A survey of the extent to which advertising by textbook publishing firms influence customer preference of textbooks: The case of public primary schools teachers in Nairobi
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Date
2004-11Author
Oriwo, Aggrey YO
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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The study of the extent to which textbook publishers use advertising to influence the
preference of their consumers was carried out in Nairobi on a sample population of public
school teachers. Evans et al (1996) have argued that advertising does not add value to the
marketing of consumer products. The study set out to find how advertising could be used
to influence the preference of consumers of textbooks.
The population of study was public school teachers in 191 public schools in Nairobi. Eight
teachers from each school who sat in the subject textbook selection panel formed the
sample frame of 1528 teachers. A sample of 100 randomly selected teachers each from a
different school was interviewed. These were preferably teachers who sat in the textbook
selection committees and whose influence in the selection of textbook in schools was
considered strong.
A two-part questionnaire was used to gather data. A complete literature review of relevant
material was conducted before and after the establishment of the research question. The
data collection was limited by accessibility to schools and the school timetable. The
research design used in the study was the survey design.
The research findings indicated that even though advertising is important in creating
awareness, it seems that it minimally influences other marketing objectives such as sales
growth, market share and brand loyalty to a very less extent. The research also indicated a
need for branding of the products of publishing houses. The low level of branding in
textbook publishing could be the reason why the findings indicate that advertising will
influence preference only to a less extent. The study is exploratory and more pertinent
issues like branding in textbook marketing can be explored further.
The current state of publishing in Kenya is characterized by outdated technology and over
reliance on the school curriculum market. Lithographic publishing is costly in terms of
operations and time. The marketing strateqiescurrently being pursued used in the industry
lack in innovation and efficiency. Sales representation, poor sales planning and the rush
to achieve a desired market reach has continued to reducajhe earning of publishing firms.
Faced with new challenges that have made publishing very unattractive, publishers are
forced to adopt new strategies including advertising in an effort to influence sales.
This study hopes to break the ground in the field of textbook publishing. The Kenyan
publishing scenario is still open to many other studies. Several questions remain
unanswered especially regarding the most effective strategies in the marketing of
textbooks. It appears that limited research has been done in this area.
Citation
MBAPublisher
University of Nairobi School of Business, University of Nairobi
Description
Master of Business Administration (MBA)