Business and Accounting Department In Partial Fulfilment For the requirements in Business Graded Unit 2 (F8LE 35) Effectiveness of Sales Promotional Techniques – A Study with reference to National Ferries Company Stage 2 – Developing Stage Submitted by Submitted to   Table of Contents NO Title Page 2.1 Overview 3  Promotion 4  Sales promotional techniques to sell the product 6  Evaluate the effectiveness of existing sales promotional techniques 7 2.2 Overview about the Company 9 2.3 Analysis and Interpretation 9 2.3.1 Analysis of primary and secondary source of data 9  Tables & Charts 10-23 2.4 Summary of Findings 24 2.5 Implications of the Study 24-25 2.5.1 Implications of the customers 25 2.5.2 Implications to Company 25 2.6 Conclusions from your investigation 26 2.7 Recommendations 26 2.8 Activity Log 27 2.9 Bibliography 28 2.9.1 Books 28 2.9.2 Website 28 2.9.3 Journals 29 2.9.4 Thesis 2.10 Appendix 30 Stage 2: Developing Stage 2.1 Overview According to American Associations definition Marketing “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.” (AMA 1985) According to Philip Kotler (2012) the marketing process can be described in the following seven steps: 1. Understand the market wants/needs of interest 2. Based on relative size and needs of the market, select certain segments of the market that are of the most interest to you and your organization 3. Thoroughly describe these segments based on their individual needs 4. Create a product or service that will meet the specific needs identified 5. Communicate the concept of the product or service to the targeted customer in a way that makes sense to the customer 6. Deliver the product or service to the targeted customer in a way that will be convenient to the customer 7. Solicit feedback from the customer about how your product or service could be improved to meet the customers’ needs even better. According to Tanner and Raymond (2010) marketing involves building long-term, mutually rewarding relationship when these benefit all parties concerned. It is based on an understanding that a sale does not depend on an aggressive sales force, but rather on a customer’s decision to purchase a product. The marketing concept includes the following:  Focusing on customer wants and needs so that the organization can distinguish its products from competitors offerings.  Integrating all the organizations activities, include production, to satisfy these wants  Achieving long-term goals for the organization by satisfying customers wants and needs legally and responsibly Requirement research involves identify the advantages and attributes that customers expect in a very promotion. The study has found that the company promotions play several roles in selling, designed to supply certain desired effects. The strategies employed in achieving these effects could vary, depending on a company's goals, priorities, markets and industries. Promotions generally include advertising, publicity, commercials and alternative ways. The key to manufacturing results through promotions is guaranteeing that firms target the proper customers - people who are more apt to buy their merchandise. Moreover, the promotional message should be convincing and run frequently enough to realize the desired effects. According to Cole Ehmke (2002) Purdue University Marketing your business is about how you position it to satisfy your market’s needs. There are four critical elements in marketing your products and business. They are the four P’s of marketing. 1. Product. The right product to satisfy the wishes of your goal customer. 2. Price. The right product supplied on the right fee. 3. Place. The proper product on the right charge to be had within the proper vicinity to be offered with the aid of customers. 4. Promotion. Informing capability customers of the availability of the product, its charge and its place. Each of the four P’s is a variable you control in developing the marketing mix with a view to appeal to customers in your commercial enterprise. Your advertising and marketing mix must be something you pay cautious interest to due to the fact the achievement of your enterprise relies upon on it.  Promotion “Promotion” refers to the advertising and selling part of marketing. It is how company let people know what they have got for sale. Company want the customers who are looking for a product to know that their product satisfies their needs. The purpose of promotion is to get people to understand what company product is, what they can use it for, and why they should want it. The company target audience will be the people who use or influence the purchase of company product. To be effective, company promotional efforts should contain a clear message targeted to a specific audience reached via an appropriate channel. Their message must be consistent with overall marketing image, get the target audience’s attention, and elicit the response they desire, whether it is to purchase company product or to form an opinion. The Company should focus on market research efforts on identifying these individuals. Promotion may involve advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotions. The channel company select for their message will likely involve use of a few key marketing channels. According to Kotler the ever increasing competition in the global market has prompted organizations to be determined and ensure satisfaction of customer needs and wants more efficiently and effectively than ones competitors (Kotler, 1988). The business environment has