Black Generation Y students' attitudes towards sales promotion techniques on low involvement products

Abstract

The increasing competition and the predicted changes in the retail sector are pressurising marketers to be more competitive in order to ensure that their brands are amongst the leading brands. Marketers need to constantly develop innovative marketing strategies to create brand awareness, as well as to stimulate demand for specific brands. An important tool in this regard is the marketing communication mix, of which sales promotion is one of the most effective elements in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. It is the responsibility of marketers to select the most appropriate sales promotion technique for a specific market segment or, more specifically, to select the most appropriate technique to effectively encourage the desired effect on the consumer buying behaviour. The South African Generation Y cohort (individuals born between 1986 and 2005) accounts for 40 percent of the total South African population and the black Generation Y portion represents 84 percent of the total South African Generation Y cohort. Those involved in attaining a tertiary qualification are likely to represent the future ‘Black Diamonds’ who represent South Africa’s growing prosperous African middle class that have experienced a 39 percent yearly growth rate in their spending power. Therefore, the black Generation Y student cohort is a very attractive market segment and it is critical to determine what sales promotion techniques are preferred by this specific market segment. The purpose of this study was to analyse the black Generation Y students’ attitudes towards different sales promotion techniques on low involvement products, since low involvement products tend to be more responsive to sales promotion techniques. For this study, the target population comprised black Generation Y students registered at the 23 South African registered public HEIs. From the sampling frame, a non-probability judgment sample of one traditional university and one university of technology in Gauteng was selected. Thereafter, a non-probability convenience sample of 600 black students from the selected HEIs aged between 18 and 24 years was drawn. A self-administered questionnaire was hand delivered to the lecturers and distributed to the respondents during one lecture period. The questionnaire requested respondents to indicate on a six-point Likert scale their attitudes towards four sales promotion techniques on 20 items as well as to provide certain demographic data. The findings of this study indicate that black Generation Y students have an overall positive attitude towards the sales promotion techniques measured in this study and that these techniques are suitable for inducing specific consumer buying behaviours concerning low involvement products. Furthermore, the findings indicate that buy one get one free and free sample offers are the most preferred sales promotion techniques and are more likely to exert an influence on consumer buying behaviours than the other sales promotion techniques. Insights gained from this study will help both marketers and retailers to understand current black Generation Y consumers’ attitudes towards sales promotion techniques, as well as to understand which sales promotion techniques are preferred and most likely to influence specific consumer buying behaviours.