Identifying Effective Promotion Strategies for Small Retail Business in the State of Nevada: A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration

By Dr. Charles O. Usigbe

Small businesses are the backbone of any economy. Although big transnational
firms are associated with economies of scale, efficiencies, prestige and good
payscales, it is the small firms that are the largest employers in terms of numbers, and
are known for their flexibility and responsiveness in meeting consumer demands.
This research focuses on seeking out promotional strategies that can help small
businesses in Nevada which is a hub for small businesses in America. In order to find
suitable strategies that can enable small businesses to compete in an industry that has
come to be dominated by big firms, a multiple case study method has been used.
The multiple case study method has helped to determine useful strategies that
small firms can use in competing in the retail industry, an industry that has come to be
dominated by the big players. An in-depth study, of multiple cases that are focused
on the state of Nevada has yielded that small businesses face many issues that
are in-house that need to be resolved before the businesses embark on a journey to
market themselves better

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479778959

Book preview

IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE PROMOTION STRATEGIES FOR SMALL RETAIL BUSINESS IN THE STATE OF NEVADA

BY

Dr. Charles O. Usigbe

Student ID Number 12364-R

A Dissertation

Submitted in partial fulfilment

Of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration

AMERICAN CENTURY UNIVERSITY

January 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Charles O. Usigbe. 129255-USIG

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013900743

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-4797-7893-5

             Ebook        978-1-4797-7895-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 04/18/2013

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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

Importance of the Problem

Purpose of the Study

Questions Examined in this Study

Component Questions

Literature Review

Methodology

Limitations of the Study

Overview of the Remaining Chapters

CHAPTER II: ITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Literature Review

2.2 Background of Small Businesses in the state of Nevada and the United States

2. 3 Overview of Past Successful Strategies for Small Business in Nevada

2.4 Advantages for Small Business in Nevada

2.5 General Perspective on Small Business Strategies for the 21st Century

2.6 Potential Promotional Strategies for Small Business in Nevada

2.7 E-commerce Buying Trends:

2.8 Marketing & Advertising:

2.9 The Future of E-Commerce Marketing Strategies and Small Business

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Research Objectives

3.3 Research Questions

3.4 Research Approach

3.4.1 Research Paradigms

3.5 Philosophical Conditions

3.6 Research Instrument

3.7 Research Site

3.8 Research Sampling

3.9 Conclusion

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Presentation of Findings

4.2.2 Literature Review Findings

4.3 Case Study Findings

4.4 Strategies to Compete Against National Discount Chains

4.5 Push and Pull Marketing Strategies

4.6 Empirical Investigation of Customer Orientation construct of Entrepreneurial Strategy Making

4.7 Pricing and Marketing Strategies

CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

5.2 Conclusions

5.3 Recommendations

5.3.1 More research should be done

5.3.2 States should come to the aid of small businesses

5.3.3 Embracing Technology

5.3.4 Formation of Welfare Groups

5.3.6. Adopting Proper Marketing Strategies

5.3.7 Be updated on the Market Mix Issues

Bibliography

THE DISERTATION

OF

Dr. Charles O. Usigbe

Is approved, and is acceptable

In content, quality, and form.

Dissertation Committee:

–––––––—

––––––––

––––––––-

Committee Chairperson

AMERICAN CENTURY UNIVERSITY

April 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those people who helped me in the completion of my dissertation.

To Dr. Mayhall I thank you so much for your support through the tough time of my dissertation. Before he retired he kept telling me not to give up that one day I will get it done.

I am greatly Indebted to my academic Advisor Dr. Gonzalez for all his help, encouragement and assistance during the past year. I owe him a great debt of gratitude because his guidance throughout my graduate work made it possible for me to reach my goal. His advice, criticism and counseling were the greatest influence in my final Project. He is a good facilitator thanks to Dr. Hector Gonzalez. I also like to thank the late Dr. Samuel for the assistance He gave me at the library for several weeks may his soul rest in peace.

I would like to thank my brothers and sisters both in US, South Africa and Nigeria. Sister Agness Uzeh, Mr. Matthew Usigbe Mrs. Grace E. Usigbe, Mrs. Caroline Ugbodu, Pastor Solomon Ugbodu, Mr. & Mrs. Chris Usigbe, Mr. & Mrs. Morris Usigbe, Mrs. Franca Iyere, & Mr. Thompson Iyere Mrs. Debra Adepoju, & Mr. Adepoju, Mrs. Nancy Chukwu Emeka, Mrs. Rose Okoduwa & all my Nephews and Nieces. They are always there for me, both good times and bad times thanks to all of you. Special thanks to my father Chief Jeremiah Okokoni Usigbe with his continue prayers for me i Prevail. Also thanks to my office secretary Annette Mattox for all her support with the office work, this makes it easy for me to study.

Thanks to my children Charles Jr, Charlston, Christopher, & Christiana Usigbe for their support, great children.

The person who made all of this possible is my wife Melissa Usigbe. Her constant support and care aided me throughout the study. Thanks to Melissa Usigbe. The typing and editing burden was borne by Mr. Mark kabtown thanks to Mr. Mark for his support.

ABSTRACT

Small businesses are the backbone of any economy. Although big transnational firms are associated with economies of scale, efficiencies, prestige and good payscales, it is the small firms that are the largest employers in terms of numbers, and are known for their flexibility and responsiveness in meeting consumer demands.

This research focuses on seeking out promotional strategies that can help small businesses in Nevada which is a hub for small businesses in America. In order to find suitable strategies that can enable small businesses to compete in an industry that has come to be dominated by big firms, a multiple case study method has been used.

The multiple case study method has helped to determine useful strategies that small firms can use in competing in the retail industry, an industry that has come to be dominated by the big players. An in-depth study, of multiple cases that are focused on the state of Nevada has yielded that small businesses face many issues that are in-house that need to be resolved before the businesses embark on a journey to market themselves better.

Some of the issues that emerged from the study, which is based on secondary research, are that small businesses are not research focused and many of their attempts at using tools from the promotional mix do not work because the strategy is neither well-planned nor well implemented.

Conclusions that have been drawn on the basis of the study suggest that small businesses, especially in Nevada can easily adjust to changing market demands as the businesses require smaller capital amounts and less labor as compared to businesses in other places. For this purpose, small businesses can employ the use of target marketing by effectively utilizing marketing research to formulate business strategy.

The study has also touched upon the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce for small businesses. It has indicated that while small business might think that e-commerce and starting a website can be helpful for them, maintenance of these websites is a vital issue that small business managers don’t think about in full detail.

In lieu of these conclusions, the recommendations that this research paper suggests are that small businesses should update their knowledge of marketing mix issues. The paper also has suggestions for the government, seeking a higher level of government intervention in order to aid of small businesses, as they have no way of lobbying their interests as strongly as larger companies do.

Adoption of formal marketing strategies is a key to their success as it would entail a focused mindset in tackling the challenges of the external as well as the internal environment. The paper, additionally, also suggests that welfare groups should be formulated for that can work for the betterment of these businesses. Finally, it recommends embracing technology for better promotion and use of more research in taking any business decisions that can impact the operations of the business.

Small businesses, if they are to remain the backbone of America’s economy, have to be aided through government intervention, moreover the businesses, in order to compete effectively have to be more attuned and responsive. Nevada is a good case in point as it has many small businesses that can serve as good cases in point for the adoption of these strategies.

CHAPTER I

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INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

The problem being proposed in this paper is how to help small businesses grow through effective promotion strategies in the state of Nevada along with the rest of the United States. This dissertation proposal is on identifying effective promotion strategies