1. Consumer sales promotions – sampling

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/204860) suggests a three-step process of effective sales promotion.

http://www.info-now.com/ima/article26) that suggests that there is an art to giving away products in order to get an effective return.

2. Consumer sales promotions – competitions (or contests) and sweepstakes

http://www.razorsocial.com/facebook-contests/

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/customer-care/selling-more-to-existing-customers/sales-promotions-faqs).

3. Trade/retailer sales promotions

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/07/build-better-trade-promotions/

https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/personal-selling-sales-promotion-14/trade-sales-promotion-methods-97/trade-allowances-478-7300/

4. Business-to-business (B-to-B) and industrial sales promotions

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/exhibitions-and-events/visiting-a-trade-show

http://www.boconline.co.uk/en/index.html

http://www.promomarketing.info/b2b/boc-launches-brazilliant-100000-competition/20219

http://www.boconline.co.uk/en/how-to-buy/boc-retail-stores/index.html

Case 11- Ovaltine

The first three articles have been provided open access. Some links require journal subscription access which may be available through your university.

Devlin, E., Anderson, S., Borland, R., Mackintosh, A.M. and Hastings, G. (2006), Development of a research tool to monitor point of sale promotions, Social Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 29–39.

http://smq.sagepub.com/content/12/1//29

This article looks at tobacco sales at point of sale (POS) in the wake of the closure of other promotional avenues in the UK. The article describes the observational technique designed to monitor changes in this activity. The research suggests that tobacco marketing at POS is targeting lower socio-economic status areas.

Jha-Dang, P. (2006), A review of psychological research on consumer promotions and a new perspective based on mental accounting, Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 35–43. http://jam.sagepub.com/content/22/2/99

This article is about relationship marketing where relationships are mediated by social norms and situational factors. It is also about how attitudes developed in a cognitive, affective and conative process contribute toward loyalty along with motivational, perceptive and behavioural consequences and what this means for management wishing to engage with loyalty in order to try to gain competitive advantage.

Jha-Dang, P. (2006), A review of psychological research on consumer promotions and a new perspective based on mental accounting, Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 35–43http://vis.sagepub.com/content/10/3/35

This article reviews the theory around consumer response to promotions and suggests a change from a single product approach to evaluating consumer response to one of mental accounting theory based on a multi-product perspective. The article examines the psychological processes that lead to a cross-product impact of a promotion on the sale of regular-priced products.

Nagar, K. (2009), Evaluating the effects of consumer sales promotions on brand loyal and brand switching segments, Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 35–50.

http://vis.sagepub.com/content/13/4/35

This article recognises the dilemma that sales promotions are generally seen as tools that can undermine the brand yet are a tool necessary to speed up short term sales with many marketers resorting to sales promotions to attract share from competitors. The article reports on the results of the effects of consumer sales promotions on 427 consumers. This study explores the effect of consumer sales promotions on loyal and non-loyal (switchers) consumers in fmcg contexts and the study found that consumer sales promotions have more influence on the latter than the former, with free gifts having more influence on switchers.

Wansink, B. et al. (2006), Wine promotions in restaurants: do beverage sales contribute or canabalize?, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 327–336.

http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/47/4/327

This article explores the use of different types of promotions within the context of wine in restaurants. The findings suggest three key issues: that selected wine recommendations can increase sales (by as much as 12% in the study); that food-wine pairing recommendations increase sales (by 7.6% in the study); and that wine tastings increase sales (by 48% in the study). The study suggests that most of the increase in sales of promoted wines comes from diners who would be likely to order a non-promoted wine but that up to nearly one third of wine sales’ increase comes from diners who would have otherwise have ordered some other (non-wine) drink. The article provides specific implications for restauranteurs including the strong advice not to cannibalise sales by promoting a lower-margin, lower-profit wine, which is not necessary for increased sales.