A Study the Relationship between Marketing Mix Factors and the Decision to Buy Industrial Polished Products

Abstract

                   This independent study aims at exploring a relationship between marketing mix factors and the decision to buy industrial polished products. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 400 participants visiting INTERMACH Show, which is the exhibition featuring metal products, tools, machinery, automation, and fabrication supporting the manufacture of major industries including steel and metal industry, automobile and parts industry, electronic and component industry, and other related subcontracted production. The exhibition is held annually in May at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC), Bangna, Bangkok.

                  Descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, and mean, as well as inferential statistics comprised of T-test independent samples, One Way ANOVA, and Pearson Correlation were used to analyze the data.

                  It was found that most of the respondents were male aged between 31-40 years old, possessed a bachelor’s degree, and were single. They worked in purchasing departments but were not authorized to decide on purchasing. Further, most of the respondents worked in the companies run for over three years. The result suggested that age, educational level, working in the positions in relation to in-store products and in-store distribution channels affected industrial polished product buying decisions and behaviors with the level of statistical significance at 0.05. With regard to the marketing mix factors, the respondents put the highest importance on in-store marketing promotions emphasizing the arrangement of monthly special promotion campaigns, in-store distribution channels focusing on convenient location of stores, in-store prices which should be negotiable and in-store products which should be always available for sale and the stock should be enough for customers to buy, respectively.