ABSTRACT
In Ghana, footwear plays an essential part of our culture.
Almost all the tribes put on footwear as part of their traditional dressing.
The study sought to investigate the marketing challenges affecting
manufacturers of footwear in the Kumasi Metropolis. Data was collected from two
hundred manufacturers of footwear products in the Kumasi Metropolis. The heads
of the Business Advisory Council and Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly were also
interviewed for relevant data. The study revealed that manufacturers of footwear
products employed varied strategies in attracting customers, including
designing products to meet needs of customers, offering after sale services,
and selling at considerably lower prices, among others. The study further
revealed that the first and second major marketing challenges confronting
manufacturers of footwear products in the Kumasi Metropolis are the lack of
promotion and quality of their products respectively. Other challenges included
the presence of competitors and inability to find new markets. The study
therefore recommended that the local media should also be sensitized by the
national bodies such as the Ministries of Information and Communication, NCCE
and Media Commission to spearhead the regular promotion and marketing of
footwear products. Also, the Metropolitan Assembly should create the enabling
environment to improve upon activities of the footwear industry.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of
the Study
Footwear is among the things that are very important in our
daily dressing. There is not a single day that one dresses without wearing a
shoe, slippers, heel, to mention but a few. This reveals the importance of
footwear in our daily life. History reveals that early human beings walked on
the surface of the earth without wearing footwear (Geib, 2000; Trinkaus and
Hong, 2008). However, with time, footwear became a very important component of
things that human beings wore every day. This was due to some reasons among
which include protection, beautification, and social value, to mention but a
few (Houlbrook, 2013).According to Houlbrook (2013), there is no country with
her citizenries walking barefoot in this twenty first century. Not even in a
developing country such as Ghana in West Africa.
In Ghana, footwear plays an essential part of our culture.
Almost all the tribes put on footwear as part of their traditional dressing.
For instance the Akans, among other tribes, wear “Kawkaw” as part of their
traditional dressing to every important occasion. To add, people put on shoes,
slippers, or heel to work, church, school and other important places.
Consequently, a very great opportunity seems to exist in the footwear industry.
But the question pondering in the minds of many marketers is that, are the
profit-making opportunities in the footwear industry, in Ghana, fully
exploited?
Inadequate information and
understanding about needs and wants of the customers have contributed to poor
“image” of the kind of footwear that the manufacturers produce to the market.
Upon some efforts being made by the manufacturers of footwear in marketing
their products, majority of the customers, especially those in Kumasi Metropolitan
Area (KMA) unconsciously maintain the perception that footwear produced in
Ghana are of “poor” quality. This has led to low patronage of the footwear
produced in Ghana (especially Kumasi). Thus, most people in the KMA prefer to
purchase imported or foreign footwear rather than purchasing the locally
manufactured footwear and as a result of that reducing the sales volume and
hence the profitability of the manufacturers of footwear.
There are many marketing challenges that the manufacturers of
foot wears are facing. The place, promotion, price and the products to produce
in order to meet the needs and wants of the customers become a challenge for
most businesses in Ghana, including the footwear industry. The gap of marketing
these products is present in almost all the footwear manufacturers in Ghana.
1.2 Problem
Statement
So long as people exist and have feet there must definitely
be demand for footwear. This is so in the sense that footwear is one of the
things everybody needs as part of his or her basic needs. Thus, calls for the
manufacturing of footwear in almost every country. Nevertheless, in the case of
Ghana, even though manufacturing of footwear goes on but the demand for the
products by the populace is nothing to write home about thus affecting the
manufacturers of footwear. This problem is not limited to only the footwear
industry but to other manufacturers who are into production of footwear
products. This has led to series of calls from
previous and current governments to the general public to patronize in
products, including footwear to promote and sustain the growth of the local
industries. Manufacturers of footwear complain of low demand for their products
upon all the efforts being made by them to satisfy the needs and wants of the
Ghanaian market, with regards to footwear. Surprisingly, consumers still
perceive that products are of poor quality and for that matter prefer foreign
ones to locally manufactured ones thus causing a relatively reduction in the
total revenue of the made-in Ghana footwear hence low profit being made by the
manufacturers (Bamfo, 2012). The place, promotion, price and the products to
produce in order to meet the needs and wants of the customers become a
challenge for most businesses in Ghana, including the footwear industry.
