CHAPTER ONE 1.

0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter highlights the blackguard of study, statement of the problem, research hypothesis, purpose of the study and the scope of the study.

1.1

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In the 1800s a forcers son in England called William Lever, a traveling salesman entered into soap business with a yellow soap, which he called sunlight. The name of his soap became well known in England and three years later, the foundation was laid in the establishment of Lever Brothers Limited in Britain which happened to have grown to become one of the largest firms in the world. Lever Brothers Limited also established trading companies in Africa known as United Africa Company (UAC). The branch in this country is United African Company, Ghana Limited. This trading company was responsible for selling lever brothers products.

In 1942, U.A.C. Ghana Limited started importing Key Soap from it Parent Company in Britain. By 1962, it became more economical to produce the soap in Ghana and sell it locally. In 1963, Lever Brothers Ghana Limited was formed to produce key soap. Key soap therefore became the first product to be produced by Lever Brothers Ghana Limited locally.

Key soap has been and still a product that is used all over the country. In the past it was a prestige for a family to use key soap. During those times, the product was not advertised because the quality of the product created a good name for itself. As such, the product was sold with less difficulty. However, as time went on, the product was advertised alongside other products produced by Lever Brothers Ghana Limited.

Upon the realization of the product being bought in large quantities, the producers decided to create a brand image for it. They did this by improving the product quality and developing an advertisement for the product alone to support whatever quality the product was believed to possess.

Furthermore, with the introduction of other imported and locally produced bar soap on to the market, such as Ameen and king Bar Soap, it became necessary for an advertisement to be developed to continuously remind consumers of the qualities of the product. The reason was that these soaps were capturing the market of Key Soap. King Bar Soap for instance confused a number of customers of Key soap with the pronunciation. Any time they visited the shops to buy key soap and they were given king soap, they did not insist on having key soap because they could not really differentiate between the two.

Eventually in 1991, an advertisement for they soap was designed and started showing frequently. Today, newly improved key soap advertisements are shown in the media regularly. The advertisements brought to light the difference between key soap and king bar soap. Apart from this, the advertisement reminded consumers about the improvement

of the product quality. The key soap advertisement generally supports the idea that the product has been used from generation to generation because it has been able to withstand the test to time due to its good quality and durability.

The media use in advertising key soap includes television, radio, billboards and newspapers among others. The advertisement has been translated into five different languages namely, English, Twi, Hausa, Eve and Ga to make communication more effective. Apart from the above mentioned media, the producers of the product also involve their distributors in advertising through word-of-mouth communication with their customers, use of their outlets to paste posters and some times branding of their premises and vehicles.

1.2

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.

Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively and making it accessible to consumers. Firms or organizations must also communicate with their consumers. For most organizations however, the question is to communicate but how much to spend and in what ways. Even though advertising is expensive, a skillfully used advertising campaign can be the cheapest means of reaching the market. Advertising therefore can be very cheap. It is important for producers to realize that the cost of advertising is relative to results. This means that producers must not look at the cost involved in advertising their products but rather the result the advertisement will yield.

Producers must not just produce and expect the consumers to buy their products, they need to inform the general public or consumers about the availability of their products, educate them on the uses of the products and persuade them to buy. This can be done through advertising which is the focus of the study. What the study seeks to do is to examine the role of advertising in the distribution and use of the key soap in the Sunyani Township.

1.3

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis can be explained to mean a conjectural statement of the relationship between two or more variables. Hypothesis is an educated guess about a research outcome. It serves as a guide for the investigation of the entire process of a research. According to Sarantakos (1993), the purpose of formulating hypothesis is to offer a clear framework and guide when collecting, analyzing and interpreting data. To achieve the objectives of this study, the following hypotheses have been formulated; 1) Null Hypothesis There is no point in advertising something which people are familiar with. 2) Alternative hypothesis There is the need for advertising to be done often because people do forget easily.

1.4

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study was undertaken to examine the impact of advertising on the marketing of key soap within the Sunyani Township in order to

(1)

Determine the relationship between advertisement and the consumers purchase decision-making.

(2)

Assess the impact of other factors which influence the decision of consumers to purchases key soap apart from advertising

(3) (4)

Evaluate how advertising influences the activities of wholesalers and retailers. Make recommendations for management decision making based on the finding s of the study

1.5

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The research when completed will. 1. Equip the researcher with the skill and the knowledge required to carry out such study in the near future when the need arises. 2. Help the researcher to ascertain the impact of advertising with regards to the distribution of key soap in the Sunyani Township. 3. Help determine the role of advertising as an element of marketing communication mix. 4. Provide the basis for management decision making with regards to advertisement of key soap. 5. 6. Provide the basis for evaluating the advertising media used to market key soap. Investigate the reasons why people or consumers prefer key soap to other competing brands in the market. 7. Examine the other promotional variables that are combined with advertising in product promotion.

1.6

METHODOLOGY: Primary data shall be used.

The sample which is the embodiment of the total population comprises of a simples random sample of sixty (60) people within the Sunyani Township. This in made up of forty (40) customers, ten(10) distributors made up to both wholesalers and retailers and ten (10) restaurant operators.

1.7 1.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. My ability to have all the information needed for the project was constrained by funds. Thus due to inadequate funds, I could not travel to the required number of times to collect data.

2.

I was also constrained by time because the project work had to be combined with other academic schedule within the same period.

3.

Many of the respondents were also reluctant to provide me with the needed information because they maintained that most of the information I required was confidential.

4.

Another limitation was lack of adequate literature from the reference sources I visited.

