could well plan their resources to get the highest profit. This research aims to examine the partiality of consumer on different promotional tools, marketers and retailers will able to conscious of the consumer buying behavior, so that they can make use of the right and the most successful promotion techniques to catch the attention of the customer. The usual promotion tools includes samples, price discounts, buy-one-get-one-free, Coupons, in-pack premiums, price offs and so on. But In this study, we will discuss the impact of buy one get one free, price discounts, coupons and physical surroundings on the consumer buying behavior. The physical surrounding is a situational factor, which effect consumers buying behavior. These promotional techniques affect the consumer buying behavior during the shopping. Earlier research has revealed that these factors have important relationship with consumer’s buying behavior. The impacts of these tools differ from country to country. (Asif Mehmood, September, 2014)

Ferdous, et.al (2015), in his article “Promotional Strategies of Telecommunication Industries and Company Sales” notified that promotions are very significant elements of marketing activities. All over the world, the large multinational corporations to medium and even small firms recognize that there is no best alternative than promotion to communicate with consumers and motivate them to purchase their products or services. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of promotional activities on Company’s sales. Promotion is a comprehensive terms, and covers the entire gamut of advertising, publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. In the present competitive world if any business organization has to survive it needs to keep an eye on various forces operating in the market. More over competitors constantly try to win over others. In this scenario, every business organization needs to monitor the changes taking place in the market so that they are not caught by competitors. The study investigates, measure, and evaluates the promotional activities from the reflection light of customers’ perceptions. (Abedin, 2015)

Gautam (2016) in his study , “ NTC and Ncell: Telecommunication and Strategies” notified that with the liberalization policies of the Government of Nepal, telecommunication business has significantly leaped and become easily available to the general public at affordable prices when private sector started to challenge government monopoly. Currently, Nepal Telecommunication (NTC) and Ncell are the two dominant players in the telecom space in Nepal. While NTC provides all type of the phone services, Ncell has been exclusively focusing on providing Global System for Mobile (GSM) mobile lines. Over the past few years, Ncell, with its aggressive marketing and better services, has been chipping away at NTC’s market share. While NTC continues to lead in terms of number of total subscribers, Ncell recently overtook NTC to become the leading provider of GSM mobile lines in the country. Based on this, the present case study of two dominant telecommunication service providers of Nepal highlights the current scenario and attempts to explore the possible strategies to manage them effectively. (Gautam D. K., May 2016)

1.12 Review of Thesis

Various experts, authorities and masters students have conducted various researches relating to the telecommunication industries. Among them only few are related to the life insurance. In fact there are not sufficient studies concerned with the promotional activities and its impact on the company’s sales regarding telecommunication sector in Nepal. Nevertheless, researcher tried hard to review the related thesis to possible extent and illustrate them in this part.

Pokharel(2015), had conducted a research on “Promotion Strategies of NTC & Ncell” and the research is intended to compare the promotion strategies of two leading telecommunication industry of Nepal –NTC and Ncell because telecommunication industry is vital for economic growth.

The specific objectives of research were:

- To compare promotion strategies of the NTC and Ncell.
- To examine the effects of promotion strategies on consumer behavior.

The major findings of the research were:

- Ncell makes aggressive promotion strategies which are superior to NTC and increasing their customers.
- Ncell has got first ranking on costumer’s rating in terms of aggressive promotion.
- Brand loyalty, brand awareness shows result in favor of NTC.
- Perceived quality and brand association is in favor of Ncell
- Direct marketing, personnel selling and public relation is being used by Ncell only.
- Advertising and public relation is also used aggressively by Ncell than NTC

Acharya(2016) had conducted a research on “ Study of telecommunication services and their promotional strategy in Nepal” attempted to find out various promotional tools used by the main two network operators in Nepal. The analysis is concerned with comparing the promotional activities of NTC and Ncell.

The specific objectives of the study were:

- To study the different services provided by NTC and Ncell.
- To compare the promotional strategy of Telecommunication industry (NTC and Ncell).
- To evaluate either Ncell or NTC use effective promotional mechanism.

The major findings of the research were as follows:

- Ncell uses best promotional strategy. Its video advertisements are very creative and worth watching. NTC doesn’t need any advertisement. It’s more on demand despite any advertisements. However, it would be better if NTC too brought creative advertisements like that of Ncell. The promotional attempts of NTC are really lesser than that of Ncell.

- Ncell focuses on marketing and ability to decide/implement quickly.
- NTC don’t need it but Ncell has been using good PS for adding more customers in their list.
- The effort of Ncell can be seen in promoting its services all over the country.
- Ncell is more reliable and has strong brand name.
- Ncell frequently introduces various promotional schemes which match customer needs and their promotional activities are focused on attracting youths.
- Ncell spends higher in advertisements.
- Ncell uses best promotional strategy with customer satisfaction..
- Ncell customized service and different ads.
- Ncell is attractive and touches human feelings.
- Ncell uses best promotional strategy because it has a lot of advertisements as well as brings various plans on different occasions.

