Traditionally, sales promotions have been used by marketers to increase sales in the short term. However, in the last few decades this communication tool has evolved and now is considered from a strategic point of view. For this reason, it is necessary to realize new studies in this area and study how consumers evaluate sales promotions. Of special interest is analyzing the implications on firms when they do monetary and non-monetary promotions due to the different nature of these actions and the different consequences they have to consider aspects such as brand equity, price reference and price sensibility.
Sales promotions have grown in both importance and frequency over the past few decades. Although an accurate dollar estimate for total sales promotions expenditures does not exist, we can be sure that the trend is up. The following facts are indicators of this trend. The Incentive Marketing Association projects that spending on products and services used for incentive programs will reach $28 bn this year, up from $26 bn in 2000 (Odell, 2005). And sales of promotional products hit a milestone last year, setting a new record at $16.9 bn, a 4.7% jump over the 2003 figures, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute's Industry Sales Survey. Furthermore, marketing resources allocated to promotional tools represent a significant portion of many companies' total communication efforts. Among these promotional tools, non-monetary promotions (premiums) occupy an important place exemplified in the growing number of annual trade shows as the Premium Incentive Show and the Motivation Show.
Also, sales promotions have evolved above their objectives. Though marketers have traditionally used them to increase the sales in a short period of time, currently they adopt a strategic point of view because sales promotions are considered as important as other communication tools like advertising to build brand image and brand equity (Palazón-Vidal and Delgado-Ballester, 2005). |
