Marketing Mix Thesis
Marketing Mix Thesis
Marketing Mix Thesis
Introduction
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The objective of the marketing communication message is to persuade the
audience to purchase the product or service. Therefore, the consumer needs to be
receptive to the message and to be able to interpret it in such a way that the intent to
purchase is established (Koekemoer, 2004).
Promotions have been one of the most researched elements of the marketing
mix. There are still many interesting and challenging issues facing managers. The
growth of real-time, sales data coupled with accurate promotional histories opens the
future in which real-time on-line promotions becomes the norm. This leads to
opportunities for sales promotion researchers and practitioners to develop new
methods, tactics and strategies.
Several years ago, a global distributor embarked on an ambitious event-based
marketing campaign. In this campaign, the companies sponsored lavish dinners at
gourmet restaurants for community influencers. These were all high-touch
promotions, aimed at getting a focus group of consumers, and building general brand
awareness. But the company had no way to evaluate the effectiveness of this
spending. It wasn’t long before the company’s leaders realized that they needed a
more rigorous analysis of the return on their investment in this campaign. They finally
imposed this rigor by creating a database of event cost information and requiring a
simple breakeven analysis for any proposed event.
The results were eye-opening. It turned out that the breakeven cost of the
events varied widely. By helping the company’s marketers understand how much
volume each event would have to deliver to make financial sense, a basic business
case analysis allowed them to gauge their spending. As a result, about one-fifth of the
budget was reallocated away from events whose profitability was doubtful, and a 10
percent improvement in marketing effectiveness was captured.
As marketers move to a more varied, shifting mix of advertising and
promotion, they are coming face to face with the lack of insight they have historically
had about which media choices work well, why customers buy, and what returns will
be generated by their spending. This lack of insight did not matter very much when
marketers had no choice but to depend on television, radio, and print the traditional
mass-market media. Television’s gross ratings points (GRPs), which measure the
percentage of a target audience reached by a particular advertisement, didn’t explain
why particular ads or placements led to increased sales and others didn’t, but that
combination of mass media and metrics was the only game in town.
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However, there has been an explosion of media vehicles, and data is much
more complete, granular, and evocative of consumer attitudes and willingness to
purchase products. It is possible to accurately quantify the return on marketing spend
(also known as marketing ROI). All that’s lacking is the sophistication needed to gain
insight from analytics, and the will to use that insight not just in the marketing
function, but in the company as a whole.
Pharmaceutical marketing is differed from other promotion types because of
its target customer type. All of the pharmaceutical distribution companies in Myanmar
target not only the end user but also the channel members such as intermediaries.
Therefore, the marketing communication strategies are mainly developed for the
intermediaries not for end users.
The operation and competition of pharmaceutical industry has change rapidly
over the past few years. International pharmaceutical companies are entering into
Myanmar to find business opportunities in the country. Myanmar’s pharmaceutical
market are being attractive for investors with relatively population of over 60 million
people. Official figures indicate a USD 100-120 million, but pharmaceutical
specialists put the figure at USD 400 million since data available is based on customs
value and not only on the actual sales volume, and figures not incorporated are the
illegal cross border trade and the under reporting of goods actually brought into the
Myanmar market (Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry-Promising Growth, Anu Seth,
2016).
The medicine distribution companies in Myanmar now imported two types of
drugs in the market; over the counter (OTC) drugs and prescription drugs. Over-the-
counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription
from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may only be
sold to consumers possessing a valid prescription and aliment that make continuous
medical supplies of paramount important.
Both types of medicine can be sold at the wholesale market in Myanmar as the
intermediaries of many medicine distribution companies since these companies have
been emerged. Myanmar government also issues the trading license to these
wholesale shops to sell medicine according to the permission of FDA regulations and
other trading regulations. Therefore, medicine wholesale market is an important
channel to emphasize from all of the medicine distribution companies in Myanmar.
This channel is vital not only to increase GDP and government income by trading
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medicines around the country but also to increase employment for basic workers by
operating nearly thousands of workers in each plaza.
4
The company has five major types of customers; doctors, pharmacies,
retailers, wholesalers, and government hospitals. The company distributed Over the
Counter (OTC) types of medicine and Generic types of medicine with many channels,
such as government hospital’s tender channel, private hospitals channel, doctors’
channel, pharmacies’ channel, retail and wholesale channel. AA Medical Products
Limited was established in 1996. Today, AA Medical has a wide distribution network
in Myanmar medical network and performs not only traditional marketing but also
digital marketing. Therefore, AA Medical distributes these medicines around the
whole Myanmar and makes different marketing communication activities according
to the channel type, distribution area, and medicine type.
This paper is aim to examine the company wide marketing communication
mix of AA Medical Products Limited for all types of medicines distributed. Although
these communication types and periods are different as products, same are used in
each channel. Then, this paper reported customer loyalty which is caused by
marketing communication mix of AA Medical Products Limited.
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Products Limited. The collected data were analyzed by correlation and regression
method.
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Chapter II
Theoretical Background
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target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers through creating,
delivering, and communicating superior customer value. The social definition that
serves as: Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products
and services of value with others.
In recent years, however, in the highly competitive marketplaces that are more
often happened, companies must always be moving forward with marketing
programs. Marketers must try to balance increased spending on search advertising,
social media, direct e-mail, and text/SMS marketing efforts with appropriate spending
on traditional marketing communications. “Marketing in an Age of Turbulence” can
offer some recommendations for adjusting to new marketing realities for business.
The marketing concept emerged in the middle of 1950 as a customer-centered,
sense-and-respond philosophy. The job is to find not the right customers for products,
but the right products for customers. The marketing concept holds that the key to
achieving organizational goals is being more effective than competitors in creating,
delivering, and communicating superior customer value to your target markets.