1.8

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.

Thee research consists of five chapters as follows: Chapter one (1) consists of the background of the study, statement of the problem, research hypothesis, purpose of the study. Significance of the study, limitations of the study, organization of the study and the scope of the study.

Chapter two (2) reviews all the literature on the concept of advertising, it takes into consideration certain comments on the definitions of advertising, effectiveness of advertising, the role of advertising agencies, the advertising budget, critisms of advertising and models of advertising.

Chapter three (3) covers the methods used to conduct the research.

Chapter four (4) is a presentation and discussion of findings.

Chapter five (5) summarizes the findings, makes recommendations and draws conclusions.

1.9

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study will be limited to the Sunyani Township. Specifically, it will focus on customers, distributors and restaurant operators and chop bar operators.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0

INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with literature review on the concept of advertising. It involves some remarks on the definition of advertising, types of advertising media, functions of advertising, effectiveness of advertising, the role of advertising agencies, the advertising budget, and criticisms of advertising and model of advertising.

2.1

DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING.

The word advertising comes from the Latin word advertuer; meaning to turn the mind towards. There have been many definitions of advertising. According to Kotler, et al (1999), we define advertising as any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identify sponsor. Advertising is used by many organizations to communicate specific messages about themselves, their product and service or their mode of behaviour to a predefined target audience in order to stimulate a response from the audience. As Ariens et al (1992) said, the advertising agency that has developed coca colas national campaign for many years, advertising is truth well told. Today, we may define advertising as a communication process, a marketing process, and economic and social process, a public relations process or information and persuasion process.

According to William D.P (1990), advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or service by an identified sponsor. They point out that advertising in this context is distinguished from other promotional tools in many ways. In the first place, it is paid for which makes it different from personal selling, which involves direct communication between sellers and potential customers. Personal selling usually happens face-to-face but sometimes the communication, which is done through newspapers, television and other mass media, which is different from sales promotion, which refers to those promotional activities that stimulate interest. The definition also points out that, advertising can also be used to promote service such as banking, insurance and not to sell only products like key soap. It can also be used to sell ideas in non-profit organizations such as population control. Advertising is a means by which people are informed about goods and services in order to persuade them to buy in large quantities. There is no essence to advertise product, which consumers are familiar with and that it is a waste of resources. However, due to the frequent forgetfulness of consumers it is necessary to embark on advertising campaign. Laymen usually view all advertising as being the same and this is true in terms of basic functions. In the same way, no two advertising situation are exactly the same. Different kinds of businesses use advertising to motivate different kinds of market towards different kinds of responses.

2.2

TYPES OF ADVERTISING

As Larreche et al (1995) stated, there are three types of advertising, namely; generic, brand and institutional advertising. Generic or Primary advertising is a type of advertising that tries to increase the total demand for products without distinguishing between brands. Brand or selective advertising on the other hand aims at getting purchasers to use a particular brand of product. The institutional advertising is designed to create goodwill and build a desired image for a company rather than selling specific goods.

2.3

ADVERTISING MEDIA.

The nature of advertising usually depends on media available to present the message of the producer to the buyer. This means that advertising media is a carrier of the advertising message. The principal media can be classified as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, direct mail, posters, and others. The individual advertising largely determines the kind of media to be selected. Thus to select media that will carry advertisers message most effectively round efficiently to the people. The advertiser should carefully analyze all available facts bearing on his marketing situation and media alternative. In this wise, all questions that pin-point the task like who are the people who enhance purchase? Where do they live? Where and how is the producer distributed? It must be answered taking into consideration the particular product in question in order to choose the right media for product.

10

Moreover, the creative strategy to be employed, the mood of product image the advertising is designed to emphasise, the need for colours, for demonstration, for news, for authority are all essential considerations. The space and time cost is widely used standards for comparing the efficiency of alternative media. Sound judgment and imaginations are required to exploit the unique advertising opportunities offered by any medium.

As stated by Kotler P.et al (1999), to select advertising media, the advertiser must decide what reach and frequency are needed to achieve advertising objectives. Reach is a measure of percentage to the people in the target market who are exposed to the advertising campaign during a given period of time. Frequency answers how many times the average person is exposed to the message. Advertising plays a very important role in the marketing of products and services. Without advertising, most companies will not be able to achieve their target sales in a competitive market.

Unilever, Ghana Limited is fully aware of the impact of advertising of the sales of product in Ghana and has therefore made it a point to embark on strong advertising campaign in the marketing of its key soap. They advertise their product on the television, radio and through the other advertising media in Ghana. By so doing, Unilever creates awareness for it products. Also, advertising of key soap has created the impression on the country at the moment. The company makes good sales yearly as a result of the awareness created through its advertising campaign.

11

2.4

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING.

For any business with something to sell, advertising performs several functions. Its effects on the organization may be dramatic. As stated by Bovec C.L et al (1995), advertising is not an end but a means to an end tool that advertisers can use to reach their goals. The function of advertising varies depending on the advertiser and its particular objectives, which usually includes one or more of the following.

To differentiate product from competitors. Campbell soup uses advertising to identify its soup. Tomato juice and other products as part of Campbells family that reinforces as sense of quality and taste that distinguishes those products from rival products. To communicate product information. When Campbell advertises t soup, it focuses on the ways consumers can use these products, the taste they can expect and the convenience. To urge product use. If you have never tried Campbells soup cents-off coupons and mouthwatering recipes its adverts may give you the push you need. Once you have tried the soup and liked it Campbells advertising serves as a reminder that you should use it again and-again.

