A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Corporate Management
(MBA-CM) of Mzumbe University
This study was conducted to assess company’s strategies used to influence consumer buying behaviour. The study had four specific research objectives which were to examine pricing strategies of Halotel, to assess product strategies used by Halotel, to assess placing strategies used by Halotel and to assess how promotion strategies of Halotel all together in influencing consumer buying behaviour.
The study was conducted in Tanzania, using Halotel as the case study because the researcher wanted to conduct this study in a service sector and Africa specifically in Tanzania unlike other previous studies. The study was a case study design, whereby the researcher involved 120 respondents who were sampled to represents other employees of Halotel Tanzania Headquarters in Dar es Salaam. The respondents were selected via both convenience and judgemental sampling techniques due to the nature of the population. Data were collected from the respondents via questionnaire and interview, followed by descriptive data analysis and presentation.
The major findings of the study were presented in a descriptive form in respect of each study-specific objective. The findings show that major pricing strategies used by Halotel in influencing consumer buying behaviour include the product pricing mix, discounting and allowances pricing and geographical pricing strategy. The product strategies used include the reliability, availability, affordability, convenient and accessibility strategy. It was also revealed that; Halotel uses direct placing strategy, indirect placing strategy and selective strategy in placing their products to influence buyer buying behaviour. In promotion, findings show that the strategies most used by Halotel to influence consumer buying behaviour include sales promotion, advertising and publicity strategies.
The researcher recommends to Halotel Tanzania, to ensure effective execution of these strategies throughout their operation and activities and to conduct periodic reviews and evaluations of the implemented strategies as the telecom sector is much influenced by globalization, technology and rapid industrial competition.