Modern marketing is aimed at creating long-term relationships with
consumers. The premise is that satisfied customers will keep returning to use the
organization’s offerings and will provide positive feedback to other people. For this
reason the American Marketing Association (AMA) revised the definition for
marketing to reflect the importance of customer relationships. According to the AMA,
marketing is a function in the organization and a system aimed at developing,
communicating and providing value to consumers. It should be focused on managing
customer relations in ways that will be beneficial to the organization and to its
stakeholders (Belch and Belch, 2007). Stakeholders include employees, distribution
channel members, customers, the media, government and several special-interest
groups (Clow and Baack, 2010).
This means that the organization will aim to reach certain objectives through a
well-constructed marketing strategy. Successfully implementing marketing strategies
requires a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of communication, as well as
careful consideration and integration of the different elements in the marketing mix.
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In 1964, McCarthy classified various marketing activities into marketing-mix
tools of four broad kinds, which he called the four Ps of marketing: product, price,
place, and promotion.
Marketers classify products on the basis of durability, tangibility, and use
(consumer or industrial). Each type has an appropriate marketing-mix strategy.
According to Kotler and Keller (2012), these elements are included in product
definition; product variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, sizes,
services, warranties, and returns.
Price is one of the ways marketers communicate with customers. Price is seen
as revenue oriented been the only marketing mix element that produces revenue.
Winkler (1995) defined price as the amount of money which is sacrificed to obtain
something. Price consists of list price, discounts, allowances, payment period, and
credit terms.
Place which is also called distribution, is consider to cover distributional
activities of organizations. Kotler (1976) indicates that distribution involves the
distribution channel, distribution coverage, outlet locations, inventory levels and
location. Channels, coverage, assortments, locations, inventory, and transport are also
included to describe place (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
Promotion is sending a persuasive message about a particular product to
customers. The sales promotion, advertising, sales force, public relations, and direct
marketing are described as promotion. Promotions are an integral part of the
marketing mix. In general, promotions tend to focus on how to attract the attention of
consumers and motivate them to take action or make a purchase. There are many
ways marketers can go about promoting a product or service, but it requires strategic
research into the target audience and where to find them.
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communicate with their customers, and what they communicate should not be left to
chance. (Armstrong et. al., 1996)
In the era of mass communications and emerging mobile technologies, an
organization must build an adequate mix of marketing communications, in order not
to drown in a sea of information. This will be made in a relation with the good
interaction of objects and forces, influencing the management outside the company,
and marketers’ ability to establish and maintain successful corporations with target
customers. Marketing communications of an organization is a complex of measures,
techniques and methods by which information about goods, services or brand of the
company reaches its users. Kotler and Keller (2012) define marketing
communications as the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind
consumers directly or indirectly about the products and brands they sell.
In a sense, marketing communications represent the voice of the company and
its brands; they are a means by which the firm can establish a dialogue and build
relationships with consumers. By strengthening customer loyalty, marketing
communications can contribute to customer equity. Marketing communications also
work for consumers when they show how and why a product is used, by whom,
where, and when. Consumers can learn who makes the product and what the company
and brand stand for, and they can get an incentive for trial or use. Marketing
communications allow companies to link their brands to other people, places, events,
brands, experiences, feelings, and things. Therefore, marketing communications in
almost every medium and form have been on the rise, and some consumers feel they
are increasingly invasive.
According to Ross (2001) he defined promotion mix as a total marketing
communication program of a particular product. In order to ensure that organization
promotion strategies is well accepted and received by its consumers, the organization
should have a strong way of communication because good communication skills and
effective promotion is a tool for every organization to compete in the industry (Nor
Amira, 2013). The promotional element of the marketing mix is also referred to as the
marketing communication or promotional mix, and includes various communication
methods and activities aimed at the target consumer.
Various authors agree that the marketing communication mix includes the
elements of advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, direct
marketing, events and sponsorship marketing, as well as Internet/interactive
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marketing (Belch and Belch et. al., 2007). McCarthy (1998) determined the mix of
marketing communications as a specific combination of elements: advertising,
personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing that
companies use to implement their targets for advertising and marketing. All
communication activities must be well prepared and conducted in good order through
comprehensive management.
According to Kotler and Keller (2012), the marketing communications mix
consists of eight major modes of communication: advertising, sales promotion, events
and experiences, public relations and publicity, direct marketing, interactive
marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, and personal selling.
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Although no one debates the importance of the sales force in marketing
programs, companies are sensitive to the high and rising costs of maintaining one,
including salaries, commissions, bonuses, travel expenses, and benefits. Not
surprisingly, companies are trying to increase sales force productivity through better
selection, training, supervision, motivation, and compensation. Personal selling is an
ancient art. Effective salespeople today have more than instinct, however. Companies
now spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to train them in methods of
analysis and customer management and to transform them from passive order takers
into active order getters. Reps are taught the SPIN (situation, problem, implication,
need-payoff) method to build long-term relationships (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
2.3.2 Sales Promotion
There have been many definitions of sales promotion. According to John and
William (1986), the sales promotional marketing activities considered to be more
efficient than advertising publicity and personal selling. In addition to that other
researchers considered sales promotion as a direct inducement, proposing special
added value for goods to target salesperson, customers or resellers (William and
Ferrell, 1987). According to Joncos (1990) sales promotion is an effective way of
competitive retaliation rather than marketing activities.
Mercer (2002) defined promotion as it is a technique which mainly used by
marketer on a temporary basis to create an attractive goods or services to encourage
the customers to purchase goods or services in a specific time period by providing
more benefits. Belch and Belch (1996) defined sales promotions as direct
encouragements provide an additional stimulant for the products to be sold or
distributed in a short period of time.
Both Totten and Block (1994) and Kotler (2002) defined sales promotion as
any activity which obtained by the producers usually short term designed to
encourage quicker or greater amount trade retailer or wholesaler as well as influence
individual to buy the product. According to Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy (2006)
and Shimp (2003) sales promotion defined as a communicating information within
two parties, seller and potential buyers, which is obtained to effect customers
decisions.