To expand product distribution. If you see an advert for Campbell tomato soup and your local store does not carry it, you might ask the manager to stock it. The more customers who are stimulated by advertising to request a product, the more stores will have to carry it. Cirade advertising also aims to build distribution by advertising of wholesalers and retailers).

12

To increase brand preference and loyalty. Campbells soup has many competitors, so it used advertising to give you reasons to prefer Campbells to other brands and to stay with Campbells when you buy soup. Non-profit organizations and government agencies use advertising for many of the same reasons. Although such organization are not seeking for profit or making sales the same business do, they can use advertising to build an identity in the publics minds to communicate information and to do all the other things that advertising does as well.

2.5

EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING.

Starch put forward that the idea that in order to for advertising to be effective it must have the following. It must be. Seen Road Viewed Remembered and Acted upon. Starch was of the view that the above indicators were useful checklist against which to measure whether advertisement would be useful or not. According to Belch and Belch (1998), an advertising goal involves communication tasks that are specific and measurable. A communication task as opposes to a marketing task can be performed by, and attributed to, advertising rather than to a combinations of several marketing factors. Colley proposed that, the communication task be based on a hierarchical model of the communication process with four stages;

13

 Awareness-making the consumer aware of the existence of the brand or company. Comprehension-developing an understanding of what the product is and what it will do for the consumer. Conviction-developing a mental deposition in the consumer to buy the product. Action-getting the consumer to purchases the product. The other hierarchical model of advertising effects can be used as a basis for analyzing the communication responses process used in Dagmar. MacCarthy E. J. et al (1995), stated that, it could be convenient if we measure the results of advertising by looking are sales. Certainly, same breakthrough advertisement do have a very direct effect on companys sales and advertising literatures is filled with success stories that prove advertising increase sales.

Similarly, market research firms such as the information resources can sometimes compare sales level before and after or during just by looking at sales. The total marketing mix is not just promotion generally or advertising specially is responsible for sales results. As sales results are also affected by what competitors do and by other changes in the external marketing environment. Only with direct responses advertising can, a company make a direct link between advertising and sales results. Then if and advertisement does not produce immediate results, it is considered a failure.

14

2.6

THE ROLE OF ADVERTISING AGENCIES.

Most major advertisers utilize the services of one or more advertising agencies for parts of their advertising programmes. According to Belch and Belch (1998), the main reasons why outside agencies are used is that they provide the client with the services of highly skilled individuals who are specialist in the chosen fields. An outside agency can also provide an objective viewpoint of the market and its business that is not subject to the internal company policies biases or other limitations. The agency can draw on the broad range of experience it has gained while working on a diverse set of marketing problems for various clients.

Once an advertising objectives have been set and a briefing prepared, someone has to act on the brief, interpret it and convert it into actual media bookings, artworks films, etc so that things happen and message get communicated to the correct place. Perhaps it is because a high proportion of the writing is done by advertising agencies on behalf of their people that books on advertising tend to assume that an advertising agency will be involve.

Also, of course, it is true that the majority of advertising is produced by advertising agencies on behalf of their clients; it is worth remembering however that it is perfectly possible for an advertiser to introduce and place an advertisement without using an agency. For example, the international publishing corporation, the UK based international publishers of a wide range of newspapers and magazines, one big advertiser that does

15

everything in-house. Many small advertisers work directly with the media without using an agency. Local car dealers, agents will supply copy direct to their local newspapers who will design an advertisement, prepare any illustrations that are required to do the typesetting and produce the art work ready for printing as part of the services that advertisers get when he buys the advertising space. There is also an intermediate solution where instead of delegating the job to an advertising agency, the advertisers use a variety of suppliers.

An advertiser can use a creative consultant to write and design the advertisement. A media buying organizations may recommend a media schedule and buy the media, photograph, artwork directly from the appropriate specialist. Thus, instead of buying what a particular agency has to offer, the advertiser can select what he wants from the menu offered by various suppliers. Whether to use an agency or not is a matter for individual companies to decide for themselves.

As a broad indication, a company with a wide range of highly technical products calling for special writing skills by technical informed people, but where clear presentation is more important than exiting creative approaches may often opt for a do-it-yourself approach. A company dependent on developing a high level of awareness of its products through an existing brand image is more likely to buy in specialize talent. When this need is allied to a requirement of a media buying skills, then as agency rather than creative specialist (whether individuals or companies) is likely to be the answer. It would still be possible to buy in creative help from one source and media help from others.

16

2.7

THE ADVERTISING BUDGET

In any examination of the role of the advertiser and his problems, the setting of the budget figure and the making of plans for the advertising campaign must feature among the most difficult areas. Indeed the basis on which budget are decided will vary so much from one company to another and from one marketing situation to another that it is difficult to generalize in any constructive way.

According to Hart (1995), one question, which needs to be looked at, is the advertising budget disproportion only high or low in relation to other costs within the responsibility of marketing managers? This is where marketing research will almost certainly help to evaluate alternative factors. For instance, are the packaging cost justified in relation to the consume perception of what packaging constitutes? Correctly, could a small reduction in the advertising budget bring about disproportionately large improvement in these factors, in distribution in visibility through public relations activities? The point to remember is that advertising and promotional budgets cannot be seen in isolation from the other costs, which are the responsibility of marketing management.

Some well tend methods used for setting advertising budget include the following: 1. The affordable method. This involves the setting of the budget as a level which management thinks the organization can afford. Organizations, which use this method, start with total revenues, deduct operating expenses and capital outlays and devote a portion of the remaining funds to advertising.