become very competitive in the 21st century due to the growth in technology, infrastructure and access to information around the globe. This has made the environment very complex and consumer preferences keep changing because of the low switching cost in the market. Due to this increasing demand of consumers in the market, management of business organizations have to increase their resources with attention focused more on attracting and retaining its customers (Kotler, 2003) According to Aderemi Sales promotion is an initiative undertaken by organizations to promote and increase sales, usage or trial of a product or services (Aderemi,2003). Sales promotion acts as a competitive weapon by providing an extra incentive for the target audience to purchase or support one brand over the other. Sales promotion refers to the provision of incentives to customers or to the distribution channel to stimulate demand for a product. It is an important component of an organizations overall marketing strategy along with advertising, public relations and personal selling. It is particularly effective in spurring product trials and unplanned purchases (Aderemi, 2003). Sales promotion is a marketing activity that adds to the basic value proposition behind a product(i.e. getting more for less) for a limited time in order to stimulate consumer purchasing, selling effectiveness or the effort of the sales force (Aderemi, 2003). This implies that, sales promotion may be directed either at end consumer or at selling intermediaries such as retailers or sales crews. Sales promotion refers to those promotion activities other than advertising, publicity and personal selling that stimulate interest, trial or purchase by final customers or others in the channel (Bagavathi Pillai, 2007). A sales promotion is a marketing event focusing in which a corporate entity attempts to influence customers directly (Blattberg & Neslin, 1990). In other words, a sales promotion provides the incentive for consumers to purchase some specific products, and this incentive is different from the incentive provided by advertising with respect to the reasons to purchase those specific products. A sales promotion stimulates customer purchases and the efficiency of distributors through marketing activities excluding advertising, public relations and so on. The purpose of a sales promotion is to attract new customers, maintain existing customers who are contemplating switching brands and give incentives to customers who are about to use competing products. Sales promotions vary depending on the situation and need, and they have an immediate effect on product purchases. Sales promotional techniques to sell the product A sales promotion can be categorized as either a price-discounting sales promotion or a value adding sales promotion, depending on the nature of its incentive (Sawyer & Dickson, 1984). A price-discounting sales promotion, presented as a unit price, discounts the price temporarily; methods of doing this include the use of coupons, price discounts and cash refunds. A value adding sales promotion, which is highly likely to be structured as a separate benefit because its differentiating unit is not price, includes the use of premium gifts and free gifts through a bonus pack draw. On the basis of the theory provided by (Sawyer & Dickson, 1984), this study has categorized sales promotions into four different categories: price discounts, coupons, freebies, and points. The most popular consumer sales promotions are directly associated with product purchasing. These promotions are intended to enhance the value of a product purchase by either reducing the overall cost of the product (i.e., get same product but for less money) or by adding more benefit to the regular purchase price (i.e., get more for the money). Consumer sales promotions encompass a variety of short-term promotional techniques designed to induce customers to respond in some way. Promotion techniques can be used to achieve other objectives such as building brand loyalty or creating product awareness. Consequently, a marketer’s promotional toolbox contains a large variety of consumer promotions. As we discuss the following 11 types of consumer sales promotions: 1. Coupons 2. Rebates 3. Promotional Pricing 4. Trade-In 5. Loyalty Programs 6. Sampling and Free Trials 7. Free Product 8. Premiums 9. Contests and Sweepstakes 10. Demonstrations 11. Personal Appearances The widespread use of consumer sales promotions has sparked considerable interest and debate over their effectiveness. Critics argue that sales promotions are ineffective as they make consumers more promotion prone, resulting in market share losses in the long run make consumers more promotion prone, resulting in market share losses in the long run (Ehrenberg, Hammond and Goodhardt, 1994; Totten and Block, 1987). This discrepancy suggests that there are conditions and factors that can influence the effectiveness of sales promotions. For instance, it has been shown that sales promotions are more effective when they provide benefits that are congruent with those of the promoted product (Chandon, Wansink and Laurent, 2000). Evaluate the effectiveness of existing sales promotional techniques When companies plan their communication mix, not only good knowledge of sales promotional tools and their objectives is important, but it is also vital to know the target audience and its behaviour. Consumer behaviour is influenced by many factors, and so is responsiveness to sales promotion activities. According