According to Kotler and Keller (2012), sales promotion is a key ingredient in
marketing campaigns, consists of a collection of incentive tools, mostly short term,
designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular products or services by
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consumers or the trade. Sales promotion includes tools for consumer promotion
(samples, coupons, cash refund offers, prices off, premiums, prizes, patronage
rewards, free trials, warranties, tie-in promotions, cross-promotions, point-of purchase
displays, and demonstrations), trade promotion (prices off, advertising and display
allowances, and free goods), and business and sales force promotion (trade shows and
conventions, contests for sales reps, and specialty advertising).
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Sponsorship has been defined in the literature as an exchange between a
sponsor and a sponsored entity (also called property), whereby the sponsor invests in
cash and or in kind in a property in order to secure the rights to exploit the
commercial potential derived from its association with that property (Meenaghan,
1983). A comprehensive definition describes sponsorship as the provision of
resources (e.g., money, people, equipment) by an organization directly to an event,
cause, or activity in exchange for a direct association (link) to the event, cause or
activity (Sandler et al., 1997).
According to Kotler and Keller (2012), company-sponsored activities and
programs are designed to create daily or special brand-related interactions with
consumers, including sports, arts, entertainment, and cause events as well as less
formal activities. Many firms are creating their own events and experiences to create
consumer and media interest and involvement. The importance of sponsorship as a
marketing communications tool is well recognized and documented in the literature
and annual sponsorship spending worldwide has been growing rapidly. Since 2012,
the total global sponsorship spending has increased up to $57.3 billion.
Event sponsorship is one of the element of marketing communication mix.
Many authors describe it within advertising. Event sponsorship occurs with a
company pays to have a presence at a sports, entertainment, nonprofit or community
events. The sponsorship may include a mix of benefits including booth representation
during the event to hand out samples, gifts and literature, name mention during the
event and ad spots connected to the event.
2.3.5 Advertising
Advertising reaches geographically dispersed buyers. It can build up a long-
term image for a product or trigger quick sales. Certain forms of advertising such as
TV can require a large budget, whereas other forms such as newspaper do not. The
mere presence of advertising might have an effect on sales: Consumers might believe
a heavily advertised brand must offer good value (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor via print media (newspapers and
magazines), broadcast media (radio and television), network media (telephone, cable,
satellite, wireless), electronic media (audiotape, videotape, videodisk, CD-ROM, Web
page), and display media (billboards, signs, posters).
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2.3.6 Public Relations and Publicity
According to Belch and Belch (2007), Publicity refers to non-personal
communications regarding an organization, product, service, or idea not directly paid
for or run under identified sponsorship. It usually comes in the form of a news story,
editorial, or announcement about an organization and/or its products and services.
Like advertising, publicity involves non-personal communication to a mass audience,
but unlike advertising, publicity is not directly paid for by the company. The company
or organization attempts to get the media to cover or run a favorable story on a
product, service, cause, or event to affect awareness, knowledge, opinions, and/or
behavior. Techniques used to gain publicity include news releases, press conferences,
feature articles, photographs, films, and videotapes.
Public relations and publicity is a variety of programs directed internally to
employees of the company or externally to consumers, other firms, the government,
and media to promote or protect a company’s image or its individual product
communications (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
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food products, travel services, and retail stores. Positive word of mouth sometimes
happens organically with little advertising, but it can also be managed and facilitated.
It is particularly effective for smaller businesses, with whom customers may feel a
more personal relationship. Many small businesses are investing in various forms of
social media at the expense of newspapers, radio, and Yellow Pages to get the word
out (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
Social media promotes the flow of word of mouth before delving into more
detail on how word of mouth is formed and travels. Social media are a means for
consumers to share text, images, audio, and video information with each other and
with companies and vice versa. Social media allow marketers to establish a public
voice and presence on the Web and reinforce other communication activities. Because
of their day-to-day immediacy, they can also encourage companies to stay innovative
and relevant.
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2.5 Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty is positively related to customer satisfaction as happy
customers consistently favor the brands that meet their needs. Loyal customers are
purchasing a firm’s products or services exclusively, and they are not willing to
switch their preferences over a competitive firm. In fact, customer loyalty is built
from the company to the customer. The more satisfied the customer, the more like to
do repeat business with a firm. Then, customer loyalty encourages customers to shop
particular brands regularly, to spend more money, to advertise the brand with a word-
of-mouth advertising and to have a positive shopping experience.
According to Shaw and Hamilton (1996), customer loyalty is the result of
consistently positive emotional experience, physical attribute-based satisfaction and
perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services. To build
loyalty, customer experience management blends the physical, emotional and value
elements of an experience into one cohesive experience.
Retaining customers is less expensive than acquiring new ones, and customer
experience management is the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction,
customer retention and customer loyalty. Loyal customers reduce costs associated
with consumer education and marketing, especially when they become net promoters
for the organization.
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2.6 Previous Research Studies on Marketing Communication Mix
Finding from previous study, regarding the effect of marketing communication
mix are described in the following Table (2.1).
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2 F. Malibate - Advertisement - Customer Promotion mix has
Lugoye - Sales Promotion Satisfaction positive influence to
(2017) - Personal Selling - Customer Airtel’s customer
- Public Relations Loyalty satisfaction.
- Customer
Retention
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2.7 Conceptual Framework of the Study
The framework for the study was modified from the empirical study described
in Figure (2.1). The Figure illustrates the marketing communication mix of AA
Medical Products Limited to maintain customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Personal Selling
Customer
Sales Promotion
Satisfaction
Internet Marketing
Customer Loyalty
Events and Sponsorship
Marketing
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Source: Own Compilation
Chapter III
Marketing Communication Mix of AA Medical Products Limited
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AA Medical Products Limited is the authorized dealer or distributor of high
quality and reliable company among the leading companies in the areas of consumer
healthcare, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and hospital care products
distribution companies in Myanmar. And World Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) recognized AA Medical as a famous pharmacy distribution company. In 1997,
Kalbe Farma Company limited was appointed AA Medical as their business partner in
Myanmar which company is the largest publicly listed pharmaceutical company in
Southeast Asia. In 2002, AA Medical was again appointed as a business partnership
with Zydus Cadila, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India. In 2004,
AA Medical began a business partnership with GlaxoSmithKline.