Therefore, the problem the researcher intends to investigate into is the
marketing challenges affecting manufacturers of footwear in Kumasi Metropolis.
1.3 Objectives of
the Study
The main objective of this study is to investigate into the
marketing challenges affecting manufacturers of footwear in Kumasi Metropolis.
This is achieved through the following specific objectives:
i. to find out the customer group manufacturers of footwear are
selling their products to.
ii. to assess how manufacturers of footwear are applying the
marketing mix from product development to sales.
iii. to analyze the main marketing challenges manufacturers of
footwear are facing.
In order to achieve the objectives stated above, this study
raises the following questions:
i. What are the customer groups manufacturers of footwear are
selling their products to?
ii. How are the manufacturers of footwear in KMA applying the
marketing mix from product development to sales?
iii. What are the main marketing challenges manufacturers of
footwear are facing?
1.5 Significance
of the Study
First of all, since literature on footwear as an industry and
an area of study is scanty in Ghana, this thesis being an embodiment of
knowledge, serves as a very important reference material for students,
manufacturers of footwear, marketers, researchers, government and people who
are interested in footwear in general. It is therefore hoped that this study
will provide basis for further research. Also, the study identifies the main
marketing challenges manufacturers of footwear are facing and necessary
strategies to promoting locally manufactured footwear in the Ghanaian market.
In addition, the study seeks to highlight or suggest the marketing implications
to the footwear manufacturers and how to improve upon their marketing efforts.
Moreover, the final write up can also be used as learning material especially
within areas related to marketing and consumer behaviour. Last but not the
least, the study seeks to make available marketing strategies that can improve
and promote the use and consumption of locally-made products.
Conceptually, the study was confined tomanufacturers of
made-in Ghana footwear within the KMA, and was conducted to investigate into
the marketing challenges that affect themanufacturers.Moreover, it is
noteworthy to mention that the research is a case study approach of only
manufacturers of footwear products in the Kumasi Metropolis and did not cover
other manufacturers in the footwear industry outside KMA to reflect the entire
industry marketing challenges. Hence, the result was not generalized but its
findings were placed in the relevant context of the area studied.
1.7 Overview of
Methodology
The population of this study comprises the manufacturers of
footwear, within the Kumasi Metropolis. For convenience, a sample of the
population was drawn. A sample is a number of respondents that are
representative of the population (Smith and Albaum, 2012). For the purpose of
this study, sample size of 200 respondents was selected. The study relied on
only primary data. The primary source of data was collected from respondents
through questionnaires and interview concerning the research under the study.
The study adopted purposive sampling methods to select the manufacturers of
footwear as respondents. Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) was
used to run the analysis. Descriptive statistics (simple percentages, pie
charts, and tables) were used in analyzing the data collected on the various
specific objectives, which were presented in tables and charts for further
discussions.
This study is not without limitations. First, studying the
marketing challenges manufacturers of footwear are facing, as a whole would
demand taking a larger sample size from all the ten regions of Ghana other than
the sample size of 200 manufacturers as respondents from Kumasi used in this
study. Due to poor documentation on indigenous activities in Ghana, scantiness
of literature on the indigenous footwear industry made the review of related
literature difficult and frustrating.
1.9 Organization
of the Study
The study is organized in five chapters. The first chapter is
the introductory chapter and discusses the background of the study, problem
statement, objectives, research questions, significance of the study, brief
methodology, scope of the study, and limitations of the study. Chapter two
considers a literature review of the theme of the study, while Chapter three
deals with methodology for the study. Additionally, Chapter four presents the
results of the various specific objectives used for the study and the
accompanied discussions. Finally Chapter five presents summary, conclusions,
policy recommendation as well as suggestions for future studies.
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