ABSTRACT
This
study presents a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of marketing
communication within the road transportation industry, focusing on three
prominent transportation companies: Imo Transportation Company (ITC), The Young
Shall Grow, and Abia Line Transportation Company, all situated in Umuahia
North. The research aims to understand the role and impact of marketing
communication strategies employed by these companies on customer acquisition
and retention.
The
primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing
communication in the road transportation industry. Specific goals include
assessing how marketing communications inform consumer awareness and choices,
evaluating communication methods during operational disruptions, and
investigating the frequency and effectiveness of advertising by the transport
firms.
The
study population consists of 570 individuals, including commuters and staff
from the three transportation companies. A sample size of 235 was determined
using Yaro Yamen’s method to ensure a representative sample.
Data
were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive
statistics and chi-square (X2) tests. Descriptive tables, charts, and
percentages were used to make the raw data more comprehensible. The chi-square
test was employed to determine the statistical significance of the observed
discrepancies between expected and actual frequencies.
The
analysis of the data revealed a significant number of travelers became aware of
transport companies through marketing communications, although many also
learned about them via word-of-mouth from friends and relatives. Also, few
companies use formal communication channels, such as telephones and radio
messages, during vehicle breakdowns. Many rely on informal methods, while some
do not make any effort to communicate. It also showed that most transport firms
do not engage in regular advertising. They typically advertise only when they
acquire new fleets or open new branches.
Based
on the findings, it was recommended that companies should engage in more
intensive advertising to cover their market share and attract additional
customers, reducing reliance on word-of-mouth. also, firms should install
telephones and radio message devices in their offices and buses to facilitate
effective communication during emergencies. Regular advertisements and updates
should be provided to keep travelers informed about changes that affect them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTON
1.1 Background
of the Study:
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
1.3 Objective
of the Study
1.4 Research
Questions
1.5 Research
Hypothesis
1.6 Significance
of the Study
1.7 Scope
of the Study
1.8 Limitation
of the Study
CHAPTER
TWO
REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATUERE
2.1 History
of the Selected Transport Companies
2.1.2 Young
Shall Grow Transport Company
2.1.3 Abia
Line Transport Company Limited.
2.2 The
Importance of Transportation in the Nigeria Economy
2.2.1 Mass
Production and Economic Interdependence
2.2.2 The
Theory of Comparative Cost and Importance of Transport Cost
2.2.3 The
Relationship between Goods Transportation and the Need of a Developed Society
2.2.4 Economic
Growth
2.3 The
Objective and Need of Marketing Communication in the Transport Industry
2.4 The
Element of Marketing Communication Mix
2.4.1 Advertising
2.4.1.1 Characteristics of Advertising
2.4.1.2
Functions of Advertising
2.4.1.3
Advertising Media
2.1.4.1 Magazines
2.4.1.5 Radio
2.4.1.6
Television
2.4.1.7
Out Door/Poster/Bill Board
2.4.2 Personal
Selling
2.4.1 Conditions
under Which Personal Selling Are Used Most
2.4.2 Functions
of Personal Selling
2.4.3 Sales
Promotion
2.4.4 Public
Relation (PR) Publicity
2.5 Marketing
Communication Process
2.6
Steps in Developing Effective Marketing Communication in Transport
Industry
2.6.1 Identify
the Target Audience
2.6.2 Determining
the Communication
2.6.3 Designing
the Message
2.6.5 Selecting
The Channel For Communication
2.6.5 Establishing
the Total Promotional Budget
2.6.6 Deciding The Promotion Mix
2.6.7 Measuring Promotions Results
2.6.8 Managing
and Co-Coordinating the Marketing Communication Process
2.7 The
impediment to the application of effective marketing communication
in
the transport industry.
2.7.1 Lack
of fund
2.7.3 Inadequate
Competition in the Transport Industry
2.7.4 Wrong
Choice Of Medium
2.8 Barriers
to Effective Marketing Communication Process the effort of the federal
government to build the transport sector.
2.8
Major Problem Of
Transportation In Nigeria
CHAPTER
THREE
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research
Design
3.2 Area
Of Study
3.3 Population
Of The Study
3.4 Determination
Of Sample Size
3.5 Sampling
Techniques
3.6 Method
Of Data Collection
3.7 Method
Of Data Analysis
3.8 Validity
And Reliability
CHAPTER
FOUR
ANALYSIS
AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
4.1
Introduction
4.2 Questionnaire
Analysis
4.3 Testing
Of The Research Hypotheses
CHAPTER
FIVE
SUMMARY,
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS,
5.1 Summary
of Research Findings
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
REFERENCES
APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTON
1.1 Background
of the Study:
Very few people can claim to be individually
responsible for producing any article. What has happened is that in this
country we have become interdependent on each other. The role of transportation,
which is the efficient movement of raw materials from supplier, finish goods
and persons from the end of the production line to customers, Nonyelu G Nwokoye
(2000) In any society including Nigeria, is an
indisputable one. This becomes the same society or between societies like
Nigeria and America becomes the bed rock of existence.