17

2.

Percentage of sales method. This method involves the setting of the promotion or advertising budget at a certain percentage of current or forecasted sales or as a percentage of sales unit prices.

3.

What competitors are spending. Clearly competitors expenditure cannot be ignored since it may provide especially for a company entering a new field, a good general guide to the kind of expenditure that may be necessary.

4.

Objectives and task method. This method involves defining the specific task that must be performed to achieve the objectives spelt out for advertising and estimating the costs is the proposed advertising budget for the period.

5.

Incremental method. This seethe setting of the advertising budget by simply increasing the amount spelt out in past years amount and adds a certain percentage to it for the current year. This is done by taking into account factors such as inflation.

There are other budgeting methods such as: a. b. c. d. e. The marginal return approach. Cost per capital method. Matching brand share to advertising share. Marketing modal. The total approach.

18

2.8

CRITICISMS OF ADVERTISING

According to Wilmshurst (1994), advertising is offer spoken of, especially critics as being of almost magical potency, there are many examples of quite massive advertising expenditure which have faille their objectives. Advertising power lies in its ability to transmit messages-it is the nature of the message that determines whether advertising can succeed or not. In addition to this fundamental limitation, advertising, because it addresses many people at once, cannot adjust to suit individual taste and interest in a way that the sales man can for instance. So an advertisement that charms and enthuses some of its audiences may bore or annoy others.

In winning over some customers we may lose others. It seems likely in any case that the way in which advertising works may be quite complex and as yet not dearly. Similarly, anyone who fails to understand an advertisement cannot ask questions as they would of a salesperson. Some people may have seen a particular advertisement so many times that they become irritated by it. Yet other people may have seen it only once or twice and are still trying to grasp its implications. Existing users, potential buyers and people who will never buy all see the same advertisement. We cannot easily beam advertisement at some but all, nor can we change the content of advertisement to suit individual requirements or viewpoints.

A survey carried out in UK 1972 shows that a significant number of people interviewed shows disapproval for advertising. It was found that the main reasons for disapproval of advertising were centered on a dislike of the stereotype style shown is advertisement, a

19

fear that other people might be missed by advertisement, a dislike of the quantity of advertising or disapproval of some specific type or techniques of advertising. Very few of the same disapproved wholeheartedly of the total prohibition of any kind of advertising.

Advertising is sometimes criticized along the following lines. It is a waste of money that would be better spent in price reduction or product improvement. It encourages people to spend money that they can ill afford on things they would be better off without. It frequently appeals to the less attractive emotions such as envy snobbishness The sheer weight of advertising force people to buy things they would not otherwise buy.

The criticisms led to the production of a British Labour Part green paper, which proposed in particular a tax on advertising and setting up of a National Consumers Authority (NCA) financed from the proceeds of tax.

2.9

ADVERTISING MODEL

Consumers must become aware of the product, have knowledge about the product, learn to like it, learn to prefer it over others, form an intention to buy it and finally become regular customer. In effect, the model states that the advertising must take the consumer

20

through the above mentioned sequential stages it is aimed to have an impact on consumer behaviour or if high sales is to be achieved. CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 INTRODUCTION

A very important are in research work is the choice of methods, techniques, procedures and processes for the study. The methodology has an important impact on the result of the study because the outcome of the only research is dependent or upon relevant and verifiable data. This chapter therefore concentrates on the procedures, processes and techniques used in collecting the necessary data for the purpose of the study.

3.1

METHODOLOGY

Methodology is defined as a mode, manner, a procedure and systematic way of gathering and arranging data in order to achieve a specific goal. This study was based on a field survey involving the use of interviews, questionnaire and observation

3.2

POPULATION AND SAMPLE

The sample, which is an emloodiment of the total population, comprises of a simple random sample of sixty (60) people within the Sunyani Township. This is made up of forty (40) customers, ten (10) distributors made up of wholesalers and retailers and ten (10) restaurant operators.

21

3.3

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

As stated earlier, structured face-to-face interviews, questionnaire and observation were used as instruments to gather data from various sources.

3.3.1

INTERVIEWS

The researcher personally approached the distributor and restaurant operators and interviewed them about whether they undertake advertising for their activities and if so which of the advertising media have been making a significant impact for their activities.

3.3.2

QUESTIONNAIRES

Questionnaires were also drafted for the distributors and customers to collect their views on the research topic. The questionnaires contained a series of issues pertaining to the research objectives. Both open-ended and close-ended questions were administered. The opened-ended type questions were designed merrily to allow respondents to express their views without any limitation. The close-ended type questions were structured in such a way as to limit the respondents to make choices from a number of options. Illiterate respondents were also assisted to complete the questionnaire. All the questionnaires sent out were retrieved and the respondents generally answered their questions well to facilitate my study.

22

3.3.3

OBSERVATION

The researcher visited the companys depot to ascertain facts about the company and its activities. This became an important tool for collective certain relevant information which the distributor was reluctant to disclose.

3.4

DATA COLLECTION

This refers to the gathering of information relation to the stated problem. Two main data type were used by the researcher for the purpose of this study. These are primary data and secondary data.

3.4.1

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data consists of data collected from primary sources for the study. For accurate, relevant and unbiased information, primary data was used extensively in this research. The researcher used questionnaires, interviews and observation to come out with his findings.

3.4.2

SECONDARY DATA

This is a data already existing in same form. Secondary data sources used by the researcher include written records, management annual reports and articles on advertising. The purpose of adopting the secondary source for data collection was for the

23

researcher to obtain other information and explanations, which the primary data could not provide.