In 2012, AA Medical began a business partnership with Nipro, a world leading
manufacturer of Renal, Medical-Surgical and Interventional Radiology products. In
2014, AA Medical Products Limited was jointed a business partnership with Roche
Diagnostics, global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. In the same year, AA
Medical Products Limited was appointed as a business partner or authorized
distributor of nine medical products companies which are Unilab Co. Ltd, Roche Co.
Ltd, Pacific Co. Ltd, Psi Co. Ltd, Dae Hwa Pharm, Zuellig Pharma, Yuyu Pharma,
Korean Pharma Co. Ltd and Hanmiamn Co. Ltd which companies of pharmaceutical,
nutraceutical and essential products to distribute in Myanmar.
Today, AA Medical Products Limited opens 3 main offices and warehouses at
Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw. In addition, AA Medical Products Limited
opened the branch offices in Myintkyina, Mawlamyine, Taunggyi, Lashio, Magwe,
Sittwe, Kalay, Meik, Dawei and Pathein to provide for their customer. AA Medical
Products Limited has the wide distribution network which can reach to over 18,000
hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and drugs stores in Myanmar. Yangon and Mandalay
are the largest distribution areas of AA Medical Products Limited distribution
network to retail and wholesale pharmacy shops, private and public hospitals and
clinics. AA Medical Products Limited’s headquarter is located in Yangon.
AA Medical Products Limited has trained its workforce to be competent and
high performing employees with company vision and mission to meet more market
shares and competitive advantages within pharmacy industry. AA Medical Products
Limited was established vision statements as “To bring better healthcare to the people
of Myanmar, by being the country’s leading supplier and distributor of quality
medical products with international standards of safety”.
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AA Medical Products Limited established the following missions;
(1) The latest tested and proven medical products that meet international
standards of quality and safety.
(2) Efficient distribution and marketing services in accordance with good
distribution practices.
(3) Excellent customer support and staff development.
AA Medical Products Limited is organized with six main departments which
are Sales Department, Marketing Department, Finance & Account Department,
Admin Department, Operation Department and Warehouse Department. Under each
department, the functional staffs are operating their tasks in line with the organization
goals. AA Medical Products Limited is appointed with skill employees who are
professional and accountability on their duty and responsibility in each of departments
to meet organizational goal and objective. The organization structure AA Medical
Products Limited is shown in Figure (3.1).
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Figure (3.1) Organization Structure of AA Medical Products Limited
Chairman
Chief Executive
Officer (CEO)
Upper Lower
Assistant Chief
Myanmar Myanmar Executive Supervisor Manager
Manager Accountant
Team Team
Area Area
Stock Senior Senior
Sales Sales Supervisor Supervisor
Accountant Assistant Assistant
Manager Manager
Outstation Outstation
Sales Sales Cashier Housekeeper Driver Helper
Representative Representative
Cash
Security
Controller
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The functions and duties of each department in AA Medical Products Limited
are generally described as following:
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purchase invoices, preparing monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports and
reconciling bank statements.
3.1.4 Admin and Human Resources Department
In AA Medical Products Limited, an administration and human resources
managers was appointed to handle the employee affairs – benefits and to review
employee’s performance and upgrade the employment quality of employees. The
employees of this department need to monitor the operation activities of the staffs and
to assess their functional ability and capacities for their salary incensement, promotion
and reward. This department also needs to manage to be a safe working environment
for all employees and maintaining on company fixed assets.
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AA Medical ensures that all cold chain products are safely delivered to customers
within the acceptable storage temperature range.
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25 Ginkgopan GlaxoSmithKlin Co. Ltd
26 Hepapac Zydus Cadila Co. Ltd
Source: AA Medical Products Limited (July, 2018)
According to the Table (3.1), AA Medical Products Limited is selling many
brands and many types of pharmacy. AA Medical has service continuous assessment
and monitoring of its existing quality systems, checking to ensure compliance to all
regulatory requirements for quality and safety at every stage of the manufacturing
process for customer.
AA Medical Products Limited is operating to distribute international-quality
medical products, comprehensive distribution solutions, and excellent customer
support. All of distribution products are being complied under international standards
of safety and quality, and imported from a network of trusted manufacturers in
Germany, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippine, United Kingdom,
Vietnam and the United States.
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Personal selling activities of AA Medical Products Limited are operated with
five activities - prospects, approach, presentation, closes and follow-up for the
customer. These personal selling activities are person interaction to sell products and
services so that the organization firstly prepares qualify prospectus and flyer or
pamphlet to provide flexible message and effective sales for its customer. And, this
organization is needed to gather information and decide how to approach that used
customer survey and pharmacy market analyzed by salespeople. In addition, this
organization trains the employees to know detail information on products because
many customers have questions and concerns at this product of the sales process.
Thus, this organization has skilled salespeople, able to represent and promote their
company and products in the marketplace and can give clearly message specifically to
the customer, can demonstrate the product, can explain its operation or usage and
immediate feedback. The employees of AA Medical Products Limited can present to
obtain a purchase commitment from the sale presentation and can select the target
market and concentrate on the customers for minimum wastage time on their selling.
In addition, the organization always follow-ups to resolve any problems faced concern
with the quality and price of the product on their customer doubts and questions and
to ensure the customer’s satisfaction for future sales possibilities. Therefore, AA
Medical Products Limited’s sales and marketing staffs have skills to create long-term
relationship with existing customers and potential customers via personal selling.
