Marketing Strategies for Brand Loyalty

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background

In many businesses, there are key roles played by marketing strategies in the building of brands, maintaining the loyalty of existing customers, and alluring new customers (Cirikovic, 2014). The intention behind any marketing activities is to ensure there is awareness of the brand being promoted in the market such that customers will repeatedly use their services. There are splendid portions of revenue brought about by repeat customers, and that necessitates the split of marketing strategies between the maintenance of relations with past customers for purposes of looking out for even more new customers. Marketing serves to facilitate common platforms whereby both sellers and buyers can participate (Kotler et al. 2017). Alignment of marketing strategies with organisations functional strategies serves to ensure that maximum benefits are derived from marketing activities. The promotion of destinations works to make them even more popular. Business tourism is a subset of the regular form of tourism that is more focused and limited, which involves individuals travelling while still working and getting paid for it (Dragicevic et al. 2012). In comparison to regular tourism, relatively smaller populations are involved in business tourism, and the motivations are different. According to Nicula and Elena (2014), there is always a high probability that any destinations being visited for business purposes areas that are significantly developed for business purposes like industrial regions and even cities. Business tourism also has its unique set of principal characteristics that are distinct from regular tourism which include; business tourism is rather resilient, sustainable and can complement the leisure tourism sector. Business tourism is at the high quality, high yield of the spectrum of tourism; it creates quality employment opportunities. 100 Event Statistics, (2019) estimates that there are up to 530,000 direct and indirect jobs created by business tourism, investments in business tourism lead to the regeneration of urban and inner-city areas. Finally, business tourism works to stimulate future inward investments, and that happens because people in businesses while travelling also get to witness a destination's attractions, and then, later on, they return to establish business operations in those destinations.

When compared to regular tourism, the individual visitor spends in business tourism is higher, as are the returns on investment, which necessitates more substantial marketing investments. In the UK, it is estimated that the worth of business tourism is almost £20 billion. That is related to its broader impacts on the environment through associated delegate expenditures on entertainment, travel, shopping, and pre and post-conference tours, among other factors (Britain's visitor economy facts, 2016). Business tourism includes travelling for conferences and meetings, exhibitions and trade affairs, incentive travel, corporate events, and outdoor events.

1.1 Rationale

The industry of business tourism operates in a mainly competitive market place, and that is quite challenging, with many countries putting more effort and investing even more resources in their business tourism infrastructure to market themselves with more aggressiveness. This paper explores integrated tourism marketing as a possible means of promoting the United Kingdom`s business tourism industry. This research was carried out in full appreciation of the fact that coronavirus is currently widespread globally, and all tourism activities have taken a hit. The researcher is, however, hopeful that soon, the world will get a solution for the virus, and tourism activities will resume once again. The slump in tourism activities provides the different stakeholders in business tourism in the United Kingdom with an opportunity of continually marketing the UK as an ideal business tourism destination both for foreign tourists and also for domestic tourists. Domestic activities, like organisations seeking to hold corporate events, conferences for their members of staff to the local festivals, among many others, would promote business tourism in the UK.

The findings of this paper will be relevant for different businesses involved in business tourism to increase their levels of awareness in the markets.

1.2 Objectives and research questions

1.2.1 Primary objective

The main objective of this research is to uncover the potential of integrated marketing communication in the promotion of the United Kingdom`s business tourism industry.

Secondary objectives

To determine the effect of the use of integrated marketing communication tools in the promotion of business tourism in the UK.

To establish the effectiveness of different integrated marketing tools and determine the ones that are most effective.

To identify any potential barriers in the use of integrated marketing tools.

To achieve this, the researcher developed the following questions:

What would be the possible effects of the use of integrated marketing communication tools in the promotion of business tourism in the UK?

Which integrated marketing tools are most effective?

Are there any barriers to the use of any of these integrated marketing tools?

1.3 Dissertation structure

The first chapter focuses on the introduction of the topic area. That involves the provision of background information relevant to the research issue. This chapter also contains the rationale of the research, which is an outline of the reasons why it is necessary to carry out the study, who could use the research, and what benefits those who use it would accrue. The objectives of the research, together with the research questions, are also contained in this chapter. The second chapter that is the Literature Review chapter delves deeper into the research issue and provides information that is relevant to the title, and that is also detailed. That is information, mainly from studies that were carried out in the past. The literature review is specific to the research issue. It seeks to strengthen the research paper as it outlines the findings of other researchers and also aids the identification of research gaps. The third chapter, the methodology chapter, expounds on the guiding principles and procedures that were employed for the collection of relevant data required for the achievement of the research paper's objectives. The chapter also outlines the researchers’ ethical considerations throughout the collection, analysis, and presentation of data. The fourth chapter, the analysis, and discussion chapter, includes a critical and systematic review of the collected data and further transforms it into information that is meaningful and whose relevance is higher. For purposes of presenting the findings, the researcher makes use of tables, graphs, and visual charts, which are aimed at enhancing understanding of the analysis that the researcher carries out.