to Kotler and Armstrong (1994) several factors have contributed to the rapid growth of sales promotion particularly in consumer markets. First, inside the company, promotion is now accepted more by top management as an effective sales promotion tool and more product managers are qualified to use sales promotion tools. Furthermore, product managers face greater pressures to increase their current sales. Second, externally, the company faces more competition and competing brands are less differentiated. Competitors are using more and more promotions and consumers have become more ideal oriented. Third, advertising efficiency has declined because of rising costs, media clutter and legal restraints. Finally, retailers are demanding more deals from manufacturers. According to Leigh Richards (1980) the most effective marketing strategies are those that are targeted toward a specific audience, focused on key benefits based on the audience's point of view and interests, and delivered at an appropriate time--when the audience is most likely to be attentive to and interested in the message being delivered. 1) Specific Targeting Effective marketing is targeted to a specific, not a general, audience. By way of illustration, consider the different approaches that might be taken with a product as basic as rice if selling to these audiences: retirees, young mothers or athletes. By focusing on a specific audience and seeking to understand that audience's needs, interests and desires, marketers can be most effective in achieving their objectives, says Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of "Marketing With the End in Mind." 2) Focus on Benefits It can be difficult for small business owners to view their business and their products from the outside in, but that's exactly what they must do if they hope to be successful in their marketing efforts, says Grensing-Pophal. "Too often we become enamored with our own products and services or we take it for granted that our target audiences will understand our products and services the way we do--they won't." Marketers need to learn about and consider audience needs and concerns, and identify potential objections that they can work to overcome in their marketing efforts. In doing so, they can identify key benefits to focus on that will be attractive to the target audience. 3) Good Timing A message about female incontinence delivered through a poster on the inside of a restroom door stall is hitting an audience at just about the perfect time. The same message delivered on an overhead announcement at a mall would probably not have the same impact. Effective marketing seeks to reach audiences when they are most likely to be open and attentive to the message. Small businesses need to think carefully about their delivery mechanisms--newspaper, radio, TV, social media, and others--and consider whether messages are being conveyed in the right place, at the right time. 2.2 Overview about the Company National Ferries Company provides transportation services between various destinations along the Omani cost, most importantly between Muscat and Khasab in the Musandam peninsula. The exceptional challenges of the long coastlines of the Sultanate, which are more than 3000 km long, make this service necessary for people to save time and enjoy the pictures costs of the country. National Ferries is the number one tourist attraction in the Oman, beyond tourism and commuting purposes, commercial vehicles and local residents seeking recreation or leisure activities. 2.3 Analysis and Interpretation 2.3.1 Analysis of primary and secondary source of data This section looks at the analysis of the findings and discusses in details what the findings talks about. It is here that the responses from the questionnaires administered are assessed. The researcher did administer the questionnaire by hand. The questionnaire were self-administered, copies were given to and collected from the respondents. This was done with the view to ensuring among other things that copies of the questionnaire reach all the respondents, that adequate and effective report could be established to encourage the respondents to accept and answer the questionnaire faithfully and that all copies of the questionnaire are appropriately answered and retrieved from all the respondents. The researcher did the administration of the questionnaires to customers himself. Before structuring the question, researcher interacted with company customers and referred various magazine, company websites, journals, etc. Primary data have been collected from 116 customer’s respondents who are familiar with National Ferries Company promotions. The following table analysis of the primary data. Table No.1. Table Showing Gender of the Respondents NO Gender Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Female 69 59.5% 2 Male 47 40.5% Source: Primary Data From the table No.1, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 59.5% of respondents are Female and 40.5% of respondents are Male. Chart NO.1 Table No.2. Table Showing Age of the Respondents NO Age Number of Respondent Percentage 1 18-20Years 6 5.2% 2 21-23 Years 7 6.0% 3 24 and Above 103 88.8% Source: Primary Data From the table No.2, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 88.8% of respondents are age of 24 and above and 6.0% of respondents are age 21-23 years. While 5.2% were in the age of 18-20 years. Chart NO.2 Table No.3 Table Showing Employment Status of the Respondents NO Particular Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Employed, working