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Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15, Suppl. 1, pp 181-185, 2017Copyright 2017 Trakia UniversityAvailable online at:http://www.uni-sz.bgISSN 1313-7069 (print)ISSN 1313-3551 (online)doi:10.15547/tjs.2017.s.01.033SALES PROMOTION ACTIVITIES – EFFECTIVE TOOL OF MARKETINGCOMMUNICATION MIXE. Genchev*, G.TodorovaFaculty of Economics, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, BulgariaABSTRACTA highly competitive environment is forcing sellers constantly using different marketing tools andstrategies to win new clients and thereby increase their profitability. Sales promotion is one of the besttools to attract new customers and retain old ones, including marketing activities by adding more value tothe products for a limited period of time in order to stimulate consumer purchases and effectiveness ofintermediaries. For the purpose of the study were interviewed 60 men and women, aged 18 to 64 years bydetailed a questionnaire. The study confirms that sales promotion is an effective instrument which has apositive direct impact on users purchase behavior. From the answers became clear that all types andinstruments of sales promotion performing on consumers as 21% would certainly buy more than 59% ofrespondents probably would benefit from product promotion. Most frequently used communicationchannels for achieving information about various promotional activities by the user are the Internet with82.5% and promotional brochures with 77.2%.Key words: sales promotion, effectiveness, promotional activitiesINTRODUCTIONA highly competitive environment constantlyforces sellers to use different marketing toolsand strategies to win new customers andthereby increase their profitability. Salespromotion is one of the best tools for attractingnew customers and hold the old customersincluding marketing activities to add productvalue for a limited time, to stimulate es [1]. This tool of the promotionalmix helps not only builds customer loyalty tothe brand but also leads to increased sales. Inorder to survive in the current situation ofserious competition, sellers also use othermarketing activities such as advertising, publicrelations, personal sales, direct marketing.Objectives of the study:1. Present the main types and instruments ofsales promotion.2. Identify which ones are known toconsumers, where they get informationabout sales promotion and are most oftenused by them.3. Analyse the effect of these promotionalactivities on different product types.*Correspondence to: Assoc. Prof. EvgeniGenchev, PhD, Faculty of Economics, TrakiaUniversity, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, , E-mail:evg gen2000@abv.bgSales promotion is one of the promotional mixelements, its a technique impacting the buyerthrough personal communication and a systemof market instruments to provoke or acceleratethe purchase with short-term effect. It includesmarketing activities to add product value for alimited amount of time in order to ce. Sales promotion consists of avariety of tools, usually short-term, designed topromote faster and/or greater purchase ofcertain products or services by buyers orsellers [2].According to Palmer [3] sales promotion isdistinctive, they offer additional incentive tobuy. Gilbert and Jakarta [4] point out that salespromotion consists of extremely varied shortterm promotional tools designed to generatethe desired response from customers. Thegrowing interest in the sales promotion use asmarketing tactics has led to an unparalleledgrowth of research in this area.According to J. Stiincamp [5] sales promotionhelps increase consumer sensitivity, triggerswitching between brands, creates commoditysamples that further enhance the brand'spopularity. Sales promotion usually lowers theprice of products for a larger purchasedquantity. As a result, it improves the customerperceived value of the product price leading toTrakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15, Suppl. 1, 2017181

the purchase decision initiative. Salespromotion measures are geared to achievingquick results, but they have to be combinedwith other instruments to increase sales.Analysis ofconsumerssalesGENCHEV E., et al.promotion effect toThe level of awareness of sales promotionamong consumers.Awareness is sales promotion technique thatconsumers recognize as a marketingcommunication tool. Awareness is aprerequisite to build respect and create a planto purchase. One of the tasks of the study wasto establish consumer awareness of salespromotion techniques and methods. The surveyincluded the following types:- Sampling- Coupons- Premiums - Goods in a package- Discounts- Goods in extra / additional product, quantity /- Contests, lotteries, gamesRESULTS AND DISCUSSIONIn order to collect the survey information, aquestionnaire was developed to interview 60respondents from 18 to 64 years old men andwomen. The survey contains personal anddemographic variables in order to get moredata about the respondent, such as gender, age,income, a number of members ofthehousehold. As well as research key questionsand related to the knowledge of the types ofsales promotion, their frequency of use andtheir effectiveness across product types.The survey respondents who completed thesurvey are 57. The majority of respondents are52.6% of the respondents in the age group 2534. Regarding the gender classification 59.6% of respondents are women and the other40.4 % аre men.In Figure 1 are presenting data from the studyon the various types of sales 6Figure 1. The level of awareness of the various sales promotion instrumentsLegend: 1. Sampling, 2.Coupons, 3.Premiums - goods in a package, 4.Discounts, 5. Extras / additionalproduct, quantity /, 6.Contests, lotteries, gamesThe average degree of cognition amongrespondents is over 70%, and this is a clearindicator that they are widely used in thepractice of today's sales promotion techniques .The most recognizable techniques are the socalled premium or a sale of two differentproducts in a package of 87.7%. The following182three instruments are very close to each other:distribution of samples - 79%, goods in extras /additional product, quantity / - 77.2%, and adiscounts -75.4%. Last but not least, the use ofcoupons remains 38.6%.Let us also pay attention to the differencesbetween the sexes - men and women.Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15, Suppl. 1, 2017

