An Evaluation of the Practice of Societal Marketing in Selected Indigenous Manufacturing Companies in Enugu State

Abstract

The scenario of business environment is never• static, and any company that wishes to survive within the society must always plan against the dynamic nature of the society, because nature and the environment or the society work hands in glove. This implies that manufacturers should at the same time they are thinking about the product or service to offer to consumers in order to satisfy them, so as to win their patronage, and at the same time make profit , they should equally think about the humanistic aspect of marketing of the consumers' preferences. This implies thinking about the consumers' welfare and at the same time about the welfare of the communities or society in which they do their business(es); ie thinking in the line of societal marketing. It is against this background that this study tries to make critical evaluations of the place of, the necessity for, and contributions• of societal marketing concepts to indigenous manufacturing companies. Hence, the study population was drawn from the internal and external public s, ie the entire staff and management of these three companies, thcn their host communities. Thus the researcher worked with two questionnaires directed to these two group , and the survey method used to deal with the problems set out by the hypotheses. The researcher selected 120 respondents from the internal public and 300 from the external public to get a total sample size of420 for the study. However, at the end, 405 respondents returned their questionnaires, and all analyses was based on these returned questionnaires. The researcher tested the three hypotheses of the study using the chi-square test statistic . The following findings were made, * That of the three companies studied, only one is putting or using the principles of societal marketing concepts in its strategic planning. * That indigenous manufacturing company in EI~ U gU State is yet to understand and at the same time, practice the principle of societal marketing. * That most of the problems these indigenous manufacturers faced within the society are being caused by them (ie the manufacturers) because they failed to acknowledge the importance of the society towards their success. Following the above findings , it was generally concluded that indigenous manufacturing companies should employ the triangular concept of soc ictal marketing, ie having the interest of the company at heart, satisfaction of consumers' needs and wants, and provision of societal wclfare(s). The indigenous manufacturers should bear in mind that there is hardly any company that would not go down in ruin if it refused to produce for the above-mentioned three entities that make up its existence. Based on the above comments, the researcher recommend that indigenous manufacturers should not hold tenaciously to their primary business objecti vcs of profit maximization, but should equally show concern for the welfare of their host communities.