full-time 85 73.9% 2 Employed, working part-time 4 3.5% 3 Not employed, looking for work 8 7.0% 4 Not employed, NOT looking for work 6 5.2% 5 Retired 4 3.5% 6 Disabled, not able to work 0 0.0% 7 Other (please specify) 8 7.0% Source: Primary Data From the table No.3, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 73.9% of respondents are employed, working full-time and not employed, looking for work is 7.0% of respondents. While not employed, not looking for work 5.2%. Employed working part-time and retired employee is 3.5%. Chart NO.3 Table No.4 Table Showing Currently live of the Respondents NO Living Location Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Muscat 98 84.5% 2 Musandam 1 0.9% 3 Dhofar 1 0.9% 4 Al Buraymi 1 0.9% 5 Al Batinah 11 9.5% 6 Al Wusta 0 0.0% 7 Ash Sharqiyah 3 2.6% 8 Ad Dhahirah 1 0.9% Source: Primary Data From the table No.4, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, currently the most population are staying in Muscat 84.5%. While the responses from Sharqiyah 2.6%, and remaining 0.9%. of respondents from various location like Musandam, Dhofar, Al Buraymi and Ad Dhahirah. Chart NO.4 Table No.5 Table Showing believes in advertising of the Respondents NO Opinion Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Yes 108 93.9% 2 No 7 6.1% Source: Primary Data From the table No.5, it is interpreted opinion that out of 116 respondents, 93.9% of respondents were responded Yes 93.9% and 6.1% said No, for advertisement will impact business of the company. Chart NO.5 Table No.6 Table Showing Media Attention of the Respondents NO Media Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Print Media 17 14.7% 2 Visual Media 69 59.5% 3 Radio Commercial 7 6.0% 4 Word of mouth 23 19.8% Source: Primary Data From the table No.6, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 59.5% of respondents are with the first Visual Media. The word of mouth promotion got attention of 19.8% and print media of 14.7% were considered. 6% of respondents giving attention of radio commercial. Chart NO.6 Table No.7 Table Showing Effective Promotional Tools of the Respondents NO Media Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Advertising 37 31.9% 2 Public Selling 2 1.7% 3 Sales promotion 25 21.6% 4 Event and Experience 37 31.9% 5 Public Relation 15 12.9% Source: Primary Data From the table No.7, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 31.9% of respondents choose the advertising and event experience is the best tool for promoting company. As for Sales promotion 21.6%, 12.9% respondent public relation and 10.7% respondents are said public selling is the best promotional tool for attracting more customers. Chart NO.7 Table No.8 Table Showing Discount Benefits of the Respondents NO Opinion Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Yes 103 88.8% 2 No 13 11.2% Source: Primary Data From the table No.8, it is interpreted opinion that out of 116 respondents, 88.8% of respondents were responded Yes for getting benefit from discount offered by company 93.9% were 11.2% said not getting benefit from discount offered by company. Chart NO.8 Table No.9 Table Showing method of sales promotion Effective for Buy NO Promotion Methods Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Discount 46 39.7% 2 Extra offer 32 27.6% 3 1+1 Offer 38 32.8% Source: Primary Data From the table No.9, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 39.7% of respondents are said discount tools is motivated to get ferry service. 32.8% of respondents said 1+1 offer is motivated them to use ferry service and 27.6% respondents are motivated with extra offers. Chart NO.9 Table No.10 Table Showing installment facility to the Respondents NO Opinion Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Yes 87 75.7% 2 No 28 24.3% Source: Primary Data From the table No.10, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents 75.7% of respondents said instalment facility is enjoyed. While 28 respondents 24.3% said not using the instalment facility. Chart NO.10 Table No.11 Table Showing on board promotions of the Respondents NO Opinion Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Yes 80 70.2% 2 No 34 29.8% Source: Primary Data From the table No.11, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents 70.2% of respondents to on board promotions motivated them to use services on board. While 34 respondents 29.8% said not motivated to buy a service on board. Chart NO.11 Table No.12 Table Showing Time Schemes of the Respondents NO Season Number of Respondent Percentage 1 During peak season 41 35.3% 2 During off season 41 35.3% 3 During fall in sales volume 18 15.5% 4 During tough competition in sales 16 13.8% Source: Primary Data From the table No.12, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 35.3% of respondents choose during peak season is the best for giving promotion and during off season. As for during fall in sales volume 15.5% and 13.8% respondent during tough competition in sales. Chart NO.12 Table No.13 Table Showing Benefit schemes of the Respondents NO Benefit of Sales Number of Respondent Percentage 1 Always 9 7.8% 2 Often 27 23.3% 3 Sometimes 59 50.9% 4 Rarely 15 12.9% 5 Never 6 5.2% Source: Primary Data From the table No.13, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 50.9% of respondents choose benefit scheme in sometimes. 23.3% of respondents said benefit of scheme is reviewed often. 