The last chapter is the conclusion chapter. This chapter provides a summary that is rather detailed of the entire research paper and also justifies whether the researcher met their objectives while pointing out how the objectives were met. After that, the researcher then provides a set of recommendations on what needs to be done to facilitate increased adoption of integrated marketing communication tools in business tourism.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter reviews different literary materials by other researchers done in the past to establish different views on the issue of integrated marketing communication. The researcher ensures that all literary materials that they review are peer-reviewed.

2.1 Integrated marketing communication

According to Percy (2018), marketing communications represent those voices that companies adopt to establish dialogues with their customers and other different stakeholders of their service and product offerings and any other issues related to the companies. Over the years, the importance of marketing communication has grown extraordinarily with the emergence of different information technologies and audience fragmentation, which have changed the environment of marketing communication fundamentally (Luxton, Reid and Mavondo, 2015). As a result of the multiplication of the methods and means that can be used to reach consumers, organisations have been forced to move away from mass communication models and to further cope with the increased number of marketing communication options (Valos et al. 2016). The information drawn from different media channels becomes part of the messages about the activities of a company and its services and products (Schultz, Patti, and Kitchen, 2013; Seric, Gil-Saura, and Ruiz-Molina, 2014; Kitchen and Burgmann, 2015). Whenever there are messages that are conflicting from different sources, confusing company images are created in the minds of consumers. That is what necessitates the need for systematic integration and further coordination of different messages and channels of communication. Andrews and Shimp (2017), point out that promotion is one of the four critical elements of the marketing mix and that qualifies the IMC strategy that is made up of different promotional tools as an essential element of overall marketing strategies. Different tools of promotion could lead to the increased awareness of services and products, passing out information on the products and services benefits and features and further moving them to show interest. Blakeman (2018), recognises integrated marketing communication as a topic that has become significant for firms and academics over the years. Thorson and Moore (2013), posit that integrated marketing communication is a process through which companies get to accelerate their returns by aligning their objectives of communication with their corporate goals. Barger and Labrecque (2013) define integrated marketing communication as a concept that directs and further coordinates the processes of planning, implementation, and supervision of brand messages, which facilitates the construction of brand-customer relationships. The integrated marketing communication theory aims to address, describe and further do explanations of elements of marketing communication that were previously not captured by the traditional mass marketing accounts (Brunello, 2013; Holland, 2016; Keller, 2016; Seric, Gil-Saura and Ruiz-Molina, 2014). IMC involves the integration of different options of communication ranging from an efficiency to a strategic standpoint. Luxton, Reid, and Mavondo (2015), argue that integration refers to the implementation of coordination mechanisms that are horizontal while Schultz, Kim, and Kang (2014), point out that integration is all about merging of the functions of marketing communication under single organisational units.

Lekhanya (2014), posits that the focus of IMC is on the coordination of messages and different media channels systematically for purposes of influencing organisations and businesses perceived brand values. Grove et al. (2013) carried out a study that investigated the incidence of integrated marketing communications and its nature that was evident in product advertisements over time and across the classifications of services in comparison to physical goods. The main objective of the study was to shed light on IMC`s practical application vis-à-vis its relevance theoretically in the literature of business and advertising. The findings of the study pointed out to IMC being a reality both for physical goods advertisements and also for service advertisements. The results also pointed out to the existence of differences in the comparison of product types even though there appeared to be enough room for even more enlightened adoption of the principles of IMC within vehicles used in advertising. Skiltere and Bormane (2018), carried out a study that identifies the problem of consumers lacking information on different products and services, the composition and qualities of those products and services, their value and their impact on human health and environments. The study recognises IMC tools` potential to draw consumers' attention and incite purchases in addition to providing consumers with information and serving as facilitators of consumer's knowledge.

2.2 Marketing communication in the tourism sector

The leading integrated marketing communication tools include;

2.2.1 Advertising

That refers to all paid forms of promotion of services and products that are not personal, and that is carried out by identified sponsors (Andrews and Shimp, 2017). Different media forms are used to air adverts and these include; print media which are magazines and newspapers, broadcast media which are televisions and radios; network which consists of satellite, telephones and wireless; electronic consisting of videotapes, audiotapes and webpages and public displays like posters, signs, and billboards (Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen, 2015). Adverts have a primary advantage in that they have the potential of reaching consumers who are geographically dispersed (Dehghani and Tumer, 2015; Stuhlfaut and Yoo, 2013). There is a tendency among consumers in which they hold the belief that brands that are advertised heavily offer better value. It is, however, worth noting that there are considerable expenses tied to the use of adverts for promotion purposes (Buil, De Chernatony, and Martinez, 2013). In the tourism industry, advertising has proven to be a useful promotional tool, especially for those businesses that formulate objectives of communication that are effective (Chang, 2014; Lai and Vinh, 2013; Li, Huang and Christianson, 2016; Salehi and Farahbakhsh, 2014). Specific objectives of communication define the targeted market segments by adverts. It is always important to be careful about the selection of media to air adverts and further monitor advertisement campaigns closely and evaluate them thoroughly before, during, and after they have been placed (Reeves, 2017).

