Trade
shows provide marketing opportunities to showcase consumer products to gain market
penetration. Not only do trade shows help showcase products in local, national
and international markets, but they also enable to test products or services by
allowing instant feedback from consumers or buyers. Often a buyer needs to see
the technology in action or feel the product in order to appreciate its unique
qualities. They also offer tremendous opportunity for networking with new prospects,
the competition and other vendors, and become aware of the recent trends and developments.
These fairs are a platform to educate and persuade the audience. A further impetus
to participate in trade shows is the fact that they help to establish credibility.
The seminars, contact promotion programs and Buyer Seller Meets (BSM's) conducted
are important for promoting business and information dissemination. In the globalized
scenario with increased competition where newer markets are penetrated, launching
of customized products can be handled effectively through multiple trade shows,
held closer to production centers and consuming markets. There are many vendors
who mistakenly believe that such shows are meant for the bigger players in the
market. Another prevailing myth is that the sole purpose to exhibit is to sell
but an immediate return on investment should not be the sole aim of participation.
The primary purpose of these shows is to educate the consumer on different types
of products and services and leads or enquiries can subsequently be converted
into postshow sales.
Morrow
(1997) characterized the exhibition as a temporary market place that facilitates
the buyer interaction with the seller. Bello (1992) and Blythe (2002) noted that
exhibitions offer marketers a unique chance to influence key members of buying
center who may not be easily reachable through field sales and other promotional
methods. Hansen (1999) also stressed the importance of relationship marketing
in the international exhibition arena. The attendees are selected and delivered
in large numbers, at their own expense, during a short period of time. In contrast
to impersonal forms of marketing, such as the Internet or advertisements, exhibitions
offer a more unique venue where visitors can see and evaluate products, as well
as build or enhance business relationships with key suppliers. New products can
be introduced and nonportable products can also be displayed easily. If used
in tandem with other marketing methods, exhibition provides an opportunity to
accelerate the selling process. Overseas agents or distributors can also be foundindeed
many companies exhibit only to find such a valuable link, which can provide key
inroads in foreign markets. However, despite all the merits of overseas exhibitions,
these advantages do not accrue without some caveats for the participating companies
(O'Hara et al., 1993). Because of the many practical difficulties, countries
try to provide assistance to their prospective exhibitors through export promotion
programs. Thus, support for corporate participation in international exhibition
is becoming a major component of the export promotion programs (Hansen, 1996;
Seringhaus and Rosson, 2001). As a reference, support for corporate participation
in international trade shows by major countries is shown in Table 1. |