1.13 Research Gap

Though several research have been conducted on promotional activities and components, the research work on impact of promotional activities on company sales can be hardly found. Although there have been various research reviewed above regarding the promotional, the study is especially concerned with the impact of promotional activities on company sales with comparison to two leading telecommunication industry in Nepal i.e. NTC and Ncell.

In the previous research, mainly the impacts of promotional activities are shown on the consumer behaviors only. It has not included the impact of promotional activities on company sales. In this study, it has given focus on the company sales.

In the previous research, in promotional activities mainly advertisements, sales promotion and personal selling are given more emphasis. In this study all major promotional activities are included.

1.14 Introduction to Research Methodology and Design

The research method is a systematic plan for conducting research. Sociologists draw on a variety of both qualitative and quantitative research methods; including experiments, survey research, participant observation, and secondary data Research methodology refers to the various sequential steps to be adopted by a researcher in studying a problem with certain objective in view. The procedures by which researchers go about their work of describing, explaining, and predicting phenomena are called research methodology. It is a way to systematic solve the research problem.

Research Methodology is a way to find out the result of a given problem on a specific matter or problem that is also referred as research problem. In Methodology, researcher uses different criteria for solving/searching the given research problem. Different sources use different type of methods for solving the problem. If we think about the word “Methodology”, it is the way of searching or solving the research problem. (Institute, 2010).

This chapter focuses and deals with:

- Research approach
- Research design
- Population and Sample
- Data collection procedure
- Method of Data analysis

1.14.1 Research approach:

‘Approaches' could refer to designs, methods of data collection or analysis. Research approach is a plan and procedure that consists of the steps of broad assumptions to detailed method of data collection, analysis and interpretation. It is therefore, based on the nature of the research problem being addressed. Research approach is essentially divided into two categories: approach of data collection and approach of data analysis or reasoning.

Approaches of data collection can be:

- Quantitative Approach: Quantitative research often translates into the use of statistical analysis to make the connection between what is known and what can be learned by research. It usually involves collecting and converting data into numerical form so that statistical calculations can be made and conclusions drawn.
- Qualitative Approach: It is about recording, analyzing and attempting to uncover the deeper meaning and significance of human behavior and experience, including contradictory beliefs, behaviors and emotions.

In this study both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to evaluate the impact of promotional activities on company’s sales.

1.14.2 Research Design

A research design is utilized to structure the research, to indicate that all the major elements of the research have been designed to work together. It is a plan which explains how, when and where data are to be collected and analyzed. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi- experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study, research problem, hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, design of experiments experimental design , and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan.)

In this study researcher has used descriptive research. Descriptive research involves gathering data that describe events and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection (Glass & Hopkins, 1984). It often uses visual aids such as graphs and charts to aid the reader in understanding the data distribution and therefore offered a better clarification on promotional activities and ultimately give a clear picture on the effectiveness and reliability of promotional activities and its relationship to company’s sales. And also helps in comparing the effectiveness of promotional activities between NTC and Ncell.

1.14.3 Population and sample:

All elements, individuals, or units that meet the selection criteria for a group to be studied, and from which a representative sample is taken for detailed examinations population. The total of all populations is called a universe. Sample is a representative unit of a target population, which is to be worked upon by researcher during the study. The population of study comprises all the organization doing promotional activities to increase the sales. The sample for the study consists of two conveniently selected telecommunication industries in Nepal i.e. NTC and Ncell. And on the consumer sides the population comprises of all the population using the products of NTC and Ncell but the 70 respondents are chosen randomly as a sample. The researcher has used convenience sampling and the sample chosen represents the different background in terms of age, education, occupations etc.

1.14.4 Data collection procedure:

For data collection there are two sources; one is primary source and another is secondary sources. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative data as well as both the sources of data are used i.e. Primary source and Secondary sources. Consumer of NTC and Ncell products are directly interviewed to get the information about the impact of promotional activities. And for the impact of promotional activities on company’s sales the historical data of 5 years of NTC and Ncell are used. Similarly the other sources of data are books, journals, internet, and paper articles.

1.14.5 Method/Tools of data analysis:

Statistical tools are used to analyze the collected data. Various tools can be used to analyze the collected data to draw the reliable conclusion. Following tools are used for this study:

- Arithmetic Mean:

Arithmetic mean is a mathematical representation of the typical value of a series of numbers, computed as the sum of all the numbers in the series divided by the count of all numbers in the series.. The arithmetic mean, also called the average or average value, is the quantity obtained by summing two or more numbers or variables and then dividing by the number of numbers or variables.

Arithmetic mean of a given set of observations is their sum divided by the number of observation. In general, if X1, X2, X3...Xn are the given observations, then arithmetic mean usually denoted by X is given by,

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Where, N = number of observation

- Coefficient of Variation:

The coefficient of variation (CV) is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. The higher the coefficient of variation, the greater the level of dispersion around the mean. It is generally expressed as a percentage. Without units, it allows for comparison between distributions of values whose scales of measurement are not comparable.

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