THE EFFECT OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION PRACTICES ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES IN ADDIS ABABA

Abstract

This study aimed to the purpose of the study was to examine the effect of MC practices(sales promotion , direct marketing, advertisement, public relation and personal selling) on the business performance among pharmaceutical companies in Addis Ababa. To realize the study objective, the study adopted research design with quantitative research approach. Selfadministered questionnaires were used to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that, among MC tools, public relations and sales promotion were highly practiced by used by pharmaceutical companies while advertisement (grand mean value of 2.5) was practiced to a lesser extent. Moreover, there is moderate level of business performance among companies. Furthermore, the results of regression analysis showed that all MC practices except advertising have caused a statistically significant positive effect on business performance where the highest effect resulted from public relations (β=0.363, p<0.05) and the lowest effect from advertising (β=0.0379, p=0.298). Therefore, the pharmaceutical companies in Addis Ababa should give due emphasis for sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and public relations in order to boost their business performance.