EXTENT OF UTILIZATION OF MARKETING MIX COMPONENTS BY SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA
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Background to the Study
In every country or state, enterprises occupy a place of pride and importance. Enterprise in the view of Obi (2002) is of three major categories; Small, Medium, and Large scales. This study focuses on Small and Medium Enterprises popularly referred to as SMEs. According to the Company and Allied Matters Act (2009), Small and Medium Scale Enterprises can be referred to as business establishments with working capital and assets base excluding land as low as N1, 000,000 to N50,000,000. Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (2010) defined Small and Medium Scale Enterprises as business ventures with assets base excluding land to be between N1,000,000 to N50,000,000 and number of employees ranging from 5 to 100. Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) consists of the most widely spread enterprises in Nigeria, involving men and women with varying years of experience and educational qualifications doing business in both urban and rural area of the country. Some of them are graduates of different categories while others are not. In Nigeria, small and medium scale enterprises come in different categories. This study covered the fast food outlets and the producers of beverages in Imo State. Small and medium scale enterprises are usually owned and managed by individuals called business owners, entrepreneurs or business operators. The 1 2 nature of the business is such that managers are employed to handle the affairs of the business by helping to source for business opportunities and plan promotional activities to increase patronage. The position small and medium scale enterprises occupy in the economic development of States and Nigeria as a whole, makes it such that the business can be located both in the urban and rural areas. Small and medium scale enterprises are very important and contribute to the development of the national economy. Adeleke (2004) noted that SMEs represent a crucial segment of the business sector that by its nature provides employment to jobless individuals which help to reduce the level of crime in the society. Onuogu (2001) stated that small and medium scale enterprises represent a veritable vehicle for the achievement of national economic objectives of employment generation, and poverty reduction as well as the development of the sector. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, CBN (2004) affirmed that it is undoubtedly accepted that small and medium scale enterprises form the bedrock of any nation‘s industry by providing more employment per unit of capital invested. Small and medium scale businesses have played major roles in economic growth and development due to their collective, larger output and employment effects. Wilson (2006) stressed that small scale businesses have been of economic and social significance internationally in that its development can no longer be left unnoticed. Small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria are promoted by some organizations such as; Nigeria Investment Promotion 3 Commission (NIPC), the Association of Nigerian Development Finance Institution (ANDFI), as well as Individual Development Finance Institutions (IDFIS). These organizations through advocacy and capacity-building initiatives have continued to canvass for better support structures for the smooth operations of SME subsector in Nigeria. To this effect, it is pertinent for small and medium scale business operators to carry out marketing activities of their establishments using the appropriate marketing strategies to increase customers‘ patronage. Marketing according to Kotler (2006) is any human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes. It plays the unique role of providing opportunity for buying, selling, standardization, grading, and provision of avenues for obtaining marketing information which helps in the identification and satisfaction of consumer needs, which is the key to business prosperity. Most often it does seem that SMEs are faced with the problem of improper combination of marketing mix components which result in the disruption of the marketing activities and lead to less profit maximization. Marketing mix, according to Kotler and Armstrong (2010) is a set of controllable tactical marketing tools utilized by firms to produce the responses they want in the target market. They further identified marketing mix components to include; product, price, place, and promotion. Product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy want or need. Price is the amount of money, 4 value or sacrifice paid for a product or service. Place is seen as those fragments of network between production and consumption, it is a channel of distribution; while, promotion is a marketing related communication between sellers and buyers. It is, therefore, important that small and medium scale business operators produce or manufacture their products according to consumers‘ needs. They also have to make it available at a price that the customers find reasonable and supply the products to the consumers at the different outlets they can conveniently approach. The small and medium scale business operators should also inform the consumers about their products and their characteristics, utilizing the appropriate promotional tools. Utilization, according to Hornby (2006) is the use or implementation of something, especially for a practical purpose. While, extent means how far something is true or how great an effect it has. From the foregoing, it is obvious that adequate utilization of the marketing components helps in attracting customers which leads to business growth. Studies have shown that small and medium scale business operators are not performing to the maximum which may be associated with utilization of the marketing mix. It is based on this background that this study was carried out to determine the extent of utilization of the marketing mix by small and medium scale business operators in Imo State.
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