Abstract

Sales Promotion and Consumer Purchase Behaviour of Selected Fast Moving Consumer Goods Firms in Lagos State, Nigeria

Consumers in the FMCG sector commonly engage in thorough research as part of their decision-making process before buying a product. They compare prices, read product reviews, and look into the brand’s reputation before initiating a purchase. This is because consumers have different purchase behaviours which change based on the different patterns that firms in the FMCG sector promote their products to them. Despite efforts made by these firms in promoting sales through price promotion, premiums, coupons, and free samples, some consumers are still reluctant to make purchases due to the lack of appeal that emanates from the sales process of these FMCGs. This is evident in negative feedback from customers, poor customer experience, lack of customer loyalty and poor customer satisfaction. Consequently, it has become a great concern for firms that operate in the FMCG sector to manage the purchase behaviour of consumers which is the core of this research. The study adopted the survey research design. The population of this study comprised of 6,975 of top level, middle level and lower-level management staff of the selected fast moving consumer goods firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Adapted and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.714 to 0.941. A response rate of 83% was recorded from the field work. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential tools. Findings revealed that sales promotion had significant effect on consumer purchasing behaviour in selected fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria (Adj. R² = 0.351, F-statistics (df = 4, 407) = 56.012(p<0.05). The study concluded that sales promotion contributes towards consumer purchasing behaviour in selected fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing companies. The study recommends that management of fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing companies should make use of different sales promotion activities in order to stimulate consumer demand to increase purchase behaviour. FMCG should also focus on creating awareness of their products or services and use effective promotional techniques such as special offers, discounts, and contests to increase sales.