Retailers, Wholesalers, Marketers, Alcohol distributors and Manufacturers continuously fight for volume growth and market-share gain within the total alcohol market. Most of the answers of how much each can gain over a period of time remain a mystery that can only be answered by the consumers. The consumers determine who will have more share of wallet or share of throat more than the other. This is also equally applicable to brands, packs and the various alcohol categories that exist in the market. Why is it important, you possibly wonder? It is important because the alcohol market is an integrated part of our society; it contributes immensely to the South African economy and its value chain is enormous in value. Consumption expenditure increased from R3 513 039 000 in 2004 to R8 558 232 000 by 2013 in the Eastern Cape alone. In the last 10 years there has been an increase of new products that are being introduced into the market across all categories ranging from traditional alcoholic brands to flavoured and ready to drink brands. This presents an opportunity to alcohol consumers, alcohol shoppers and sellers alike. This opportunity meant that the consumer is spoilt for choice and retailers / wholesalers have an opportunity to list more brands which could possibly result in increased margins. Further to the above, South African marketers face both market challenges as well as proposed legislation regarding advertising of alcohol products. Some of the challenges include marketing clutter, competition, diverse nature of the South African consumer, infrastructure issues, government legislations, social media and digital platforms. The liquor industry of the Eastern Cape contributes approximately R7,7 billion to the Gross Geographic Product of the economy of the Eastern Cape through direct and indirect impacts; Approximately 23 620 permanent jobs are supported by the Eastern Cape liquor industry annually; Tax revenue attributable to the liquor industry in the Eastern Cape is R3,9 billion; and the economic impact of the liquor industry on gross capital formation is in the region R3,4 billion per annum. The purpose of this research is to optimise the marketing mix to influence consumer purchasing decisions in liquor outlets within the Border district within the above context. The objective of this study is to identify the marketing mix that influences consumer purchasing decisions in liquor outlets. The study will be conducted within the Border district. The Border district consists of various geographies within the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The area of the study will focus on key municipalities namely; Buffalo city, Amathole, Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi municipalities. The target sample size for this study was 360 consumers. A survey questionnaire was used to measure respondents’ preferences, attitudes, motivations and perceptions. The respondents were instructed to highlight the answer that best described them and / or their preferences. Questions were asked and the respondents had to highlight to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the question. Key findings are that there is high level of agreement that price and promotions influence consumer-purchasing decision in liquor outlets. The highest percentage of respondents are in agreement that beer is a first choice of drink and a second is spirits. 69% of the respondents agree that they change from the usual drink to a different drink when they go out. This can be attributed to the notion that consumers like to badge and want to be seen drinking brands that will be deemed socially acceptable in public, or brands that are the latest trend. The key benefits from the study include improved ability for marketers to reposition brands, give clear recommendations for drinking occasions and better understanding on how to efficiently distribute alcohol portfolios, extend brands and introduce limited editions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:26959 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Mhlatyana, Lovington Unathi |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MBA |
| Format | xx, 168 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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