Behavioural response to sales promotion tools: A Hong Kong study

Supermarkets are heavy users of sales promotion devices and need to be able to assess the effectiveness of these tools. Consumer response (brand switching, purchase acceleration, stockpiling, product trial, spending more) to five different sales promotion tools (price discounts, in-store demonstrations, coupons, sweepstakes and games, and ‘buy one get one free’) was investigated through a survey of 206 supermarket shoppers in Hong Kong. Price discounts and buy-one-get-one-free offers were felt by the consumers to be the most effective promotional tools for inducing purchase acceleration, stockpiling and spending more. In-store demonstrations were felt to be mainly effective in encouraging product trial. Coupons were considered effective mainly in inducing stockpiling and purchase acceleration. Sweepstakes and games, in contrast, were felt to be relatively ineffective in terms of generating all types of consumer response. Recommendations for marketers are presented, along with suggested directions for future research.