2.2.2 Sales promotion

Sales promotion activities consist of short-term incentives that are intended to encourage the trial and further purchase of specific services and products (Naeem, Bilal, and Naz, 2013). Sales promotion involves consumer promotions whose focus is on consumers like the issuance of coupons, distribution of free samples giving out offers on purchase of higher quantities, giving out discounts and also premiums and trade promotions (Mendez et al. 2015; Schultz and Block, 2014; Mendez et al. 2015). Some sales-promotions are trade-oriented and are aimed at intermediaries. These work by offering intermediaries incentives who then go on to promote and supply services and products to the intended audiences (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). Examples of trade promotions are cooperative advertising allowances and off-invoice discounts, among others. Sales promotion is made up of different promotional activities that are intended to supplement various marketing activities like personal selling and advertisements (Neha and Manoj, 2013). For instance, tourist businesses commonly sponsor not only events but also sports teams and individual sportspeople. At times activities for sales promotion could also support new service launching. As such, the nature of these types of promotions is usually short-term. Their design is in such a way that they stimulate and further induce customers into buying from the businesses. Familmaleki, Aghighi, and Hamidi (2015) caution that there are tactics for sales promotion that are not suitable for all business types, and that is mainly, those businesses that offer services that are differentiated.

2.2.3 Personal selling

That involves face to face interactions with potential end-users to promote products and further convincing buyers into purchasing products (Camilleri, 2018). That is considered one of the most effective IMC tools because salespeople communicate directly with buyers, deal with any of the buyers arising queries and further come up with their pitches in line with the buyer’s needs (Rodriguez, Dixon, and Peltier, 2014). In personal selling, there is the overall effect that the relationship between end-users and businesses; in this case, tourist destinations, are strengthened (Camilleri, 2018). Different steps are involved in personal selling, and these are; prospecting, which involves the search for the right and potential contacts. After that, the next step consists of making the first contact where marketers get to establish initial contact with their prospective clients. That happens through telephone calls and e-mails, among other mediums (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). After the making of the first contact, the sales call is made, and there is a general rule that requires marketers to never lie to their customers. In this call, marketers get to share information about their brands and businesses, explaining to customers the different unique things they offer (Antczak and Sypniewska, 2017). The other step involves the handling of objections whereby the marketers get to answer the queries of their clients. After that, the sale is closed after deals have been closed. There exists no harm in allowing customers time on their own to think and further act as they wish.

2.2.4 Public relations

There are different types of programs that are directed towards the improvement of existing relationships between the members of the public and businesses and organisations (Black, 2013). While advertising is a one-way communication tool, public relations is a two-way communication tool that provides an opportunity for the monitoring of feedback and further adjustment of messages for the provision of maximum benefits (Grunig, 2013). Publicity is a standard public relations tool, and this capitalises on products and services news value such that information gets disseminated to the news media (Smith, 2013). Media articles can reach customers who are hard to find who avoid targeted communications.

2.2.5 Direct marketing

Csikosova, Antosova, and Culkova (2014) consider this as one of the oldest communication forms that involve organisations communicating directly with end-users by use of text messages, brochures, promotional letters, fax, telephones, and e-mails. These days, most of the sourcing and further buying of products and services happens online, and marketers have the opportunity of helping consumers through the buying process by way of sending them catalogues and other different marketing materials that are intended to ease things for consumers (Risselada, Verhoef and Bijmolt, 2014).

2.2.6 Social media marketing

That refers to the process of business promotion through the utilisation of social media channels (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). Through these channels, companies get massive attention and are further able to interact with consumers while they browse the internet (Hudson et al. 2015; Seo and Park, 2018; Vinerean et al., 2013). Digital technologies, these days, facilitate interactive marketing communication, and interactive marketing techniques have evolved to become central to the marketing strategies of tourism businesses. These days, many people use their mobile devices in the construction of experiences, which is achieved through the attachment of personal meanings to tourist experiences (Constantinides, 2014). Different tourist businesses utilise their social media networks and communication tools that are interactive to facilitate tourists with the personalisation of their sites with their experiences (Kavoura and Stavrianea, 2014). That is done by empowering the tourists and further facilitating content co-creation for other prospective tourist’s benefits. As such, social media is actively involved in the branding of tourist destinations. From time to time, individuals intending to visit a place rely on the experiences of others who were at the same locations before in the making of decisions as a result of the tourism product`s experimental nature (Leung et al. 2013). Djikmans, Kerkhof, and Beukeboom (2015) point out that social media has an impact on the holiday plans of travellers. Different vehicles used for communication, together with their characteristics, have the potential of being suitable for tourism services and products. As of today, countless reviews on the internet are related to tourism and travel. Digital platforms provide Travel-related content that concerns businesses, attractions, and destinations. An excellent example of an online platform that does that is Trip Advisor, which airs reviews that are related to travel and traveller’s opinions on attractions, restaurants, and hotels that offer accommodation. There are other websites referred to as booking engines that also provide integrated reviews of different tourist amenities (Liu and Park, 2015).

2.2.7 Mobile marketing

That involves direct communications with consumers through mobile devices, which happens through the sending of marketing messages that are intended to introduce consumers to new participation-based campaigns or to allow the consumers to visit mobile websites. Mobile marketing is a streamlined version of online marketing that is cheaper than traditional marketing means. The advertisements that pop up on mobile applications are examples of mobile marketing (Watson, McCarthy, and Rowley, 2013).

