A method for the selection of appropriate business-to-business integrated marketing communications mixes

Abstract

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) are expressly conceived for appropriate communications strategy planning in the increasingly interactive,fragmented,cluttered and global communications environment that is today's market-place. To be effective, the aspect of the IMC model that is concerned with communication from the manufacturer or distributor to the consumer proposes that marketers must now more than ever ensure that the sum total of their marketing communications in all its forms be carefully coordinated so that they all speak collectively with one voice, thereby amplifying and reinforcing the core organizational or brand message. To date, however, most of the research emphasis on IMC has been devoted to consumer marketing. The purpose of this paper is to examine marketing managers' perceptions in the US trucking industry. Correspondence analysis was used for revealing associations between the promotional tools currently used in the US trucking industry and their specific communications function. The results suggest that US trucking managers link their deployment of respective promotional tools to the separate stages of the consumer choice process, as exemplified by the new product adoption model. The fact that the managers in this recently deregulated industry have come to deploy their promotional tools in such a manner implies that the new product adoption model may serve as a template for marketers looking for a guide for effectively selecting a complementary array of marketing communications tools.