3.5

PRESENTATION OF DATA

For accurate and reliable conclusions and to make relevant recommendations. The study adopted descriptive statistics for the data analysis. Data obtained from administration of questionnaires and personal interviews were presented in the form of tables, chapters, and graphs. Additionally, brief statements regarding interpretations of statistical tables were made by the researcher.

24

CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.0

INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on the presentation and analysis of data collected from the questionnaire administered to the distributor, restaurant operators and customers.

The analysis of data collected is a true reflection of what was provided by the distributor, restaurant operators and customers. Sixty questionnaires went out. Ten questionnaires went to the distributors (both retailers and wholesalers, ten to restaurant operators and forty to customers.

4.1

PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

The profile of respondents interviewed is analysed based on sex and age. TABLE 1: MALE FEMALE TOTAL SEX DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS SEX NUMBER 21 39 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 35 65 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

25

From the table, 21 respondents making up 35 percent of sample of sixty respondents were made whilst the rest made of thirty-nine representing 65 percentage wholesalers and retailers), ten (10) to restaurant operators and forty (40) to customers.

TABLE 2:

AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS NUMBER 27 13 9 6 5 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 45 22 15 10 8 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

AGE 21 30 31 40 41 50 51 60 60+ TOTAL

FIG 1: BAR CHART SHOWING THE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

50 45 40 35 30 25

45

22 15 10 8

PERCENTAGE (%) 5 0 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 50 AGE 26

20 15 10

51 - 60

60+

In terms of age, a substantial number of the respondents were aged between 21 30 years old. The rest were almost equally distributed. 13 were in the age bracket of 31 - 40 years, 9 were aged 41 50 years, and the rest were distributed between ages 51 60 and 60+.

From the table it is seen that 92 percent of the respondents were within the ages of 21 and 60 that is within the working class. This suggests that a substantial number of consumers of key soap in Sunyani Township are in the working class. It is a good sign of substantial market.

4.2

RESPONDENTS WHO HAVE EVER USED KEY SOAP

Out of the total number of consumers interviewed, 48 respondents representing 96 percent said they have ever used key soap, 2 respondents representing 4 percent said they have never used key soap before.

TABLE: 3 RESPONSES Respondents who have ever used key soap Respondents who have never used key soap TOTAL NUMBER 48 2 50 PERCENTAGE (%) 96 4 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

Of the 48 respondents who have ever used key soap before, 45 respondents representing 90% of the total sample started using key soap since twenty-five (25) years ago. Table 4: USERS OF KEY SOAP NUMBER 42 PERCENTAGE (%) 87.5

RESPONSES Current users of key soap

27

Current non-users TOTAL

6 48

12.5 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

Upon enquiring about the present use of key soap, it was realized, that out of the 48 respondents who have ever used key soap, 42 of them representing 87.7%. The reasons they gave were as follows: i. ii. iii. iv. The product is of good quality. It has a nice scent. It is hard. It lathers well and removes dirt easily.

The proportions of the respondents who do not currently use the product were 6 representing 12.5%. These 6 respondents gave reasons for discontinuing use of the product. Among the reasons they gave were that i. ii. it does not last as the advertisement says. the price of the product was too high as compared to the other brands of bar soap on the market, and some said iii. it gives them rashes after using the product.

Also they prefer the foreign cheap substitutes on the market. 4.3 LEVELS OF AWARENESS AND NON-AWARENESS OF ADVERTISEMENT ON KEY SOAP

28

The answers given by the respondents showed that they have all heard or seen an advertisement of key soap at least once.

TABLE 5: MEDIA Television Radio Billboard Posters Newspaper Others TOTAL

SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT KEY SOAP NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS 22 10 3 2 7 4 48 PERCENTAGES (%) 46 21 6 4 15 8 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

n Televisio

s er t s Po er p a sp ew N

d ar o llb Bi

io ad R

Table 5 shows that all respondents had heard andMEDIA seen the advertisement of key soap from more than one source. Out of the total sample of 48, 22 respondents representing 46% said they had seen the advertisement on television. 10 of the 48 consumers presenting 21% had heard about the advertisement through the Radio, 3 consumers

29

s er h t O

PERCENTAGE (%)

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

46

21 15 6 4 8

representing 4% had seen it on posters, 7 had seen and read the advertisement in the newspapers and 4 representing 8% had seen it on T-Shirt and cars. Television has been the most popular media identified by consumers so far as this study is concern. Generally, most of the respondents got information of key soap through television and radio.

It was necessary to find out when respondents started seeing or hearing the advertisement about fourteen (14) years ago. This means those people became aware of the advertisement immediately it started showing.

Asked when they started using key soap, forty-two (42) representing 88% stated that they started using key soap before they heard or saw the advertisement. Forty (40) respondents representing 83% started using the product thirty years ago. In a question aimed at finding out whether respondents were purchasing or using key soap before seeing or hearing advertisement on the product or not, many had varying answers. However, 44 respondents said they started buying the product after they had seen or heard the advertisement.

The research further revealed that the respondents use other brands of bar soap like Duck Bar Soap and Canoe Soap in addition to key soap. 39 of the 48 respondents who have ever used key soap said they prefer the use of key soap to other brands of bar soap. Only 9 respondents prefer the use of other brands to key soap. This may be

30

attributed to individual differences in taste. The reason why respondents prefer the use of key soap to other brands is because of the good quality possessed by the product.