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etc.) for the regular customers. These sale promotion activities such as lucky draw,
gifts and bonus packs for the customers are shown in Table (3.2).
Table (3.2) Luck Draw and Bonus Scheme of AA Medical Products Limited
Sale Promotion Activities
No Brand Name Promotion Season
Lucky Draw, Gift and Bonus Items
(Within 1 Year)
1 Daily Vitagin For All Products For Luck draw and coupons
2 Feropac April Car, Motor Cycle, Mobile Phone,
3 Fluza July TV, Travel package
4 Hepalucky October For Gift
5 Hepapac Phone Bill, Umbrella, T-shirt,
6 Oramin-F Calendar, Stationary, and other
7 Oramin-G Accessories.
8 Preven C Bonus Pack
9 Ryalvita Buy Two – Get One
10 Top-Roll (Within April)
11 VitaHome
Source: AA Medical Products Limited (July, 2018)
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1 Hospitals, Cream, Soft Caps, 10 % Discount for 1 Point for above
Clinics and Liquids above 20 pkg 20 pkg
2 Retail / Cream, Soft Caps, 6 % Discount for 1 Point for above
Wholesale and Liquids above 20 pkg 20 pkg
Source: AA Medical Products Limited (July, 2018)
According to Table (3.3), AA Medical Products Limited performs the sales
promotion scheme with two groups. For hospitals and clinics, 10 % discount is given
because these customers always purchase with cash down. For retail/wholesale
pharmacy shops, AA Medical gives 6 % discount because these customers always
purchase with 3 or 6 months credit payment. As the Loyalty point, all types of
customers can get 1 Points equal with 2,000 Kyats refund. Therefore, AA Medical
Products Limited has performed many kinds of sales promotion activities to increase
customer satisfaction and loyalty intentionally to get the future profit gains.
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3.3.4 Events and Sponsorships Marketing
AA Medical Products Company Limited’s events and sponsorships marketing
activities are included education scholarship sponsorship, sports sponsorship and
events sponsorship for entertainment and festivals to increase its customers’
credibility, improve company’s image, and build prestige.
The following table (3.4) describes briefly about the sponsorship activities of
AA Medical Products Limited.
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Shows, Seminars of Myanmar Doctor’s Association, Traditional Festivals, and
Celebrities’ Music Shows as the promotional efforts. Moreover, this organization has
provided as a Main Sponsor at Television programs and some traditional festivals
(such as-air balloon festival, water festival and other religion festivals) to promote
their brands, logos and products by providing financial as a prize.
Chapter IV
Analysis on the Effects of Marketing Communication Mix in AA
Medical Products Limited
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Table (4.1) Gender of Respondents
No. Gender Number of Respondents Percentage
1 Male 70 58.33
2 Female 50 41.67
Total 120 100.00
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to Table (4.1), the percentage of the gender of the respondents is
found male respondents are 57.14 percent while female respondents are 42.85 percent
the survey. Therefore, male respondents are the major distribution of the sample.
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Table (4.3) Education Level of Respondents
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Purchase experience of respondents is classified into five groups: less than 1
year of experiences, between 1 and 5 years of experiences, between 6 and 10 years of
experiences and above 10 years of experiences. It can be seen in Table (4.5).
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6 Customer Loyalty 8 0.727
Overall 6 0.845
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
In Table (4.6), the alpha values for all of variable - each of the independent
variables (personal selling, sale promotion, internet marketing an events and
sponsorships marketing) and dependent variable (customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty) are demonstrated a high level of reliability because all of the alpha values of
scale items are 0.70 and above. Therefore, scale items directed toward one dimension.
It can be concluded that scale items of questionnaires are consistent and reliable.
4.3 Analysis on Marketing Communication Mix of AA Medical Products
Limited
This section presents the analysis on marketing communication mix activities
of AA Medical Products Limited. Personal selling, sale promotion, internet marketing
and events and sponsorships marketing that are regarded as the independent variables
for customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction variable is regarded both as the
independent variable and the dependent variable. The customer loyalty variable is
regarded as the dependent variable according to the conceptual framework of the
study. This study prepared structured questionnaire and asked to the customers of AA
Medical Products Limited – clinics, pharmacists, hospitals. These questions are based
on the five-point Likert Scale. (5 is strongly agreed, 4 is agreed, 3 is neural, 2 is
disagreed and 1 is strongly disagreed). According to Bowling (1997), the mean value
for Five Point Likert Scale items were interpreted as following:
The score among 1.00 - 1.80 means strongly disagree
The score among 1.81 - 2.60 means disagree
The score among 2.61 - 3.40 means neither agree nor disagree
The score among 3.41 - 4.20 means agree
The score among 4.21 - 5.00 means strongly agree
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Table (4.7) Customer Perception on Personal Selling
No Particular Mean SD
1 Skillful salesperson at presentation and promotion 3.65 0.682
2 Clear message and quick response 3.65 0.669
3 Good at finding potential buyer 3.64 0.731
4 Efficient skill in selecting target market 3.50 0.733
5 Easy solving any customer’s doubts 3.68 0.724
6 Good at suggestions for customers 3.69 0.696
7 Long-term relationship with customers 3.68 0.733
Overall Mean 3.64
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to the results Table (4.7), the overall mean value is 3.64 because
the customer acknowledges on personal selling activities of this organization. And the
customer believes these salespeople who can give clear message to the customer,
demonstrate the product, and explain its operation or usage of product and immediate
feedback to their customers.
According to the results, the factor for good at suggestion for customer mean
value is 3.69, the maximum mean value among seven factors of personal selling. This
result means that employees of AA Medical Products Limited can sell professionally
and practically the products with good suggestion. And salesperson of this
organization well knows the nature of product, clearly identify customer needs and
interests, and have enough knowledge and education for doing good personal selling
in this market.
