Marketing In-house Publication
In-house Publication
Description of Variable for development of a literature review.
This chapter discusses the opinions, findings from different authors, publications,
magazines, websites, and all possible sources as a basis of foundation for this research study. It is
divided into definition of the key variables and other parts according to the research questions as
seen below;
Conceptual framework
It is a set of broad ideas and principles taken from relevant fields of inquiry and
structured to a subsequent presentation (Reichel and Ramey 1987). It’s a tool of research that is
intended to help a study develop awareness and understanding of the situation under scrutiny and
to communicate.
Altitude toward brand
Product Knowledge
Customer loyalty
In-House publication
In-house publication
Refers to magazines and newsletters that are developed internally and published
designed to communicate the activities and news of the company to its stakeholders. It is
operated by the marketing and customer services departments, and it aims to promote the
business image. Business comes up with branded magazines that communicate what the
company is offering and what it intends to provide to its customers. In today’s market, marketing
plays a significant role in every business, and it needs to be taken to a higher level to gain a
competitive advantage over its competitors.
In- house publication is a part of marketing and through the effectiveness of this section,
the business will acquire the following: improved customers’ attitude to the brand, customer
loyalty and increased customer knowledge to the company and the product among others.
Attitude toward the brand.
The brand is the use of symbols, unique design, sin or the combination of these in the
creation of an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from the competitors. The
brand is significant as it represents the business to the customers and the outsiders (Quelch,
Taylor, & Insight Media). This image over the time has been associated with credibility,
satisfaction, and quality in the mind of clients. Many businesses today use branded magazines
which are a unique way to attract customer’s interest. The trade mark for the brand is the legal
brand name which it acts as representative of the firm and is known as brand name.
According to the business research, it showed that brand awareness has a great impact on
a company as it provides a competitive edge. The in-house publication has been playing a
paramount role in promoting brand awareness of the business hence increasing the market share
of the business. Brand awareness aims at three primary objectives: to add value to the firm,
increase customer awareness and promote the business connection with the customers. In house
publication has been promoting consumer knowledge to a great level as it keeps the customer
intact with the business information.
Continues communication to customer improves the attitude of customers to the firm. It
enhances the image of the business to the outsiders and also building interest which in turn
increases the market share of the firm. To maintain the brand name in the minds of customers,
continuous in house publication is necessary. Publishing magazines have been promoting the
good relationship and also increases the brand loyalty of clients (APA Advantage Study, 2007).
Customer spends more time on published materials as compared to TV advertisement or internet.
Product knowledge.
Refers to the customer understanding of a service or good that may include having
information about its function, features, application, use and support requirements. Through in-
house publication, the business can improve the customer knowledge on its products. Magazines
and newsletter alert the customers on any changes on the firms’ products and innovations
therefore promoting the customers’ product knowledge at a great level.
Product knowledge is one of the basic roles of the customer service team. The employee
should also have enough knowledge about the product or service, but the team in the customer
service should have a thorough product information. The customers usually rely on the customer
service team to provide them with the relevant information on the products. It also requires the
marketing department to be timely when delivering the information to customers. They should
get the right information at the right time. Good product knowledge promotes informed feedback
from the buyers, and this helps the business to improve its products. It also builds customer
confidence in the company’s goods and services. Moreover, this services to enhance business
reputation, reduce complaints, increase sales and provide stability to the enterprise. In-house
publication plays a very prominent role in providing product knowledge to the customers.
Customer loyalty.
It is both behavioral and attitudinal tendency of the customer to favor one brand over all
other in a particular market either due to the satisfaction of the product or service, familiarity,
comfort or convenience in performance with the brand (Alessandra, 2007). Customers spend
more of their wallet on a brand by shopping regularly and have a positive feeling toward it hence
giving the business a competitive edge. They are four types of customer loyalty:
a) Monogamous vs. Polygamous loyalty.
In the real world, monogamous loyalty cannot exist since no customer can make to buy
one brand throughout. Many customers tend to be loyal to different brands in varying proportion.
According to Keiningham et l (2005) in the book of loyalty Myths, “loyalty can is the probability
that a customer will purchase a brand on any given purchase occasion. For example, a customer
tends to buy brand Q 70percent of the time, R 25 percent of the time and S 5 percent of the time.
In the real market, to get a 100 percent loyal customer is very rare and the main aim of the
business is to make sure that the client spends the highest amount of his money on the brand.
Polygamous loyalty represents the most realistic type of loyalty as it describes the actual
behavior of the consumer on brands.
b) Behavioral and Attitudinal loyalty
In the past, people used to describe consumer loyalty on how much the customer has
spent on the brand regardless of the reason. “most existing programs of loyalty rewards
behavioral loyalty using these measures (Ammi, 2007). The more a buyer pays to the company,
the more rewards you earn”. According to Kumar and Shah from the University of
Connecticut’s School of Business (2004). The main point was that the more an individual
spends on the brand, the more rewards. Another element of loyalty is the Attitudinal loyalty
which focuses on how high the customer is committed to the brand. However, this type of
commitment has a limitation since a buyer may recommend a product to a friend and for
whatever reasons fail to purchase it regularly.
In house publication, plays a significant role in enhancing customer loyalty to a product
by ensuring there is continuous sharing of information to the customers about the product (In
Parumasur & In Roberts-Lombard, 2015). Every business should use the house organ to make
sure that the customer spends the largest amount of their budget on their product since 100%
loyal customer is rare to get.
Theories
1.Customer decision making process.
Consumers are the king of any business, and it should direct its efforts toward satisfying
the customers precisely (Paul, 2014). Understanding the consumer behavior and how they are
making the purchasing decision is paramount to in-house publication. They are five steps of
consumer decision-making process:
a) Problem recognition
b) Search process
c) Evaluating Alternatives
d)Selection stage
e) Evaluation of Decision
2.Segmenting consumer market and in-house publication
According to this theory, the marketing can be segmented into four segments:
a) Demographic segmentation (Age, Gender, Income,
Family cycle).
b) Geographical Segmentation
c) Psychographic Segmentation (Personality trait and
life style)
d) Behavioral Segmentation (Occasion, User status, Usage rate, Loyalty status, Buyer
readiness stage)
The segments are important to customer service team as it helps them to get the tactics or
to target the segmented market.
References
Alessandra, A. J. (2007). The stairs of customer loyalty. Place of publication not identified:
Electronic & Database Pub.
Ammi, C. (2007). Global consumer behavior. London: ISTE.
In Parumasur, S. B., & In Roberts-Lombard, M. (2015). Consumer behaviour.
In Wymer, W. W. (2015). Innovations in social marketing and public health communication:
Improving the quality of life for individuals and communities.
Langen, N. (2013). Ethics in consumer choice: An empirical analysis based on the example of
coffee. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler.
Paul, A. (2014). Amp up your sales: Powerful strategies that move customers to make fast,
favorable decisions.
Quelch, J., Taylor, C., & Insight Media (Firm). (2010). Brand management: Building an image,
building customer loyalty. Los Angeles: Quisic.
