A survey of the extent to which advertising by textbook publishing firms influence customer preference of textbooks: The case of public primary schools teachers in Nairobi

Abstract

The study of the extent to which textbook publishers use advertising to influence the preference of their consumers was carried out in Nairobi on a sample population of public school teachers. Evans et al (1996) have argued that advertising does not add value to the marketing of consumer products. The study set out to find how advertising could be used to influence the preference of consumers of textbooks. The population of study was public school teachers in 191 public schools in Nairobi. Eight teachers from each school who sat in the subject textbook selection panel formed the sample frame of 1528 teachers. A sample of 100 randomly selected teachers each from a different school was interviewed. These were preferably teachers who sat in the textbook selection committees and whose influence in the selection of textbook in schools was considered strong. A two-part questionnaire was used to gather data. A complete literature review of relevant material was conducted before and after the establishment of the research question. The data collection was limited by accessibility to schools and the school timetable. The research design used in the study was the survey design. The research findings indicated that even though advertising is important in creating awareness, it seems that it minimally influences other marketing objectives such as sales growth, market share and brand loyalty to a very less extent. The research also indicated a need for branding of the products of publishing houses. The low level of branding in textbook publishing could be the reason why the findings indicate that advertising will influence preference only to a less extent. The study is exploratory and more pertinent issues like branding in textbook marketing can be explored further. The current state of publishing in Kenya is characterized by outdated technology and over reliance on the school curriculum market. Lithographic publishing is costly in terms of operations and time. The marketing strateqiescurrently being pursued used in the industry lack in innovation and efficiency. Sales representation, poor sales planning and the rush to achieve a desired market reach has continued to reducajhe earning of publishing firms. Faced with new challenges that have made publishing very unattractive, publishers are forced to adopt new strategies including advertising in an effort to influence sales. This study hopes to break the ground in the field of textbook publishing. The Kenyan publishing scenario is still open to many other studies. Several questions remain unanswered especially regarding the most effective strategies in the marketing of textbooks. It appears that limited research has been done in this area.