12.9% of respondents said rarely and 7.8% respondents for always. As for the fewer votes was for the choice of never with 5.2%. Chart NO.13 Table No.14 Table Showing Months for Sales promotion of the Respondents NO Months Number of Respondent Percentage 1 January-March 32 27.8% 2 April-June 25 21.7% 3 July-September 35 30.4% 4 October-December 23 20.0% Source: Primary Data From the table No.14, it is interpreted that out of 116 respondents, 30.4% of respondents said the best months for Sales promotion July-September. 27.8% said months for Sales promotion January-March. 21.7% respondents said April-June. As for, 20.0% the less respondents was for months for Sales promotion October-December. Chart NO.14 2.4 Summary of Findings In this study, the following finding is found. The survey was distributed to approximately 116 customers, the results that follow provide valuable feedback on the researcher efforts to date, show areas to enable the researcher to improve promotion at The National Ferry. 1. Most of the respondents (59.5%) are females. 2. Most of the respondents (88.8%) are in the age group 24years and above. 3. More than (73.9%) respondents to the survey were employed; working full-time. 4. Most of the respondents (84.5%) currently live in Muscat. 5. More than (93.9%) respondents believe in advertising to promote business. 6. Most of the respondents (59.5%) get their attention are Visual Media. 7. Respondents said (31.9%) advertisement and event experience more effective for Ferry services. 8. More than (88.8%) said discount offer made by the company is beneficial for them. 9. Most of the (39.7%) respondents choose discount sales promotion is more effective to motivate customer to buy. 10. (75.7%) respondents said they will purchase packages if company provides instalment facility. 11. More than (70.2%) respondents purchase on board promotions. 12. Most of respondents (35.3%) said companies should bring schemes for sales promotion during peak season. 13. Most of the respondents (50.9%) benefit of sales promotion scheme reach to them properly 14. The months more effective company needs to give sales promotion during July-September is more effective. 2.5 Implications of the Study: 2.5.1 Implications of the customers The present study has empirically verified the relationship between sales promotions, customer satisfaction, customer value and behavioural intention, legitimizing the growth of sales promotions within the ferry sector. The analysis showed that there were significant relationships between cutting price, customer satisfaction, customer value, image and behavioural intentions. These variables were directly or indirectly related to National Ferries customer repurchase intentions and advertising through visual media. The results from this study imply that ferries should recognize the relative importance of sales promotion strategies. The National Ferry should realize that attractive sales promotion strategies should enhance customer repurchase intention and recommendations to other customers because they raise the level of customer satisfaction, value perception and word of mouth formation. A company’s success is influenced by factors operating in its internal and external environment; an organisation can increase its success by adopting strategies which manipulate these factors to its advantage. A successful company will not only understand existing factors but also forecast change, so that it can take advantage of change within the environments in which it operates. 2.5.2 Implications to Company With improved customer satisfaction and innovative profits of high quality, your fellowship can increase both sales and profitability. Your marketing strategy projection the increased demand based on a promotional sketch and allows you to plan production to meet it. At the same time, your marketing strategy identifies the price that appendage of the target market is willing to salary for the newly promotional product. A well-implemented marketing strategy lets you plan for increased production with sureness while reducing costs by eliminating expensive product features that your target market members don't value. The result is improved society performance. 2.6 Conclusions from your investigation: Implementation of a marketing scheme or the National Ferries can improve business profitability because of logical implication all of the business's actions. The marketing strategy focuses company attention on particular target market segment and shuffles it clear vision characteristic are required for successfully satisfying customer needs. This focus eliminates marginal operations that don't contribute to business increase and promotes a streamlined plan of attack to the company's business. 2.7 Recommendations The recommendations outlined below are worth considering by management of National Ferry Company. In a bid to make maximum revenue, the National Ferry Company should organize more attractive sales promotions and also to stay in active business. In a bid to win more customers for them to contribute in sales promotions, attractive sales promotions ought to be organized. For company in the ferry industry to make more revenue and to make their customers to stick to their systems, there is the need for more organizations of sales promotions.  These recommendations include: 1. There is also the need for this company to satisfy their clients if they want to win more customers and also to make more revenue. If sales promotions are attractive, a lot of staff members would be willing to contribute their quota towards the realization of the dreams of these outfits. 