ABSTRACT
The need for an organization to properly coordinate its marketing communications strategies
to achieve a clear, consistent and competitive message about itself and its product has
become issue of concern to every result driven firm. The study is aimed at examining the
impact of integrated marketing communication on consumers’ patronage of Nigerian
beverage products.
The objectives of this research among others are to (i) establish the level
of understanding and the use of IMC by Nigerian beverage communications institutions. (ii)
Find out whether the use of IMC can bring about profitable long term customer relationship
(iii) determine if optimal use of IMC can make a product compete effectively thereby
recording a good consumers patronage, and (iv) ascertain whether proper implementation of
IMC programmes can help reduce a firm’ cost of marketing communications.
This research
adopted a survey method with four hypotheses and structured questionnaires distributed
among sampled respondents, which include those from marketing communication
organizations, beverage producers and consumers of the products in the South Western part
of Nigeria. To ensure reliability of this instrument, a test-retest was carried out within one
and half month interval. The result yielded 0.88and Cronbach alpha of 0.76.
The face and
content validity of this instrument were ensured. The divergent validity of –0.62 and
convergent validity of 0.82were revealed. In analyzing the data, the researcher used
suitable test statistics, correlation and Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis where appropriate.
Findings show that respondents appreciate the inherent benefits that the use of IMC will
bring over its non-use (the traditional approach).
Such benefits according to findings include
cost savings; effective and efficient marketing communication messages, sustained long term
client-customer relationships, better consumer patronage, amongst others. Mere
implementation of different combination of marketing communication tools together cannot
guarantee better results, it is the strategic coordination of marketing communication tools
and the media that will facilitate efficient results and help the company influence its
perceived brand value in the eyes of its esteemed customers and other stakeholders.
Key Words:
Integrated, Marketing, Communications, Consumers, Patronage, Beverage.
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