GENCHEV E., et 0,0020,0010,000,00123456Figure 2. The use of sales promotion techniques by sexLegend: 2. Samples, 2.Coupons, 3.Premiums - goods in a package, 4.Discounts, 5. Extras / additional product,quantity /, 6.Contests, lotteries, gamesThe differences in almost all techniques ofpromotion between the two sexes areextremely small. The only difference thatdeserves attention is when using coupons.When we wish to know whether the means oftwo groups (one independent variable (e.g.,gender) with two levels (e.g., males andfemales) differ, a t test is appropriate. In orderto calculate a t test, we need to know the mean,standard deviation, and the number of subjectsin each of the two groups. In this case:(H0) - will claim that there is no statisticallysignificant difference in the use of coupons inboth genders. Although a certain differencecan be observed in the samples, it is randomand can not be summed up for generalpopulations.(H1) -will claim that there is a statisticallysignificant difference between the two gendersand can be summed up for the generalpopulation.We use online internet calculators [6]. Let's seethe test result:Z-value is 1.18, p-value - 0.238. Since p-value- 0.238 is higher than 0.05, there is no reasonto reject the zero hypothesis.Conclusion: the gender does not affect thedegree of awareness of all analyzed salespromotion tools.3,5122,8110,531228,0735,09345Figure 3 Frequency of use of sales promotionLegend: 5-Daily, 4-Several times a week, 3-Several times a month, 2-Less than once a month and 1NeverTrakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15, Suppl. 1, 2017183

Obviously, this communication tool is wellknown to the Bulgarian consumer and heregularly takes advantage of its benefits. Thetotal percentage of users who use it daily orseveral times a week is nearly 58%. Only 3.5%of the sample responded that they did not usethe promotion for their purchases.GENCHEV E., et al.To determine whether gender and ageinfluence on the frequency of use, we canapply ANOVA. In the model below, recall thatthe dependent variable (frequency of use) isquantitative as in regression, but theindependent variable (gender/age) is nowqualitative. For the analysis of the informationwe use the SPSS statistical software.Table 1. ANOVA Influence of gender on use of sales promotionSum ofdfMean SquareSquaresBetween1,49311,493GroupsWithin Groups61,770551,123Total63,263The frequency of use of sales promotion permount for women is stronger than for men3.76 vs. 3.46 or about 10% more but thedifference is not statistically significantbecause:63,263Sig.1,330,254Since p-value - 0.254 is higher than 0.05 thereis no reason to reject the zero hypothesis.Conclusion: Gender does not influence thefrequency of use of sales promotion.Table 2. ANOVA Influence of age on use of sales promotionSum ofdfMean Within GroupsTotalFFSig.2,093,09556The frequency of use of sales promotion amongrespondents aged 25-34 is the highest, andthose aged 18-24 are the lowest. Here, theinfluence of age factor is much morepronounced because the level of statisticalsignificance is 0.095 or at the theoretical levelof 0.10 we can accept the alternativehypothesis that age affects the frequency of useof sales promotion.Impact of sales promotion3,5121,0515,791259,6534Figure 4. What is the probability of buying a product that uses sales promotion?Legend: 4- Maybe I will not buy, 3- I will definitely buy, 2-I will probably buy, 1 -not Yes or noFrom the responses mentioned above, itbecame clear that all sales promotion typesand techniques have a good efficiency forconsumers, as 21% would certainly buy, andmore than 59% of respondents would probablybenefit from a promotional product. Thus, the184cumulative effect of the two groups respondedpositively to over 80%.Information channels and appropriate productgroups for different types of sales promotion.Another goal of the study was to determine theimpact of different promotional techniques onTrakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15, Suppl. 1, 2017