Page 532 - Foundations of Marketing

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion | Chapter 17 499

is the tendency to reprimand top sellers less severely than poor performers for engaging in
unethical selling practices.
After evaluating salespeople, sales managers take any needed corrective action to improve
sales force performance. They may adjust performance standards, provide additional training,
or try other motivational methods. Corrective action may demand comprehensive changes in
the sales force.

THE NATURE OF SALES PROMOTION LO 6 . Explain what sales promo-
tion activities are and how they
are used.
Sales promotion is an activity or material, or both, that acts as a direct inducement, offering
added value or incentive for the product to resellers, salespeople, or consumers. It encom-
passes all promotional activities and materials other than personal selling, advertising, and
public relations. The retailer Payless, for example, often offers buy-one-get-one-free sales
on its shoes, a sales promotion tactic known as a bonus or premium. In competitive mar-
kets, where products are very similar, sales promotion provides additional inducements that
encourage product trial and purchase.
Marketers often use sales promotion to facilitate personal selling, advertising, or both.
Companies also employ advertising and personal selling to support sales promotion activi-
ties. For example, marketers frequently use advertising to promote contests, free samples, and
premiums. The most effective sales promotion efforts are highly interrelated with other pro-
motional activities. Decisions regarding sales promotion often affect advertising and personal
selling decisions, and vice versa.
Sales promotion can increase sales by providing extra purchasing incentives. Many oppor-
tunities exist to motivate consumers, resellers, and salespeople to take desired actions. Some
kinds of sales promotion are designed specifically to stimulate resellers’ demand and effec-
tiveness, some are directed at increasing consumer demand, and some focus on both con-
sumers and resellers. Regardless of the purpose, marketers must ensure that sales promotion
objectives are consistent with the organization’s overall objectives, as well as with its market-
ing and promotion objectives.
When deciding which sales promotion methods to use, marketers must consider several
factors, particularly product characteristics (price, size, weight, costs, durability, uses, fea-
tures, and hazards) and target market characteristics (age, gender, income, location, popula-
tion density, usage rate, and shopping patterns). How products are distributed and the number
and types of resellers may determine the type of method used. The competitive and legal
environment may also influence the choice.
The use of sales promotion has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, primarily
at the expense of advertising. This shift in how promotional dollars are used has occurred
for several reasons. Heightened concerns about value have made customers more responsive
to promotional offers, especially price discounts and point-of-purchase displays. Thanks to
their size and access to checkout scanner data, retailers have gained considerable power in
the supply chain and are demanding greater promotional efforts from manufacturers to boost
retail profits. Declines in brand loyalty have produced an environment in which sales promo-
tions aimed at persuading customers to switch brands are more effective. Finally, the stronger
sales promotion An activity
emphasis placed on improving short-term performance results calls for greater use of sales and/or material intended to
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promotion methods that yield quick (although perhaps short-lived) sales increases.
induce resellers or salespeople
In the remainder of this chapter, we examine several consumer and trade sales promotion to sell a product or consumers
methods, including what they entail and what goals they can help marketers achieve. to buy it
consumer sales
Consumer Sales Promotion Methods promotion methods Sales
promotion techniques that
Consumer sales promotion methods encourage or stimulate consumers to patronize encourage consumers to
specific retail stores or try particular products. Consumer sales promotion methods initi- patronize specific stores or try
ated by retailers often aim to attract customers to specific locations, whereas those used by particular products

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