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter outlines the different methods that were adapted for data collection, analysis, and even presentation. The section also describes the researcher’s ethical considerations. To establish the extent of use of integrated marketing tools for the promotion of business tourism in the UK and to actually establish the potential of integrated marketing tools in the promotion of business tourism and to further establish the different challenges that could bar the effective adoption of integrated marketing tools in the development of business tourism, a systematic approach is adopted. Primary data collections are additionally used for the collection of meeting the objectives of the study.

3.1 Research strategy

The researcher used the systematic approach to answer their research questions ad further meet the objectives of the study. The ways through which systematic approaches generate conclusions are quite transparent. That is drawn from the fact that they avoid knowledge base misrepresentation because this approach evaluates every piece of research and its relevance and quality made clear (Gough, Oliver and Thomas, 2017). For improvement of the confidence placed on findings of a study, there must always be clarity of the different steps taken in the reduction of a study`s inaccuracies and shortcomings. The ways in which systematic approaches report their findings are also quite explicit, and that goes a long way in facilitating their appraisal. This explicitness provides readers with opportunities of making personal decisions on the extent of carefulness of the researcher and the extent to which they carried out extensive research and consequently answered their questions of research (Rossi, Lipsey and Henry, 2018). At all times, research always has to be carried out in such a way that it answers the research questions and further meets the objective that the researcher sets. For the achievement of this, it is always crucial that researchers identify the required information and further do a determination of how available it is. The researcher adopts a descriptive research design for the successful attainment of the study`s objectives. Different research strategies are unique, and it is thus never possible to choose the same research approaches and procedures for different papers. The use of the descriptive survey research design involved determining and subsequent reporting of the way things are by describing the characteristics of respondents, possible behaviours and also attitudes (Nassaji, 2015).

3.2 Research philosophy

The quality of data collected by researchers is primarily impacted by research philosophies. What that implies is that the selected research philosophy, to a large extent, determines the actual nature of the research. Different commonly adapted research philosophies include realism, interpretivism and positivist research philosophies (Saunders et al. 2015). The researcher, in this study, adopted the positivist research approach with the aim of identifying the extent of adoption of integrated marketing tools, their effect and any challenges that hamper their adoption in business tourism. This philosophy adheres to the view that trust can only be placed on knowledge that is factual that is obtained through means that are observatory (Aliyu et al. 2014).

In line with the adopted research philosophy, the researcher`s roles were confined to collection, analysis, and further interpretation of data in a manner that was objective. Observable findings are derived from the positivist philosophy, which researchers are then required to quantify. Additionally, in line with the positivist philosophy, it is held that the society, just like the physical world, operates per general laws (Tumele, 2015). Because theological and metaphysical claims are not verifiable, knowledge of an intuitive and introspective nature is rejected.

3.3 Data collection method

As the appropriate tools for the collection of data, the researcher makes use of mixed methods of data collection using questionnaires and also carrying out internet-based research. The researcher utilised both open and closed-ended questionnaires to provide a representative sample of the different people involved in the marketing and promotion of business tourism in the UK. Using questionnaires presents researchers with an economical means of collecting information (Patten, 2016). There are rather low costs attached to carrying out studies using questionnaires. Researchers only spend money on printing papers and moving from place to place to access different participants, or for postage where the researcher does not intend to meet with respondents on a one-on-one basis (Brace, 2018). With questionnaires, it is not necessary to sit down with all respondents individually. Another advantage of the use of questionnaires is tied to the validity of information because while the validity of different data collection methods like interviews are mainly dependent on response recording. That means that data`s validity is mostly reliant on methods followed in the recording of responses, in questionnaires, responses are recorded in their original forms and also in the language of the respondent. That minimises the chances of purposive misrepresentation and wrongful recording of responses by researchers. By using questionnaires, researchers are also able to cover widely scattered respondents. The researcher settled on sending these questionnaires to respondents via mail, in light of the coronavirus. The sending of questionnaires by mail, enabled the researcher to gather the responses of individuals whom they would not have been able to meet ordinarily and with the present conditions. Questionnaires, however, limit the abilities of the researcher to carry out in-depth studies as they do not provide researchers with opportunities of studying the respondent’s feelings, reactions, and sentiments in comprehensive manners (Saczynski, McManus and Goldberg, 2013). Such responses are only derivable whenever the interactions between respondents and researchers are healthy and allow in-depth prodding. In this study, the researcher was sending out the questionnaires through the mail, and there was very little they could do to establish even rapport with the respondents.

