EXTENT OF UTILIZATION OF ADVERTISING AS A MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY BY MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The need to improve and ensure effective marketability of products of manufacturing
companies necessitated this study on the extent of utilization of advertising as a
marketing communication strategy by manufacturing companies in Anambra State.
One research question guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested.
Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The population
consisted of 298 executives (managers and owners) of registered manufacturing
companies in Anambra State. The entire population was studied without sampling
because the size was not too large.The instrument for data collection was a
researcher developed questionnaire titled “Marketing Communication Strategy
Questionnaire(MCSQ)”.The questionnaire was validated by three experts. The
internal consistency of marketing communication strategy questionnaire (MCSQ)
was established using Cronbach alpha and reliability coefficient value of 0.86 was
obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question
while t-test and ANOVA were used totestthe null hypotheses at 0.05 level of
significance. Findings of the study revealed that manufacturing companies in
Anambra State utilized advertising to a moderate extent. It was recommended
among others that business educators in tertiary institutions should be innovative in
their instructional delivery by exposing their students to all components of
marketing communication strategies to enable them successfully operate their own
small and medium scale enterprises after graduation.