Sales Promotions: A Managerial Perspective David MacGregor Department of Marketing, Lancaster University, Lancaster U.K. word count - 72288 This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for Lancaster University and is an original piece of work that has not been used to fulfil the requirements of any other degree. Submitted December 2008 - Revised and Resubmitted April 2010 ProQuest Number: 11003600 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003600 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 To Melanie, without whom For Isabella and Angus Acknowledgements The doctoral thesis presented here represents the culmination of a lengthy and at times difficult personal journey for me. Its completion would not have been possible without those around me upon whose goodwill, generosity and support I have on many occasions had to call. Firstly, acknowledgement must go to Professor Geoff Easton. Geoff ‘inherited’ me due to circumstances beyond either of our controls. Geoff s unstinting commitment to my completion of this thesis and unwavering support throughout the entire process means that I will always owe him a debt of gratitude. His willingness to read and comment on whatever it was I had written and his calm and considered approach to both the intellectual and mechanical aspects of researching and presenting this thesis are a mark and measure of the man as both academic supervisor and human being. I would also like to thank my parents for all of their encouragement throughout this lengthy process and to my father more so now than ever for giving me the motivation and initial impetus to return to academic study in the first place. I am also grateful for the support of fellow academics both within the department and those who have now left for all their messages of support and would also like to thank the fellow travellers, those doctoral students who, along the way, have also lent their support at times when it was most needed. Finally there is one person whose support, love and encouragement throughout this period has given me all the motivation I could ever need to complete this thesis which is therefore dedicated to my partner and best friend, Melanie. Get well soon Dad. Abstract Sales promotions, although ill defined and under theorised, have long been a part of the marketing communications mix and used by brands in a variety of ways in many different contexts. Much of the research that examines sales promotions has done so from a rational economic or behaviourist perspective. Whilst acknowledging the contribution of such ontologies, it is argued that there has been limited examination of sales promotions from a managerial perspective. W hat has been produced tends to be largely prescriptive and written for practitioners. In this thesis the ontology of critical realism has been used to develop a conceptual framework that treats sales promotions as individual entities taking place within organisational and market structures. This conceptual framework has been used to analyse empirical data collected from thirteen smaller U.K. brands drawn from a diverse set of product categories and industries. Four in-depth case studies are presented with rich, fine-grained insights into the behaviours of those involved in such activities and the subsequent outcomes; in particular the contemporary practices of managerial actors involved in the conception, commissioning and implementation of sales promotions activities. The results of a further 9 case studies are also presented in summary form. In each case the conceptual framework proves largely effective in interpreting the likely causes of the form that the sales promotion took and its subsequent outcomes. It is claimed that the research made the following contributions to the study of sales promotions: I) a re-examination of the definitional discourse that informs sales promotion and the development of a new definition ; 2) the early and successful use of the combination of a critical realist ontology and case study 3) that the forms and outcomes of sales promotions can be better understood as being dependent on causal explanations of involving organisational and business contexts and 4) the development of a model that iv integrates diverse contextual factors from both within and outside of the organisation in order to inform the managerial practice of deploying and managing sales promotions. The products of the study argue for a deeper and more sophisticated treatment of the way that sales promotions are researched, operate and are managed. The findings also suggest that both the method and the results have wider implications for the study of sales promotions, marketing communications in general and marketing practice. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements Abstract List of Figures Chapter I Introduction and Overview 1.1 Introduction I 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the Research I 1.3 The Significance of the Research to Our Understanding of the Practice of Sales Promotion 4 1.4 Sales promotion and Academic Discourse 5 1.5 The Gap in the Sales Promotions Literature 6 1.6 The Research Question 8 1.7 The Research Process 9 1.8 The Key Contributions of the Thesis 11 1.9 The Structure of the Thesis 16 1.10 Conclusion Chapter 2 Sales Promotion: Definitions. Taxonomies and Discourses 2.1 Introduction and Rationale for this Chapter 19 2.2 The Definitional Discourse 20 2.3 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Price and Volume Manipulations 25 2.4 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Couponing 30 2.5 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Premium Promotions 33 2.6 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Ludentic Promotions 35 2.7 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Interactivity 38 2.8 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Other Forms 39 2.9 Typologies of Sales Promotion: Trade Promotions 41 2.10 Academic Discourse on Sales Promotions 42 2.11 Academic Discourses on Sales Promotion: Positivism 45 2.12 Academic Discourses on Sales Promotion: A Consumer Behaviourist Perspective 52 2.13 Academic Discourses on Sales Promotion: An Integrative Perspective 57 2.14 Conclusion 61 Chapter 3 Managerial. Organisational and Contextual Perspectives 3 .1 Introduction 63 3.2 Academic Discourses on Sales Promotion: Managerial Perspectives 63 3.2.1 A Practitioner Focused Discourse 64 3.2.2 Managerial Discourse 65 3.3 The Impact of Context and Structure on Sales Promotions 67 3.4 The Significance of the Contexts in which Sales Promotions are Situated 68 3.5 Sales Promotion as a Strategic and Competitive Process 71 3.6 Sales Promotion as a Managerial Process 76 3.7 A Conceptual Framework 78 3.8 Conclusion and Synthetic Definition 80 Chapter 4 Ontology. Epistemology and Research Methods 4.1 Introduction 83 4.2 Research Strategy, Axiology and My Position as a Researcher 84 4.3 Ontology 9 1 4.4 Epistemology 97 4.5 Case Study Methodology 99 4.6 Data Collection 104 4.7 A Data Collection Grid 106 4.8 On Researching in An Organisational Context 109 4.9 On the Diverse Nature of Research Contexts 112 4 .10 Managerial Mortality 113 4.11 On Research Ethics 114 Chapter 5 Case Studies and Causal Explanations 5.1 Introduction I 18 5.2 Case Study Wisemans pic 120 5.3 Case Study Crafter 132 5.4 Case Study Scottco 145 5.5 Case Study Ekleen 158 5.6 Cross Case Analysis 167 5.6.1 The Novelty Causality 169 5.6.2 Competitive Liability and the Complexity / Innovation Trade Off 175 5.6.3 The Opportunity Sensing Causality 182 5.6.4 The Contingency, Flexibility, Immediacy Causalities 186 5.6.5 Causal Relationships: Focal Firms and the Major Multiple Supermarket Chains 189 5.6.6 Replication and Risk Aversion Causalities 193 5.6.7 The Integration Causality 197 5.6.8 The Temporal Causality 198 5.7 Concluding Remarks 200 Chapter 6 Conclusions 6.1 Introduction 202 6.2 Theoretical Contribution 203 6.2.1 The Definitional Contribution 204 6.2.2 The Theoretical Contribution to the Sales Promotion Literature 206 6.2.3 The Theoretical Contribution to the Marketing Literature 208 6.3 Methodological Contribution 211 6.4 Managerial Implications/Contribution 216 6.5 Managerial Understanding and‘Unknowing’ 217 6.6 Organisational Processes and Sales Promotions 219 6.7 The Strategic Implications of the Use of Sales Promotions 220 6.8 Reflections on the Research Process 222 6.9 Limitations of the Research 224 6.10 Directions for Future Research 226 Appendix A Sample Interview: Joanne Rae, Marketing Manager Wisemans pic 2 3 1 Bibliography 256 Chapter I Introduction. Aims Objectives and Contribution 1.1 Introduction This chapter lays out the structure of this thesis and outlines its central tenet and contribution. It presents the aims and objectives of the research, a justification of, and some insight into the way that the research came to be as it is presented here. It outlines the research question and suggests that both this and the thesis itself emerged from the need to examine sales promotions from a different perspective to that covered in the current literature, which are presented in chapters 2 and 3. The research process, the structure of the thesis and key outcomes of the research are also discussed.