To cover up for these weaknesses, the researcher considered the possibility of carrying out interviews to strengthen the study and make it more valid and reliable. However, to carry out interviews, a lot of time would have been required, and the researcher would also have needed to meet with the participants physically to interrogate them and collect their responses. With the coronavirus, that would have been problematic. The virus is easily spread through close contact with individuals and surfaces that are infected, and generally, many people would not have been willing to take part in the interviews. The researcher sought to strengthen the study and make it more valid by carrying out internet-based research. For the internet-based research, the researcher utilised the web for specific data collection and endeavoured to carry out extensive content analysis. In online content analysis, the researcher was involved with the collection of research techniques that were used to make inferences and further carry out descriptions on online materials, which was achieved through systematic coding and subsequent interpretation. In content analysis, researchers get to analyse social interactions and do not have to directly involve participants (Vaismoradi, Turunen, and Bondas, 2013). That has the effect of reducing the influence of the researcher’s presence on the final results. Carrying out content analysis well and effectively follows systematic procedures that are replicable by other researchers in the future that would bring about mostly reliable results (Stemler, 2015). Carrying out online content analysis also presents researchers with an added advantage because it is possible to carry out content analysis at any time, in any of the researcher's preferred locations, and at rather low costs. Researchers only need to have access to sound information sources that are also appropriate, and that can be verified (Nuendorf, 2016). It is, however, worth noting that online materials are dynamic and there is a large volume of online content that makes the construction of sampling frames from which to draw random samples rather challenging (Vaismoradi, Turunen and Bondas, 2013). Also, different web sites tend to have different types of data, and that requires that researchers are always specific to their sampling frames. Search engines also bring back results that are not systematic, which is another setback of content analysis, and that has the effect of making these results unreliable, especially for those researchers who have the intention of obtaining unbiased samples.

The focus of the researcher was both quantitative and qualitative, in that while they focused on measuring and counting, there was also focus on interpretation and understanding. In light of the coronavirus, these methods that the researcher adopted, eliminated the need of the researcher having one on one sittings with respondents for purposes of data collection. With the continued spread of the coronavirus, most people have been observed to limit their movements and interactions. They have preferred to lock themselves in their homes, moving out only when utmost necessary.

3.4 Sample size and sampling procedure

The researcher sought the responses of 100 individuals involved in the marketing and promotion of business tourism. These were individuals involved in the promotion of traditional business travelling, incentive travelling, those travelling for international corporate and government meetings and events, and even those travelling for purposes of conferences and exhibitions. Business tourism involves different stakeholders like the airlines that fly the tourists, the hotels that host them during their stays, the places where their conferences and meetings are held, and the local people in the areas where they travel to. The researcher sought responses from individuals involved in marketing in hotels and even in airlines. These individuals were picked through homogeneous purposive sampling. Homogenous purposive samples are samples that are selected based on them having similar and also single similar characteristics (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016). Whenever researchers have particular research questions intended for particular groups in mind, these samples always come in handy, and they facilitate the detailed examination of particular interest groups. For content analysis, to be successful, the researcher sought to identify those texts that they were going to analyse. The researcher had to decide on the medium, and they settled on websites and online journal articles. The researcher then went on and developed an inclusion criterion.

3.4.1 Criteria for inclusion

Websites and online journal articles published in the English language.

Websites and Journal articles on the nature of business tourism in the United Kingdom.

Websites and journal articles on marketing and specifically those on the use of integrated marketing tools.

After developing the inclusion criteria, the researcher also sought to determine the levels on which they were going to analyse the chosen texts. To achieve that, the researcher defined the units of meaning that they were going to code and further set their coding categories. To define the coding units, the researcher endeavoured to determine whether it was necessary to record the presence and positioning of images in these journal articles and websites or the treatment of concepts and themes or the frequency of an individual`s words and phrases. The researcher identified the treatment of concepts and themes as the most appropriate tool to use. The researcher then endeavoured to code information and to achieve that had to go through different websites and journal articles keenly and systematically recording any prominent themes. Then, the researcher went on to examine all the data they had collected, aiming at pointing out patterns that were recurrent and further went ahead to draw conclusions in response to the research questions they intended to get answers.

3.5 Instrumentation and pre-testing

For the development of the questionnaires, the researcher used the literature review. The questionnaires and were further organised in line with the researches` background information and the objectives of the research. The researcher endeavoured to pre-test the questionnaires for purposes of refining the designs of the questionnaires. Through pre-testing, the researcher was also able to identify any errors that existed in the questionnaires that would only be apparent to different individuals involved in the marketing and promotion of tourism activities.

3.6 Validity

This study emphasised sampling validity for purposes of deriving the desired outcomes. Sampling validity enabled the researcher to explore different aspects and issues related to marketing and the promotion of business tourism. Validity would be achieved if, after piloting and testing of questionnaires, the data produced by the data collection instruments were meaningful enough that were consistent with the researcher`s expected outcomes. Additionally, the researcher consulted marketing gurus for purposes of ascertaining the data collection instrument's validity.

3.7 Reliability

The researcher used the piloting and pre-testing samples to carry out test-retest reliability, which involved the researcher applying questionnaires under precisely the same conditions to check whether the results that were obtained in subsequent questionnaire administration were similar to the results initially obtained.

3.8 Ethical considerations

The researcher ensured that all the data that they collected was protected from access by third parties at all times. Additionally, the researcher gave the different participants assurances that their identities would forever be concealed, and their responses would be recorded accurately and with utmost honesty, and at no point would the involved participants be identified using their real names. The respondents and participants further received assurances of anonymity and were also assured that the information they gave the researcher would never, at any point, be used against them. The researcher sought to obtain the respondent's informed consent before involving them in the study. That was achieved through the researcher first sending to the different people they intended to fill questionnaires e-mails explaining the researches` nature and purpose. The participants were in the e-mails provided with opportunities of asking any questions concerning the nature of the research. For the researcher, any e-mails that were returned, indicating a willingness and okaying participating in the research, indicated agreement and consent to participation in the study. Additionally, the researcher emphasised the questionnaires that there were neither right nor wrong answers to the different questions presented to the participants and respondents, which was aimed at reassuring them that they were not stupid. For all web-based materials, the researcher endeavoured to appropriately cite all authors of the different websites and online journal articles that they used.