It is the apparent indispensability of the transport
sector in any society activities whether political, economical and social that spurred
Akinrombe(1989) into categorizing transportation role into two broad terms as
follows:
3
As a catalyst that
enhances business activities thereby ensuring the socio economic development of
the nation, and
4
As the binding element
which draws together the various sectors of the economy.
Still in support of the above, Osuji (1988) maintained
that “there is no aspect of the economy that is devoid of element of
transportation”, this is true as identified by Adefolula that “there is always
the need to collect, assemble, move or transfer and distribute”.
Although there are various means of transportation
which according to Nwokoye (2000) could range from rail, road, pipeline and
air. Our main concern is on the study of the road transport with special
emphasis on buses. Having been acquainted with the indispensability of the
transportation sector in the overall development of any economy and human
society at large, it is then incumbent and called for to make an in-depth research
on how to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the transport sector in
other to reap its gain through marketing communication.
Marketing as defined by McCarthy and William (2003) is the “performance of
activities which seek to accomplish an organization objectives by anticipating customers needs and directing a
flow of need-satisfying goods and services from customers, marketing is also
defined by Gabay (2003) “as an
organizational most influential and creative business tool. like any powerful
instrument it need to be constantly revealed, preened and prepared to meet
challenges” one of these activities as a tool of marketing in achieving
customer satisfaction and organization goal simultaneously is marketing
communication and communication as defined kotler and Armstrong (2006) is the
means through which an organization or company sends its message/information
from the source to the receiver (target audience). Directing a flow of need
–satisfying goods and services from producer to target customer involves
transportation and communication. This unfold the symbiotic relationship that
exist between transportation and communication system covering the continent
(Africa), there is a little hope of any economic development or growth in
Africa.
Communication is, and always has been an important
future of life. However, has communication has been more important than the
introduction of ever faster methods of transportation, and as understanding has
become more difficult because of share rate of technology growth, so the need
for effective communication has increased.
In any communication process, whether conscious or
unconscious the common feature is always the desire to influence by the
communicator. The level of influence attached depends on a number of factors
including the reliability of the sources the perception of the channel through
which the message/information flows and others. Although a lot of controversies
have been raised as to what should constitute the marketing communication mix.
The researcher for the purpose of this work and for the easy conceptualization
of the subject matter limited himself to the conventional promotional
tools-comprising, advertizing, personal setting, sales promotion and public
relation.
In testing the application of marketing communication
in transport companies, the researcher selected and studied three companies
among which include Imo transport company (ITC) Umuahia branch, Abia line transportation company and the Young shall
grow Ltd, all in Abia state.
Inspite of the necessary role played by these two
sectors (transportation and communication) in the general economic and societal
development as was seen in the cause of the
study, it was still pertinent to emphasize that the sectors were not devoid of
impediments or obstacles. It was therefore one of the major task to find out
what these obstacles were and the efforts extended by both individual and
Government to remedy the situation.
In an attempt to be objective in the research work,
the researcher prepared and distributed questionnaires randomly, and
supplemented that with interview conducted with management of the selected
companies, and finally personal observation. The data from the field
(questionnaire ). Eventually the
researcher made his suggestion on how to enhance application of effective
communication in the transport sector.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Transportation
and communication are the live wire of any society as a process, marketing of
transport services Is fairly founded on the assumption of two-way
communication, that is consumer telling firms what they want, firms informing
them of what they have done, what they have and where it could be found.
Transportation is a sine-qua non to the survival and growth of any company.
This is buttressed by the fact that survival of any firm is anchored on its
ability to dispose or get rid of its product services. This applies to the economy
at large. Great men and women that work in different sectors of the economy
depend on transportation for their movement.
Denying
them transportation invariably means depriving them of their duty thereby
“shaping” or stagnating the economy. It is in this line that economic
commission for Africa (ECA) observed that “the success of the continents’
projection industrial take off will depend on its capacity to transport raw materials and people
and distribute finish goods.
The
prominent role of transportation in Nigeria and beyond notwithstanding, one
will till observe that sector is highly jeopardized in this country. The honorable
minister of transport noticed this urgly situation in his statement when he said that “until now, urban mass
transportation in this country (Nigeria) has deteriorated” this state of affair is apparent in our metropolitan cities were people find it difficult to reach their various destination owing to inadequate transport
facilities. In recognition of the problems, both the government and other
authorities have made and are still making effort to bring this problem to
book. The efforts can be deduced from the table 1.1 below.
Table
1.1
GOVERNMENT ALLOCATION TO
VARIOUS SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY.
|
SECTOR
|
ALLOCATION
|
|
Works
|
183.5bn
|
|
Power
|
74.26bn
|
|
Education
|
426.2bn
|
|
Healthcare
|
279.23bn
|
|
Defense
|
348.91bn
|
|
Police
|
319.65bn
|
|
Agricultural and rural
development
|
81.4bn
|
|
Transportation
|
53.3bn
|
SOURCE:
Government GazzeH. “The national
plan-prospects for the Nigerian Economy” Federal ministry of Transport, Lagos,
2013.