The minimum mean value of personal selling is 3.75. This result shows that
the nature of medical distribution organization is always easy to find target market but
difficult to attract customer to buy products because most of the customers are
professional and experienced. So, salespeople are needed to explain details on their
products and take more time to get the trust of customers.
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No Particular Mean SD
1 Discounted prices on some items by giving discount card 3.47 0.829
2 Quantity discounts for large amount purchase 3.79 0.634
3 Bonus package of two products for the price of one 3.63 0.647
4 Seasonal promotions with lucky draw coupons (mobile 3.56 0.754
phone, TV, Vacation Trip and etc.)
5 Free samples to introduce a new pharmacy 3.35 0.763
6 Reward programs with loyalty points and use that points 3.42 0.836
for money refund for next purchase
7 Gift (umbrella, prepaid card, T-shirt and etc.) for customer 3.63 0.647
Overall Mean 3.55
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to the Table (4.8), the overall mean value is 3.55 because this
organization always provides with various promotion activities which are lucky draw,
samplings, loyalty points, gifting and bonus pack for its customer. The maximum
mean value is 3.79 among seven factors of sale promotion. This result means that this
organization is well known among the customers because of its discount programs.
These discounts are intended to get the customer satisfaction, to retain the customer
loyalty and also to increase sale volumes due to reduce price for huge amount of
purchase.
The minimum mean value of customer perception on the organization is 3.35
at paying free samples to introduce a new pharmacy product for customer because this
organization are rare to launch or distribute new pharmacy products within one year.
Therefore, this organization cannot always pay free samples for its customer.
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3 Products available shops location are seen on Internet 3.63 0.789
4 User-friendly Website, Website assurance/information 3.83 0.585
security for customers
5 Price information can easily be known on Internet 3.42 0.836
6 Easy connection via E-mail, Website, and Facebook to 3.83 0.575
know about medical usage and instruction
7 Online advertising and broadcasting online videos are 3.55 0.720
good and clearly messaged to customer
Overall Mean 3.67
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to Table (4.9), the overall mean value is 3.67. This result means
that customers recognize AA Medical’s websites/blogs, Facebook and email by
advertising and promotion purposes of products. The maximum mean value is 3.83 in
both factors of internet marketing activities of this organization because the website,
Facebook activities and e-mails of this organization are always well monitored to
communicate with customers. And user-friendly website and information security of
AA Medical Products Limited is most preferable among other internet marketing
activities.
The minimum mean value of customer perception on internet marketing is
3.42. This result means that this organization cannot show exactly all product prices
on the website because product prices are changeable daily as accordance with the
market nature.
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No Particular Mean SD
1 Sponsors at Traditional Festivals 3.63 0.810
2 Scholarship sponsors in education for students 3.63 0.789
3 Event sponsorship in Singing Contests, Music Shows, etc 3.83 0.585
4 Event sponsor for Television Shows, Radio Programs –
3.67 0.653
such as Theatre, Movies, Game Shows and others
5 Sport sponsorship concern with local sports programs,
3.68 0.624
running contest, walking events
6 Medical Trade Shows, Export/Import Trade Shows and
3.87 0.579
Literature Events
7 Sports sponsor for Football Cups, Boxing Champion
Cups, SEA Games Festivals, other National Game 3.83 0.575
Events and Olympic Day Festivals
Overall Mean 3.73
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4.3.5 Summary of Customer Perception on Marketing Communication Mix of
AA Medical Products Limited
Customer perception on marketing communication mix of AA Medical
Products Limited is measured with four factors in this study. They are personal
selling, sale promotion, internet marketing and events and sponsorship marketing. The
mean and standard deviation values for each factor are presented in Table (4.11).
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No Particular Mean SD
1 Satisfy on salesperson’s presentation and demonstration 3.87 0.593
2 Satisfy on salesperson’s knowledge and skills 3.57 0.658
3 Satisfy on discounts, bonus plan, and credit payment 3.83 0.706
4 Satisfy on free samples, lucky draws and gifts 3.48 0.722
5 Satisfy on the buying of products from Internet with less
3.68 0.676
cost and time
6 Satisfy on all information of products shown in website
3.67 0.653
and Facebook
7 Satisfy events sponsorship programs at entertainments,
3.62 0.735
trade shows and festivals.
8 Satisfy the scholarship sponsors for financial difficult
3.32 0.767
university students
Overall Mean 3.63
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to the Table (4.12), the customer perception on satisfaction of the
overall mean values is 3.63. This means that customer satisfied on personal selling,
sale promotion, internet marketing and events and sponsorship marketing of AA
Medical Products Limited.
The maximum mean score level of customer perception on their satisfaction is
that sale person of this organization because mean value is 3.87. It means that this
organization has skillful employees to deal professionally and ethically with good
presentation, effective selling and complete advertising to satisfy customers.
On the other hand, the minimum mean value of customer satisfaction is 3.32
on the scholarship sponsors of this organization. This result shows that most of
customers prefer and satisfy to provide more promotion activities and to receive their
financial benefits than the organization’s sponsorship activities.
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Table (4.13) Customer Perception on Customer Loyalty
No Particular Mean SD
1 Always buy because of good communication 3.88 0.616
2 Always say good about AA Medical’s products
3.60 0.715
because of salesperson’s good presentation
3 Always buy because of better discounts and samples 3.67 0.781
4 Always buy because of more special coupons, lucky
3.66 0.761
draws and loyalty points for regular customers
5 Always prefer its online communication 3.87 0.593
6 Always buy because of easier purchase from online 3.57 0.867
7 Always proudly buy because it gives scholarship 3.57 0.807
8 Always buy because of its sponsorship in events and
3.57 0.719
festivals are attractive
Overall Mean 3.67
Source: Survey Data (October, 2018)
According to the Table (4.13), the overall mean value of the customer
perception on customer loyalty is 3.67. This means that customer always firstly buy
the pharmacy product from this organization if there are products with same price and
quality in other company because personal selling, sale promotion, internet marketing
and events and sponsorship marketing activities of AA Medical Products are better
provided for the customers than other companies to become next time for repurchase
and become a loyal customer.