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction

This chapter outlines the researcher`s findings. Tables, graphs, and charts are used by the researcher to elaborate on the findings.

4.1 Communication tools

The results of the online content analysis point out that the communication tools used for delivery of messages could be categorised into three; advertising, public relations, and direct sale and promotion.

4.2 Respondents years of involvement in marketing

While initially, the researcher sought the responses of 100 individuals, only 70 agreed to take part in the study. The researcher sought to establish from the participants the number of years they had been involved in marketing activities. This question was asked to gauge their expertise in the field, assuming that the longer individuals worked in a specific area, the higher the potential of providing in-depth insights. It was established that the largest number of respondents had been involved in marketing for 11 to 15 years; that is, 24 of the respondents (34%). 16 had worked in the marketing field for 16 to 20 years (23%), 14 had worked for over 21 years (20%), 12 had worked for 6 to 10 years while the remaining 4 (6%) had worked for 0 to 5 years. This distribution was rather satisfactory for the researcher.

4.3 Respondents level of involvement in marketing activities

The researcher also sought to establish the respondent’s perceptions of their involvement in marketing activities. 1 of the respondent felt that their involvement was very low, 3 felt that their involvement in marketing was low, 6 felt that they were moderately involved in marketing, 44 responded that they felt that their involvement was high while 16 individuals responded that they were very highly involved in marketing activities.

4.4 Segments of business tourism

The researcher also sought to establish from the respondents which segments of business tourism attracted the most tourists to the United Kingdom. Most of the respondents felt that most of these tourists visited the UK for purposes of attending conferences and meeting (23 respondents). 17 of the involved respondents felt that outdoor events were the largest business tourism segment, while 16 of the respondents felt that exhibitions and trade fairs attracted the most business tourists and the remaining 14 respondents said that corporate events attracted the most business tourists.

The eventbrite blog estimates the events sector`s worth to be £42.3 billion in terms of direct spend by delegates who attend the different events, the attendees of those events and also by the event’s organisers (An Introduction To The UK Event Industry In Numbers, 2018). With no doubt, figures that are way higher are achieved after the inclusion of wider economic impacts. A different report by Business Tourism Partnership estimates that annually, conferences and meetings in the UK rake in revenues of £11.7 billion, exhibitions and trade fairs rake in £1.69 billion, corporate events rake in £1 billion while outdoor events rake in £1 billion (New report values UK events industry at £39.1bn, 2015).

Exhibitions and trade fairs also play a vital role in the economy of the UK in terms of the exports these activities generate. Majority of the trade exhibitions that are held in the UK have since been able to establish themselves as strong international trade bases. There are up to 13 million individuals who visit the UK annually to attend exhibitions in the UK. There are up to 25,000 businesses that operate within the business tourism industry in the United Kingdom. These include exhibition contractors, destination management companies (DMCs), destination management organisations (DMOs), event production companies, event and venue organisers and different suppliers including transport operators, IT and telecommunications companies, translators and interpreters, specialists in insuring events, specialty caterers among many others (100 Event Statistics (2020 Edition), 2019). According to the EventMB website, up to 1.3 million business events are held in the UK every other year. It is further estimated that 7,000 major outdoor events are also organised every ear. These major events cover different activities, including major festivals, charity and sporting events, agricultural events, and even village and craft events. The UK, following the successful hosting of the 2012 Olympics, has since established itself as an outdoor event leader globally. Today’s world is characterised by rapid evolutions technology-wise, and consumers have also been changing continuously (Noti, 2013). Tourists have not been left behind as their behaviours, media consumption, levels of engagement, and expectations have led to the transformation of applied tools of communication.

4.5 Integrated Marketing Communication tools

The researcher sought the respondents views on different tools for advertising in terms of which were most effective. 61 respondents ticked against radio as being an effective advertising tool, 42 ticked against televisions, 23 ticked against print media, 54 ticked against online media, 11 ticked against road posters, 26 ticked against billboards, 14 ticked against mails, 31 ticked against telephones, 13 ticked against premiums, 20 ticked against refunds and rebates, 46 ticked against price-offs, 8 ticked against leaflets and pamphlets while 43 ticked against bonus packs.

Radio continues to be an effective marketing tool as it is a reach medium that has a universal appeal that targets captive and attentive audiences. Additionally, as a medium of marketing, radio is highly effective and has a strong Return on Investment. The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in commemoration of the world Radio Day back in 2012 recognised that up to 95% of the world’s population was reached by radio (Statistics on Radio, 2012). Television is also recognised as a key effective marketing tool. Television, has for many years been a key tool for marketers helping them to engage with their target audiences. TV`s could help different businesses in business tourism in the UK to create, build and further grown their brands, both locally and internationally. With television and Radio, its best to work with both local and international media to ensure that promotional messages reach different people in different parts of the world. Price offs are also largely recognised as an effective marketing communication tool. These price-offs take the form of price-discounts and are communicated to potential customers by means of adverts either through social media, at points of purchase and even by sales people. They are intended to trigger potential customers to make purchase decisions.