From the above table, it is seen that
presently (2013) the transport sector received 53.3 billion allocation
representing some percentage of the total allocation. This huge sum sunk into
this sector aside, one still find that the problem facing the sector seems unnoticed.
The question therefore is to what extent can effective application of marketing
communication in transport sector help erase or alleviate a considerable
minimum the problems of transportation in Nigeria? Or what aiding role can
marketing communication plays in the effectiveness and efficiency of transport
sector.
In
an attempt to providing an answer to the question Barker (2000) says that communication
is central to everything in the firms. Modern marketing transportation call for
more than developing a good product,
pricing attraction, and making it accessible to target customers, companies
must communicate with the potential customers. Likewise, availability of sound
buses without commuters’ knowledge is not enough. A little investigation by the
researcher revealed that often times
some companies have sound idle buses in the garages as a result of inability to find customers services. This
problem was as a result of communication gap. To ameliorate the Lacuna,
marketing communication tries to provide transport sector with information
about availability of some spare parts, area of demand, public expectations,
changes in commuter’s attitude and others. This function becomes more pertinent
as transportation in particular and the economy in general is fastly delving
into acute competition.
1.3
Objective
Of The Study
The main objective of the study is to
determine the effectiveness of marketing communication in transportation
industry specifically on road. Therefore, stemining from the identified problems
which give insight into the study, the specific objective of the study include
the following:
1) To
identify the problems of transportation in the selected study area.
2) To
determine the extent to which effective marketing communication can help
ameliorate the problem of making effective use of marketing communication in
road transport industries.
3) To
identify the major communication system adopted by the selected companies in
the study area.
4) To
determine efforts made by government and individual to reduce transportation
problem in the study area.
5) To
determine the problem of adopting effective marketing communication in
transport industry.
6) To
make recommendations necessary to improve the transport sectors.
1.4 Research
Questions
1) What
are the problems of transportation
facing the organization.
2) To
what extent can effective application of marketing communication in transport
sector help erase or alleviate to a considerable, minimum the problems of
transportation in the study area?
3) What aiding is the major communication system adopted by the company.
4) What
efforts are been made by Government to reduce transportation problem.
5) What
are the problems affecting effective
marketing communication.
1.5 Research
Hypothesis
1. HO1:
Effective marketing communication do aid the growth of the transport industry.
2. Ho2:
Competition and capital (fund) do not determine the level of application of
marketing communication.
1.6 Significance
Of The Study
This is important in many ways, apart
from contributing to the body of knowledge, generally it will also be available
for other researcher to use or make reference to the course of undertaking a project
of this kind. This project shall attempt to recognize many of the known
variables in the practice of effective marketing communication on road
transportation industries.
It
was the need to explore the extent to which communication could help salvage a
transport firm in competitive society like ours that put the researcher into
this study. This research will also be significant if the recommendations of
the researcher would be adopted and
implemented in order to guarantee the survival of a transport firm in a competitive business environment.
1.7 Scope
Of The Study
Transportation can be by foot, beast
of burden or mechanical device. Under the modern system, that is mechanical
device, we can as well have transportation by water (ship), air (aero plane,
helicopters), rail (train), or road/land (cars, bicycles, trucks, buses, or motorcycles)
For the purpose of the research, we
are limiting the study to road transport. Means of transportation under
road range, from foot, bicycles,
motorcycles, cars, buses to trucks. Taking road transport in it totality is yet
very broad. The researcher therefore, deemed it necessary to limit the study to
buses. Since it was not easy to make an in-depth
study of all the transport firms that
operates buses, three among them for the convenience of the researcher were
selected for effective study. It was
assumed that the findings from the study of these three companies could be used
to infer for the state and country in general.
Marketing communication can also take a
varied shape such as company activities, packaging, colour, promotional tools
etc. this study was limited to the use of four conventional promotional tool
comprising advertising, sales promotional tool, personal selling and public
relation as the major marketing communication in the transport industry in
Nigeria.
1.8 Limitation
Of The Study
This research will not be completed
without emphasizing some of the factors that acted as impediments to easy
completion of this work. The most relevant being the cost, time, respondent and
material factors.
The “cost” here can be quantified as well as unquantifiable in the
sense that while it can be expressed in terms of its opportunity cost which is unqualifiable, it can also be measured in monitory terms being a student with
rational pocket money, the researcher found himself having to eat sparingly in order to transport
himself to various source of data. In
addition, because of inflation, the prices of materials like duplicating sheet
and foolscap were inflated as well as the workmanship.
Much time was consumed as the
researcher travelled out to collect necessary data. This had to be combined
with attending lecture, and other personal extra-curricular activities. Besides,
the project had to be submitted in a stipulated time period.
Most of the respondents did not return
their questionnaires on time while other did not return theirs at all. It was difficult
for transport firms to give out information. Due to the recent economic
hardship, it was not easy for current literatures to be published locally
neither their importation easy. This limited the available data.
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