4.4

EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMERS

The responses given by the 48 respondents who have ever used key soap showed that advertising has consciously affected them based on certain factors or functions of advertising. This is presented in terms of each factor in the table 6 and figure 2.

TABLE 6

EFFECT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMERS NUMBER 30 7 3 2 6 48 PERCENTAGE (%) 62.5 14.6 6.25 4.2 12.5 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

RESPONSE Reminded Informed Entertained Persuaded Educated TOTAL

BAR GRAPH SHOWING THE EFFECT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON CONSUMERS

31

70 60 50 40 30 20 10

62.5

14.6 6.25
d ne i rta

12.5 4.2
ed t ca

ed d in em R

m or f In

te En

ed d a su

ed

r Pe

RESPONSE

The graph shows that out of 48 respondents, 30 representing 62.5% said the advertisement reminded them of the product, 7 respondents representing 14.6% said the advertisement informed them about the product, perhaps meaning that the product is an old product and is being used in every home, almost all the people knew of its existence. 3 respondents representing 6.25% out of the total sample were entertained by the advertisement. This might suggest that the advertising is not attractive enough.

Again 2 of the respondents representing 4.2% said the advertisement persuaded them. This is due to the promotional activities it carries. Example could be the Key soap gold key, waye kiko. Moreover, almost all the respondents started buying the product before the advertising started running. Also 6 respondents representing 12.5% 32

u Ed

PERCENTAGE (%) 0

said the advertisement educated them. This means that despite the use of the products, a fraction of the respondents who are young did not know that their grandmothers and great grandmothers used key soap.

4.5

TRUTHFULNESS OF ADVERTISING

In answer to whether what the companys advertisement say about the product is true or not, it was realized that some aspects were true and others were not true. This is illustrated in table 7.

TABLE 7: True Untrue TOTAL

TRUTHFULNESS OF ADVERTISING NUMBER 42 6 48 PERCENTAGE (%) 87.5 12.5 100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

RESPONSES

The true aspect of the advertisement identified by respondents are that the product lathers well, removes dirt easily, last longer, it is very hard and an old soap.

The aspect which was identified to be untrue was that the product does not last longer and portrayed by the advertisement. Others said it was very expensive as compared to other brands of bar soap.

4.6

MEDIA RATING

33

On the various media identified, respondents were asked to rate them in terms of advertising effectives. It was realized that various media had an effect on respondents. However, the degree to which respondents were influenced differs from media to media. This is illustrated in take 8.

TABLE 8: MEDIA Television Radio Billboard Newspaper Poster Others TOTAL

MEDIA RATING NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS 22 10 3 7 4 2 48 PERCENTAGES (%) 165o 75o 22.5o 52.5o 30o 15o 360o

30 52.5
o

15

Television Radio 165 22.5

o o

Billboard Newspaper Posters Others

75

34

The pie chart indicates that television has been the most effective media used in advertising key soap. 22 respondents representing 165o said they have seen the advertisement on television. From the chart, this represents the biggest sector. It is followed by radio with 10 respondents representing 75o. Newspaper is rated third with 7 respondents and has a degree of 52.5. Next to follow are posters with 4 respondents representing 30o. The chart also shows that 3 respondents representing 15o said they have seen the advertisement on other things like T-shirts and cars.

4.7

PROFILE OF DISTRIBUTORS

The profile of distributors interviewed is analysed based on wholesalers and retailers.

TABLE 10: DISTRIBUTORS Wholesaler Retailer NUMBER 1 9 PERCENTAGE (%) 11.1 8829

35

TOTAL

10

100 Source: Field Survey, 2006

A total of 10 distributors were contacted for information. Out of the total number, one (1) representing 11.1% was a wholesaler and the rest 9 representing 88.9% were retailers. All the distributors stated that they have heard and seen the advertisement on key soap from more than one source. All the ten (10) distributors indicated that they had seen the advertisements through television, radio, billboard, newspapers, poster and other source such as T-shirt and on cars.

When distributors were asked when they started selling, the following information was obtained. According to the wholesaler he started distributing key soap six years ago after seeing and hearing the key soap advertisement. Almost all the retailers said they heard the advertisement long ago before they entered into the business.

4.8

EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENT ON DISTRIBUTORS

Asked to assess the effect of advertising on the key soap, the responses given revealed that advertising has had a positive effect on the sale of the product. The reasons given are presented in table 11.

TABLE 11: EFFECTS OF ADVERTISEMENT ON DISTRIBUTORS RESPONSE Increase sales Awareness NUMBER 5 2 PERCENTAGE (%) 50 20

36

Popular Old product TOTAL

2 1 10

20 10 100 Source: Field Survey 2006

FIG 4:

EFFECT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON DISTRIBUTORS

60 50 40 30 20 20 20 10 50

s es n e ar

se s a e le cr Sa n I

r la u p Po

The graph shows that out of the 10 distributors interviewed, five (5) distributors representing 50% of the advertisement has increased their sales considerably especially due to the promotional aspect like Waye Kiko. Two (2) distributors representing 20% said the advertisement has made people to become more aware about the existence of the product. Two (2) others distributors representing 20% also said that the advertisement of the product has been made popular in the minds of customers. One (1) distributor on his part said the product is an old product which has been used from generation to generation with quality attributes. Further, the price is affordable so it can sell itself despite the competition from other brands of bar soap.