4.6 Effectiveness of integrated marketing communication

The researcher also enquired from the respondents their perceptions of the effectiveness of integrated marketing communication and most of the respondents felt that IMC was an effective promotional tool. A total of 44 of the respondents said that IMC was very effective as a promotional tool, 20 of the respondents said that IMC was plainly effective, 4 respondents pointed IMC to being moderately effective as a promotional tool, 2 respondents said that the effectiveness of IMC as a promotional tool was low and no respondent ticked against IMC being very lowly effective as a promotional tool.

In line with the concept of integrated marketing communication, companies systematically and carefully integrate and coordinate their different channels of communication for delivery of messages that are consistent and clear (Lexton, Reid and Mavondo, 2015). The aim of using the tools is to ensure that promotion messages are consistent and the adoption of media as a complementary tool. Integrated marketing communication involves the integration and further coordination of marketing tools, resources, and approaches within companies that work to maximise impacts on the minds of consumers, which in the long-run has the effect of maximising profits at minimum costs (Thorson and Moore, 2013).

4.7 Seasonality of business tourism

The researcher also sought to establish from the respondents whether business tourism is seasonal or is an all year round affair. Most of the respondents, 59 (84%), to be specific, said that business tourism was not seasonal and boomed all year round while the remaining majority 11 (16%) said that business tourism was seasonal.

In the tourism industry, seasonality is an important factor that has different negative economical, ecological and social influences on destination, even though, on the brighter side, it also provides destinations with breathing and rejuvenating opportunities. The main reasons for seasonality vary between natural and institutional causes. It is possible to visit the United Kingdom at any time of the year because the climate there is to a large extent temperate and no extreme weather conditions are experienced there whether winter or summer. The differences in the respondents views could be a result of the fact that the autumn season between September and November and Spring between late March to early June which are warm and dry and during which a slightly larger number of people would prefer to visit.

4.8 Barriers

From the extensive search of different literary materials, the potential of IMC to restrict creativity was identified as the main and biggest disadvantage of using IMC. IMC tends to restrict creativity and this is brought by the use of the same creative ideas in different tools for purposes of remaining consistent. With the intention of remaining consistent, individuals within businesses who have high levels of creativity are forced to stifle their ideas as any ideas they come up with have to fit within overall marketing communication strategies. Another barrier that was identified was the potential of different individuals working in the tourism business industry not being receptive to the change in the introduction of new marketing strategies. That could, however, be easily dealt with through effectively engaging the employees throughout the process of introducing new strategies, implementing these new strategies procedurally and in different steps and stages and even effectively communicating the changes.

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

Introduction

This is the final chapter that provides a summary of the findings of the study and also offers a recommendation for possible future research areas. This research was carried out in an organised systematic manner to facilitate the effective achievement of its intended and set objectives. There are a total of five chapters in this research paper. It is worth noting that all chapters are crucial in demonstrating the extent of use of integrated marketing communication tools in the UK, determining the most effective integrated marketing communication tool for the promotion of businesses and further identifying any potential barriers to the use of the identified most effective IMC tool.

Evaluation of key findings

Improved marketing activities of the United Kingdom`s business tourism industry would bring about the growth of both local and national economies as there would be numerous jobs created within the tourism sector (Martin, 2011). More people visiting a destination means that they will spend more amounts of money in that destination, and that would, without a doubt, work to steer the growth of local economies in addition to attracting even more investors to those destinations. With increased tourism activities in a region, more vacation resorts and hotels would open their doors, which would, in the long run, create more jobs. With the improvement of local infrastructure, even more, tourists would be attracted to a destination. The tourism sector is highly competitive and is characterised by the complexity of products and buyers who are increasingly sophisticated (Dasgupta, 2011). When it comes to business tourism, the sophistication of buyers goes a notch higher (Nicula and Elena, 2014). Pike (2012); Sric, Gil-Saura, and Ruiz-Molina (2014), point out that emotional influences, both negative and positive, have the potential of affecting the purchasing decisions of customers. As such, adequately proficient salespeople are always in an excellent position to engage wit customers bringing about the effect of influencing their decisions to buy. Integrated marketing communication allows a two-way communication and facilitates easy communication between tourism establishments and their customers because applying integrated marketing communication makes it easier to measure promotional activities and further get feedback from the customers. The different elements of the promotional mix have different capacities for communication and the subsequent achievement of set objectives. It is possible to tract the effectiveness of every different tool against the process of purchase decisions. In that, an assumption would have to be made that consumers moved from an awareness phase, all the way to comprehension of a product and finally, purchasing the product. In the traditional marketing communication approach, separate campaigns are planned by businesses working together with their agencies that cover adverts, press relations, sales promotions and direct marketing. These are the same tools used in integrated communication campaigns to reinforce one another and further improve the effectiveness of marketing activities. Integrated marketing communication makes it possible to use adverts to create a products awareness and also for the generation of leads for the sales force and further make it possible to communicate the same information in press releases as reinforcements. Additionally, those businesses that adopt IMC would also be in a position to use direct mails for follow up on inquiries and also for the provision of extra information to prospects. These prospects could be converted into customers through the use of telemarketing which involves selling directly or making appointments on behalf of the sales team. A further tool for reaching out to the customer base is provided by having an active presence online on different social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