2. For company to reduce the prices, they have to rely on frequent sales promotions to achieve these goals. Management in an attempt to increase profits ought to release the needed funds at the right time for the organization of sales promotions. 3. Company in the ferry industry ought to organize frequent and attractive sales promotions to outsmart their competitors in the industry and also to capture the market. For company to make a lot of revenue from sales promotions, they ought to time the organization of these sales promotions since timing plays a major role in revenue mobilization. For sales promotions to lead to revenue, to buy tickets customers ought to be well motivated. 2.8 Activity Log Stages Date Activity Developing Stage 14/2/ 2016 Explanation of how the issue affects the organization 21/2/2016 Disruption of Questionnaire (Field Work) 6/3/2016 Analysis of the primary and secondary sources of information and data collected 10/3/2016 Assessment of the implications of these effects for the organization 26/3/2016 Statement of the conclusions drawn from the investigation and recommendations to be made 2.9 Bibliography 2.9.1 Books 1. Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Veronica Wong, John Saunders- Principles Of Marketing- Fifth European Edition – Chapter 17 “Personal selling and sales promotion”, Published by: Pearson Education 2. Carl McDaniel/ Charles W. Lamb/ Joseph F. Hair, Jr - Introduction to Marketing – Ninth Edition, Part 5 “Promotion Decisions”- Published by: Thomson South-Western. 1. John F. Tanner Jr. and Mary Anne Raymond, Principles of Marketing and Business Communication, v. 1.0.2- Western Governors University (v1.0.2 - Published) 2.9.2 Website 2. Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller, Marketing Management 14 Edition- http://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2011/12/marketing-strategy-marketing-process.html . Accessed on 16th February 2016. 3. By Rick Suttle, What Are the Roles That Promotion Plays in Marketing? - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/roles-promotion-plays-marketing-25878.html. Accessed on 17th February 2016 4. By Neil Kokemuller - http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/roles-promotion-plays-marketing-12792.html. Accessed on 17th February 2016 5. Effects of sales promotion on organizational performance 6. Consumer Sales Promotions (2016). From Types of Sales Promotion Tutorial. KnowThis.com. Retrieved February 27, 2016 from http://www.knowthis.com/types-of-sales-promotion/consumer-sales-promotions. 7. Leigh Richards, Most Effective Marketing Strategies - http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-marketing-strategies-5069.html. 8. Bert Markgraf, Demand Media - The Implications of a Marketing Strategy. Accessed on 14th April 2016. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/implications-marketing-strategy-66491.html 2.9.3 Journals: 1. C Ehmke- Purdue University, Marketing’s Four P’s: First Steps for New Entrepreneurs EC-730. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ec/ec-730.pdf. Accessed on 18th February 2016 2. Ibojo Bolanle Odunlami- Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, Effect of Sales Promotion as a Tool on Organizational Performance- http://jetems.scholarlinkresearch.com/articles/EFFECT%20OF%20SALES%20PROMOTION%20AS%20A%20TOOL%20ON%20ORGANISATIONAL%20PERFORMANCE.pdf. Accessed on 19th February 2016 2.9.4 Thesis: Bc. Lucie Müllerová, The Effectiveness of Sales Promotion in the FMCG Sector (2011), University of Economics in Prague - Accessed on 27th February 2016 2.10 Appendix National Ferries Company Ferry Service Questionnaire To help the researcher to build more information about the type of people using tourism infrastructure and the level of satisfaction within the tourism services in existence, we would ask you to take a few minutes of your time to answer the following questions. This will help us in planning future services projects to ensure we meet our customer needs. Before we start thinking about what product might be the best for you, please take a minute, and walk through this questionnaire with us. We want to help you to choose the best service for your needs. 1. How old are you?  18-20  21-23  24-above 2. Gender?  Male  Female 3. What's your employment current status? Student Employed Unemployed Retired 4. Where do you currently live?  Muscat  Musandam  Dhofar  Al Buraymi  Al Batinah  Al Wusta  Ash Sharqiyah  Ad Dhahirah  Other (please specify) 5. Do you believe in advertising?  Yes  No 6. Which media gets your attention?  Print Media  Visual Media  Radio Commercial  Word of mouth 7. Which promotional tools are more effective for Ferry Service?  Advertising  Public selling  Sales promotion  Event and experience  Public Relation 8. Do you think discount offer made by the company is beneficial for you?  Yes  No 9. Which method of sales promotions is more effective to motivate customers to buy?  Discounts  Extra Offer  1+1 Offer 10. Will you purchase packages if company provides installment facility?  Yes  No 11. Will you purchase onboard promotions?  Yes  No 12. What time do companies bring schemes for sales promotion? During peak season During off season During fall in sales volume During tough competition in sales 13. Does the benefit of sales promotion scheme reach to you properly? Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never 14. Which are the months the company needs to give sales promotion? Jan-March April-June July-September October-December