RESPONSE

37

ld O uct od Pr

Aw

PERCENTAGE (%) 10 0

4.9

IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT ON DISTRIBUTORS

From the responses given by distributors on the question of the impact of advertising on their work as distributors, it was realized that all of them answered in the affirmative. This means that an advertised product makes people aware of the product and it is tested by consumers and realized to be food, the demand for the product increases. It is also important to note that all distributors are interested in the distribution of a product with a high demand. Other factors affecting distribution of key soap apart from advertisement include sales promotion, direct contact with customers, give away and visit to customers.

The research also reveals that the distributors take part in advertising the product by interacting with the consumers and the use of their outlet to paste posters and sometimes branding of their premises.

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

5.0

INTRODUCTION

After analyzing and discussing the findings of the study, it is desirable to draw conclusions to further substantiate the effectiveness of what has been discussed earlier.

5.1

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

38

The study shows that all respondents in the Sunyani Township have heard or seen advertisement about key soap through more than one medium. However, majority of the respondents have seen and/or heard the advertisement through television and radio.

Out of the total number of customers contacted for information, only two of them had never used key soap before. As at the time the research was carried out, the number of consumers who had ever used key soap had declined slightly as a result of other locally produced and imported soaps which were on the market.

A greater number of the consumers started buying key soap before an advertisement was designed for it. Those who continue to use the product do not think it is the advertisement that influences them to make the purchase decision. They rather attribute their choice to the qualities possessed by the product.

Distributors also went into distribution of key soap mainly because the product has high demand. To most of these distributors the advertisement is an ingredient that draws them to the distribution of the product. This study has revealed that a greater number of respondents prefer the use and distribution of key soap to other brands of bar soap because of its high demand.

The research further revealed that over the years key soap has been stable on the market ever since advertising and other promotion activities were introduced. Advertisement of key soap has had a great and positive impact on its sales because of the awareness and

39

popularity on the market. The media which have been used in advertising the product in recent times include television, radio, newspapers and personal contacts.

Asked about the mechanism place for receiving customer complaints, the distributors said they have a customer service department which deals with customer problems. Also with their asked salesman, they are able to solve customer complaints through direct contact.

The channels of distribution of key soap is from the producer to the wholesaler, to the retailer, and finally to the consumer.

Asked about the trend of sales of sales over the past three years all the distributors said it has been increasing. The research further shows that some of them distribute other brands of bar soap like the duck bar soap. The purchase decision for a product depends on a number of factors or qualities possessed by a product. Such factors includes the quality of the product itself, it price, its promotional activities and where it can be found.

Also distributors go into the distribution of a product that has high demand in order to sell fast and earn a reasonable return in selling the product. In the case of key soap produced by Unilever, demands for both its distribution and sales relate to its quality, its durability, its popularity and the fact that it is the oldest bar soap ever produced in Ghana. Advertising has played a role in promoting its sales to some

40

extent, but the main reason for the high demand relates to peoples perception of how useful the soap is.

5.2

RECOMMENDATIONS

Unilever must be congratulated for surviving and maintaining an old product like Key Soap on the Ghanaian Market. The following recommendations must however be taken into consideration if is it sustain its market. 1. Key soap advertisement must be made more persuasive, educative and more attractive. 2. 3. The hardness of the key soap must be improved upon. The advertisement must include education on the multi-purpose use of the product. 4. Exaggerated nature of some aspects of the advertisement on key soap should be reduced to reflect the truthful aspects of the product only. 5. The advertisers should intensify the use of other media such as posters and newspapers. 6. In future, the producers must encourage distributors especially retailers to distribute only their product or brand of soap. 7. 8. Retailers must also be given the chance to buy directly from the producers. The price of the product should be stable enough to prevent consumers from complaining about the increase in the price of the product very often.

5.3

CONCLUSION

41

Based on the results presented so far, certain conclusion can be drawn. First, the impact of advertising is said to be felt if the advertisement developed for the product favourably changes the consumption behaviour of customers or favourably changes the behaviour of man. In the case of key soap, it is clear that advertisement has been led to an increase in the distributors. Indeed more than one third of the total sample of distributors started distributing the product after the advertisement was launched. Factors such as the product being popular or being a leading soap with good qualifies played major role in influencing distributors to enter into the business.

On the part of consumers, the advertisement did not show significant changes in their consumption pattern. This could be due to foreign soaps on the market. As such, Lavidge and Steiners model on the impact of advertisement could not be applied to the data on consumption of key soap. This is because almost all the consumer started using key soap before the advertisement started showing. The advertising did not take the consumers through the sequential stages of consumers becoming aware of the product, learning to like the product, learning to prefer it to others, forming an intention to buy it and finally becoming a regular consumer.

It is clear from the discussion that advertisement per se cannot be used to determine the impact on consumer behaviour or the behaviour of man. It is just one of the marketing communication tools used in marketing goods and services and cannot stand on its own. It is used to support whatever is being said about a product or a service. This is true

42

because if a consumer or a distributor buys a product for consumption or resale and it does not meet his taste, the demand for the product will fall.