There is also the consistency effect brought about by the use of IMC because the same creative treatment is featured in the different tools adopted. Through the repeating of key phrases, headlines and images in different communications, customers end up receiving messages that are consistent every other time they see one of the campaigns element. Basic campaign themes are reinforced by creative consistency as they increase the number of times that prospective customers get to heat and see the same messages. Working consistently several different channels facilitates the building of better awareness of businesses names, catch phrases, offers, brands and any other messages that are being emphasised. Consistency in creativity in integrated marketing campaigns also goes a long way in leading to saving of money. With integrated marketing communication campaigns, it is possible to provide customers with pieces of information through their preferred media and in the formats they prefer. Business customers and consumers are at will to specify whether they prefer receiving information on products through direct mail, e-mail, telephone or through text messages. For those clients who cannot be reached directly, they still could benefit from a business’s campaigns if they hear about the businesses TV and radio spots. It is also possible to meet the needs of those customers who explore the internet in search for information on tourist destinations and travel options through the integration of website designs and the contents of websites with other communication tools. With no doubt, a combination of these different tools considered as being the most effective would bear even more advantages for any businesses and organisations that adopts them. To build effective marketing communications, it is always important to first define your target audience (Hofacker et al. 2016; Rowles, 2017; Strom, Vendel and Bredican, 2014). For our case, the primary target audience are business tourists as ultimate consumers. The socio-demographic profiles of these business tourists together with their behaviours, needs, media consumption and expectations are subject of regular marketing research aimed at defining insights and trends. In-depth market segmentation facilitates finding out and further satisfaction of additional needs of consumers, strengthening of trip incentives, increase of tourist numbers and their frequencies of visit together with their stay durations. Consideration should always be given of the importance of market segmentation and proposed tourism products being highly matched (Berman, 2016).

Recommendations

Different activities of marketing communication tend to vary in the content of their messages on brands and businesses (Parente and Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2014). There must be consistency in different integrated marketing messages aimed at promoting business tourism in the UK; in that, previous messages should always be consistent with future messages. From a perspective of activities, integration would refer to the need for consistency in marketing options (Ambler, 2014). Beverland, Wilner, and Micheli (2015) note that marketing communications tend to differ in the number of involved activities and methods.

To integrate the different activities and methods, it would be that the businesses using integrated marketing tools design them and further evaluate them as a whole (Jucaitytoa and Maspinskieno, 2014). That points out to IMC as being a holistic marketing communication tool. Different tools and techniques have the potential of complementing one another to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of marketing communication. Batra and Keller (2016), point out that there are differences in these integrative thinking with the traditional classifications of communication activities.

It is also important that any businesses that intend to use integrated marketing tools have a proper understanding of the concept. Felix, Rauschnabel, and Hinsch (2017), argue that it is always important to have a proper understanding of the collective contributions of all communications and that is dependent both on the main effects of earlier activities, but also on the effects of interactions among different communication activities.

Limitations and Further research directions

In the collection of internet-based data, insufficiency of funds brought about challenges to the researcher in assessment of useful premium journals and articles. With no doubt, these are articles and journals would have enhanced this particular studies quality. In the future, more research needs to be done to establish the most effective combination of integrated marketing tools that would have the largest promotional impact.

Summary

Integration, from a process perspective, refers to implementation of decision procedures and policies that are formal, lines of command and organisational coordination mechanisms (Perols, Zimmermann and Kortmann, 2013). The process of organising integration processes has over time, developed to become critical. In integration, proper organisation is required which involves inclusion of all stakeholders, customers and employees. Formal procedures and policies, by their own, do not have the capabilities of driving integration by their own. Rather high degrees of cross-functional and interpersonal communication are also required within business units and organisations. Artto, Valtakoski and Karki (2015), observes that large organisations and businesses prefer to take charge of the processes of integration by themselves instead of seeking the services of suppliers and advertising agencies to provide coordination. No matter the skill sets of agencies, they do not have the capabilities of integrating the marketing communication programs of their clients without the clients being at the forefront. It is always important for businesses to do evaluations of whether their prospects and customers are considering purchase decisions (Blakeman, 2018). It is important for businesses to have an awareness of whether customers are aware of the products and services they offer and in the event the customers are aware, to what extent do they appreciate the benefits they draw from the products and services. It is also important for businesses to have a proper understanding of the positions they occupy in the minds of customers. When the same images are used and the same copies adapted for different media, the costs of copy-writing, photography and design are reduced. Any videos that are produced expensively, could be used in many different media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and even on the television. Working with external communication suppliers would also provide the opportunity of reduction of agency fees as businesses could settle on working with single firms that offer communication services that are integrated instead of seeking specialist agencies separately.

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