The maximum mean value is 3.88 in customer perception on loyalty. The
customers always purchase the products of AA Medical because the products of this
organization are better quality and reliable than other company. It means that the
customer of this organization always consider products’ quality and reliability than
price.
On the other hand, the minimum mean value is 3.57 in score level on customer
loyalty. The lowest mean values occur in three factors which are online purchase
activity and events and sponsorship activities. These results show that customers are
lower influenced on internet marketing and event and sponsorship marketing to
motivate their purchase decision and to become loyal customer than other factors.
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4.4 Analysis on the Relationship between Marketing Communication Mix
and Customer Satisfaction
After the reliability test and mean and standard deviation the correlation of the
marketing communication mix activities; personal selling, sale promotion, internet
marketing and events and sponsorships marketing were tested to show their
correlation with customer satisfaction. The results of the correlations of the measured
variables are shown in Table (4.14).
The correlation analysis is the statistical tool used to study the closeness of the
relationship between two or more variables. Correlation coefficient range is the
between +1 and -1 that +1 indicates the strongest positive correlation possible, and -1
indicates the strongest negative correlation possible. If the value of positive, it means
that one variable gets larger, other will also be larger. If value is negative, it means
that one variable gets larger, the other gets smaller.
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between sale promotion and customer satisfaction is 0.432 at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Then, the correlation coefficient between internet marketing and customer satisfaction
has moderate positive relationship with it value is 0.509 at the 0.01 level. And also,
events and sponsorship marketing has the moderate positive correlation coefficient
with customer satisfaction is 0.546 at the 0.01 level.
According to the correlation analysis, the results show that the marketing
communication activities are widely operated by AA Medical Products Limited.
Therefore, the marketing communication activities are supported to gain the higher
level of the customer satisfaction for AA Medical Products Limited.
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4.6 Analysis on the Effects of Marketing Communication Mix on Customer
Satisfaction
In multiple regression analysis, the model for simple linear regression is
extended to account for the relationship between the dependent variable and
independent variables. It is used to predict the value of a variable based on the value
of two or more other variables. In the multiple regression models, the dependent
variable is customer satisfaction while the independent variables are marketing
communication mix – personal selling, sale promotion, internet marketing and events
and sponsorship marketing in this study. The results of multiple regression analysis
are shown in Table (4.16).
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Y= β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + β3X3 + β4X4
The Estimated model for the Study:
Ŷ= b0 + b1 X1 + b2 X2 + b3 X3+ b4 X4
Where,
Ŷ = Customer Satisfaction
b0 = Constant (intersection)
b1 = Unstandardized Coefficients
X1 = Personal Selling
X2 = Sale Promotion
X3 = Internet Marketing
X4 = Events and Sponsorship Marketing
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personal selling, sale promotion and events and sponsorship marketing are considered
as the most important significant factor in this study.
The customers of AA Medical Products Limited are mostly satisfied at
personal selling, sale promotion and events and sponsorship marketing than internet
marketing factor. According to the above regression results, personal selling, sale
promotion and events and sponsorship factor in the marketing communication mix
activities factors to improve customer satisfaction at 0.05 significant levels but
internet marketing has no significant impact on customer satisfaction.
49
bi = Unstandardized Coefficients
X1 = Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction = 1.845 + 0.477 Customer Loyalty
Customer Loyalty
Significant
Not Significant
50
Source: Own Compilation
Figure (4.1) showed the final results of regression analysis of this study.
According to this result, three marketing communication mix activities (personal
selling, sale promotion, internet marketing and events and sponsorship) have the
significant relationship with customer satisfaction. This result indicates that customers
are more satisfied by performing personal selling, sale promotion and events and
sponsorship marketing because most of the customers favor to satisfy their needs
which are better quality, reliability, detail presentation, quick problem solving of sale
person from this organization. And, most of customers satisfy on discounts, coupons
(or) lucky draw, samplings, loyalty points, gifting and bonus pack provided by this
organization. Moreover, customers recognize on scholarship, sport sponsorship and
events sponsorship of this organization because this sponsorship program lead to
customer credibility and customer satisfaction about the marketing communication of
this organization.
Additional, this organization also focuses on internet marketing activities by
providing effective ways to improve their customer satisfaction. According to the
results, better providing marketing communication mix leads to get improvement of
customer satisfaction.
The result of this study reveals that customer satisfaction has the significant
relationship with customer loyalty. It is clearly shown that this organization
intentionally considers to get the customer satisfaction because this result can indicate
to lead more customer loyalty from more customer satisfaction. According to this
result, the customer loyalty is created by customer satisfaction. AA Medical Products
Limited establishes good marketing communication mix for its customers which leads
to improve customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty.
Internet marketing has no significant impact on customer satisfaction. This
result shows that most of the customers do not consider the internet marketing of this
organization is to be satisfied because of poor technical support, late respond,
incomplete information, weak reliability, and bad internet connection. According to
the status of internet security and cyber law status in Myanmar, customers are not
reliable and trust on internet marketing absolutely. Therefore, internet marketing of
AA Medical Products Limited is difficult to influence on the customer satisfaction.
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Chapter V
Conclusion
This chapter is the conclusion which is discussed based on the results of the
statistical analysis. It consists of findings and discussions, suggestions and
recommendations, and limitations and needs for future research. This study analyzed
the effects of the marketing communication mix in AA Medical Products Limited.
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skillful and professional employees to communicate customers in effective way.