The advertisement of key soap was used to remind consumers constantly despite their awareness of the existence of the product because people can easily forget. The advertisement of key soap can therefore said to be aimed at building brand loyalty from consumers within the Sunyani Township. It does not perform any miracle.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ARENS et al: Contemporary Advertising, 5th Edition, (1992), Illinois. P5 BELCH and BELCH: Advertising and Promotion, 4th Edition, (1998), Von Hoffmann Pres, U. S. A. pp76, 210 BOVEE et al: Advertising Excellence, (1995), Von Hoffmann Press Inc. U S A p11 HART A. N.: The Practice of Advertising, 4th edition, (1995) Heinman, Oxford p48 KOTLER P., Principles of Marketing, 2nd edition, (1999),

43

Prentice Hall, Europe, pp 793, 803 LARRCH B. W. Marketing Management, 2nd edition, 1995 Von Hoffmann Press Inc. U S A p 360 MACCHARTHY E. J.: Basic Marketing, 12th edition (1990) Von Hoffmann Press Inc. U S A pp 52, 490 WILMHURST JR Et al: Fundamentals of Advertising, (1994) Utopia Press, Singapore, p 16

APPENDIX 1

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING, SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR DISTRIBUTORS

TOPIC: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON THE MARKETING OF KEY SOAP WITHIN SUNYANI TOWNSHIP. CASE STUDY- UNILEVER

44

Interview schedule for the distributors on the impact of advertising on the marketing of key soap.

This questionnaire has been design to help carry out a study on the impart of advertising on the marketing exercise and represent partial fulfilment for the award of the High National Diploma ( HND) certificate in marketing. I pledge to keep all information given secretly to hide your identity.

Please tick ( ) or write brief comment where appropriate.

1. Are you a retailer or wholesaler in the distribution of key soap? Wholesaler Retailer 2. Since when have you been distributing the key soap?

3. Which of the following media in your view is most effective in advertising key soap Television Radio Print media Billboard Others please specific 4. In your own opinion, has advertising influence the distribution of the key soap? Yes No

45

5. If yes to question (4) above, in what ways .. .. 6. Do you distribute other brand(s) of bar soap? Yes No

7. If yes, what brand (s) of bar soap do you distribute? .. 8. Do you prefer distributing key soap to other competing brand(s) of the bar soap? Yes No

9. Give reasons for your answer to question (8) above. .. 10. Do you play any role in the advertising of key soap? Yes 11. If yes, what role do you play? No

12. What problem do you encounter in distributing key soap? .. 13. Would you say that advertisement on key soap provides adequate information to customers about the product? Yes No

14. If yes, in what ways?........................................................................................................ 15. Does advertisement have any impact on your work as a distributor? ....

46

16. What other factor apart from advertising do you thank affect the distribution? . 17. Generally how much sales do you record for particular period of time? 18. How would you describe the trend of sales of key soap over the past years? 19. What suggestion would you give to enhance the advertisement of key soap as a way of increasing the sale of the product? ..

APPENDIX 2

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING, SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CUSTOMERS

TOPIC: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON THE MARKETING OF KEY SOAP WITHIN SUNYANI TOWNSHIP CASE STUDY- UNILEVER

47

Interview schedule for the customers on the impact of advertising on the marketing of key soap.

This questionnaire has been design to help carry out a study on the impact of advertising on the marketing exercise and represent partial fulfilment for the award of the High National Diploma ( HND) certificate in marketing. I pledge to keep all information given secretly to hide your identity.

Please tick ( ) or write brief comment where appropriate.

1. Age

21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70

2. Have you ever bought key soap? Yes No

3. If yes, when did you start buying key soap? ..

4. Do you still buy key soap? Yes No

5. If yes, what makes you continue buying it? 6. Have you seen or heard any advertisement o key soap?

48

Yes

No

7. If yes, which of the following media in your view is most effective in advertising key soap? Television Radio Print media Billboard 8. When do you start seeing or hearing advertisement on key soap? . 9. Were you buying key soap before you saw or heard the advertisement on it? Yes No

10. If yes, how did you get information about key soap?................................................................. 11. Do you buy other brand(s) of bar soap? Yes No

12. If yes, what other brand(s) do you buy?.................................................................................... 13. Generally, what other brand(s) of bar key soap you prefer? . 14. Give reasons for your answer above . 15. Which of the following does the advertisement on key soap do for you? Remind Inform Educate Persuade 16. Would you say that the advertisement on key soap are true? Yes No

49

17(a). If yes, which aspect are true .. 17(b). If yes, which aspect are false.. 18. How would you rate the various advertising media used by the company in terms of their impact on you? Very good Good Bad Very bad 19. Apart from advertisement what other factors have influence to competitors bar(s) soap?

APPENDIX 3

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING, SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR RESTAURANT OPERATORS

TOPIC: THE IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON THE MARKETING OF KEY SOAP WITHIN SUNYANI TOWNSHIP CASE STUDY- UNILEVER

50

Interview schedule for the restaurant on the impact of advertising on the marketing of key soap.

This questionnaire has been design to help carry out a study on the impart of advertising on the marketing exercise and represent partial fulfilment for the award of the High National Diploma ( HND) certificate in marketing. I pledge to keep all information given secretly to hide your identity.

Please tick ( ) or write brief comment where appropriate.

1. Name of restaurant 2. For how long, have you been in this business? .. 3. Have you ever bought key soap? Yes No

4. When did you start buying key soap? Less than 1 year 1-2 years 2-3 years 3 years and above 5. Do you still use key soap? Yes 6. Do you buy other brand(s) of bar soap? No

51

Yes

No

7. If yes, which other brand(s) do you buy? .. 8. What can you say are the most significant difference between key soap and other brand(s) of bar soap? . 9. Have you seen or heard any advertisement on key soap? Yes 10. If yes, though which of these media? Television Radio Print media Billboard Others please specific 11. Were you using key soap in your restaurant before you saw or brand the advertisement on it? Yes No No

12. Yes 13.

Are you influence by the advertisement on key soap? No What other factors have affected your use of key soap apart from advertisement? The examine advertising campaign used for frutelli

52

53