Coupons, discount cards, credit payment, gifts, free samples, lucky draws, loyal
points, bonus package, and trips were made as the sales promotion by AA Medical
Products Limited. Internet marketing was becoming a popular promotion mix in
Myanmar therefore AA Medical Products Limited created its website, Facebook page,
emails, and other online social media advertising videos, posts, blogs to satisfy its
customers. AA Medical Products Limited’s sponsorship activities were especially
intend to national sports contests, entertainment events, traditional festivals and
educational supports.
According to the survey data, male respondents are more than female
respondent in gender group. The major age group of respondents is between 26 and
39 years. And the most of respondents are graduated. In this survey, the occupations
of respondents’ are mostly clinical. According to purchase experience of respondents,
the majority of respondents are between 6 and 10 year experience in pharmacy
industry.
According to the mean values analysis of marketing communication mix,
events and sponsorship marketing has the maximum mean value. It can be concluded
that AA Medical Products Limited can successfully support events and sponsorship
activities of the marketing communication activities. The events and sponsorship
marketing; education scholarship, event sponsorship and sport sponsorship can
increase customer credibility, improve company image and build prestige which can
lead to customer satisfaction.
In addition, sales promotion has the minimum mean value. It can be
concluded that AA Medical Products Limited’s sales promotion activities are not
attractive to get the customer awareness and recognition because professional doctors
and pharmacists are not care only on financial benefits to purchase the pharmacy.
Therefore, sales promotion of pharmaceutical companies are used mostly in a short
period to increase sales volume for retail/wholesale market.
According to the results of reliability test, all variables are reliable. The
correlation results shows that there is a positive relationship between marketing
communication mix and customer satisfaction and also positive relationship between
customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Among the marketing communication
mix, personal selling has the strongest positive relationship with customer
satisfaction. This result shows that personal selling has many factors to influence on
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customer satisfaction increased. The other marketing communication mix; sale
promotion, internet marketing and events and sponsorship marketing have moderate
positive correlation with customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction
factor has moderate positive relationship with customer loyalty. These results show
that more marketing communication are needed to provide by AA Medical Products
Limited to get more customer satisfaction. Then, customer satisfaction will gain the
numbers of the loyal customer for AA Medical Products Limited will also increase.
In addition, multiple regression analysis was used to test the effects of
marketing communication mix on customer satisfaction of AA Medical Products
Limited. The results show that personal selling, sale promotion and events and sport
sponsorship have significant effects on customer satisfaction. It is concluded that the
personal selling, sale promotion and events and sport sponsorship marketing of AA
Medical Products Limited are essential for achievement of customer satisfaction. This
means that marketing communication mix of this organization are effective and
satisfactory for its customers.
On the other hand, internet marketing is not significant factor to influence on
customer satisfaction. This means that most of the customers do not consider the
internet marketing of this organization is to be satisfied because of poor technical
support, late respond, incomplete information, weak reliability, and bad internet
connection. Then, customers always consider to support their needs with quick
feedback, face-to-face interaction, negotiation by oral presentation, and practical
demonstration about the products. Insufficient technicians for IT services of this
organization are difficult to support customers for absolute digital marketing platform.
Linear regression analysis results support the positive and significant
relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. By creating strong
customer satisfaction through the marketing communication mix, AA Medical
Products Limited gains the more customer loyalty. Thus, this result indicates that the
practices of marketing communication mix are significantly influent for AA Medical
Products Limited to uplift the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty which can
shape the future achievement in the Pharmacy Market in Myanmar.
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Products Limited to realize whether the four marketing communication mix can effect
on customer satisfaction and also customer satisfaction can effect on customer loyalty.
This finding implies that gaining customer satisfaction and customer loyalty
depends on how well offer marketing communication mix by the organization and
which factors effect on customer satisfaction and encourage loyalty. It is suggested
that marketing communication mix plays a vital role to create customer satisfaction
and also the customer satisfaction is important to customer loyalty.
According to the mean value of marketing communication mix, it shows that
events and sponsorship marketing is the most satisfied for customer. Therefore, the
organization needs to provide and maintain its sponsorship activities to improve
customer satisfaction which can increase their loyalty.
As the result of multiple regression analysis, marketing communication mix of
AA Medical Limited (personal selling, sale promotion and events and sport
sponsorship) shows the significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction.
Among them, personal selling is the strongest factor to build the customer
satisfaction. Thus, AA Medical Products Limited should more focus on personal
selling, sale promotion and events and sponsorship marketing which are essentially
required marketing communication mix to effect on customer satisfaction and then
customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty as a consequences.
AA Medical Products Limited should more focus on internet marketing
because it is not significantly related with customer satisfaction according to the result
of multiple regression analysis. Therefore, AA Medical Products Limited should more
create online social media advertising at famous celebrity web page, creating
attractive advertising with a few minute videos or massage to get more recognition
and review from customers. In addition, this organization more supported online
marketing with right time delivery, lower delivery charges, right price and product for
all nationwide customers. And also, this organization should be more manage on
their internet marketing to be safe and secured website, right information and up to
date inform concern with distribution products. Therefore, AA Medical Products
Limited should more technical, financial and manpower support in creating internet
marketing to gain more customer satisfaction in the future.
Furthermore, the result of linear regression analysis reveals that the positive
and significant relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Thus,
the effective customer satisfaction factors should be provided to boost and maintain
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customer loyalty. AA Medical Products Limited should provide customer care action,
respond customer request and problem, well build relationship with customer, provide
better quality and reliability products, and create good promotion plans for customer.
Therefore, AA Medical Limited should be evaluated and measured on the customer
concern with satisfaction of marketing communication factors.
Finally, AA Medical Limited should more considers customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty factors that are critical for long-term health and success of business.
Moreover, AA Medical Products Limited should more provides personal selling, sales
promotion, events and sponsorship marketing for increasing customer reliability and
credibility which lead to improve sales volume, satisfaction and loyalty. Thus, the
better manage on marketing communication mix activities of the organization can be
higher customer satisfaction and increased customer loyalty.
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