The Role of Trade Shows in Business-to-business Selling Strategies: A Method for Assessing the Effectiveness of Marketing Communications

Authors

  • Timothy M. Smith
  • Paul M. Smith

Keywords:

Business-to-business, marketing communications, trade shows, personal selling, woodworking machinery

Abstract

The use of trade shows in the forest products and related industries has increased significantly over the past decade. However, little empirical research has addressed the impact of these events on company returns or other industrial marketing mix elements. The following paper examines the effectiveness of trade show and follow-up personal selling efforts for a woodworking machinery exhibitor. The authors report evidence of substantial economic returns and increased personal selling efficiency attributed to trade show attendance.

References

Acimall. 1999. Xylexpo towards 2000. Italian Woodworking Machinery and Tools Manufacturers' Assoc. http://www.acimall.com/flere/xylexpo/ehibi.html'>http://www.acimall.com/flere/xylexpo/ehibi.htmlnAnonymous. 1994. American innovations set technology benchmark at IWF'94. Wood Wood Prod. 99(12):91.nArmstrong, S. J., and T. S. Overton. 1977. Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. J. Market. Res. 14:396-402.nBello, D. C. 1992. Industrial buyer behavior at trade shows: Implications for selling effectiveness. J. Bus. Res. 25:59-80.nBonoma, T. V. 1983. Get more out of your trade shows. Harvard Bus. Rev. 61:75-83.nChurchill, G. A., Jr., N. M. Ford, and O. C. Walker, Jr. 1997. Sales force management, 5th ed. Irwin, Homewood, IL.nDeutsche Messe AG. 1999. Closing report on Lignaplus Hannover '99 (10-15 May) http://www.messe.de/lg99/allg/abschlusse.html'>http://www.messe.de/lg99/allg/abschlusse.htmlnDillman, D. A. 1978. Mall and telephone surveys: The total design method. John Wiley and sons, Inc., New York, NY.nGopalakrishna, S. and G. L. Lilien. 1995. A three-stage model of industrial trade show performance. Marketing Sci. 14:22-42.nGopalakrishna, S. and G. L. Lilien., J. D. Williams, and I. K. Sequeira. 1995. Do trade shows pay off? J. Marketing 59:75-83.nInternational Woodworking Fair, IWF. 19. IWF'98. Statement of exhibition attendance. http://www.iwf98.com/ehibdemographics.asp'>http://www.iwf98.com/ehibdemographics.aspnKerin, R. A., and W. L. Cron. 1987. Assessing trade show functions and performance: An exploratory study. J. Marketing 51:87-94.nKotler, P. 1997. Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation, and control. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.nLilien, G. L., P. Kotler, and K. S. Moorthy. 1992. Marketing models. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.nMarchetti, M. 1998. Give us two weeks and we'll give you a new sales force. Sales and Marketing Mgmt. 150(13):31-45.nMarketing News. 1999. Report on ROI (cover story). Marketing News, Apr. 12, p.1.nParasuraman, A. 1981. The relative importance of industrial promotion tools. Ind. Market. Mgmt. 10:277-281.nPorter, M. E. 1990. The competitive advantage of nations. The Free Press, New York, NY.nPrestowitz, C. V., Jr. 1988. Trading places: How we allowed Japan to take the lead. Basic Books, Inc., New York, NY.nRobinson, P. J., C. W. Faris, and Y. Wind. 1967. Industrial buying and creative marketing. Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Boston, MA.nSind, S. 1996. More evidence of the power of exhibitions. Advertising Age's Business Marketing, April: B-2.nSmith, P. M., and C. D. West. 1994. The globalization of furniture industries/markets. J. Global Marketing 7(3): 103-131.nSmith, T. M. and P. M. Smith. 1999. Distributor and end-user trade show attendance objectives: An opportunity for adaptive selling. Forest Prod. J. 49(1):23-29.nTrade Show Bureau. 1992. Develop your prospects and close sales for less with trade shows. Rees. Publ. Sm. 20. Trade Show Bureau, Denver, CO.nWest, C. D., and S. A. Sinclair. 1991. Technological assessment of the wood household furniture industry. Forest Prod. J. 41(4):11-18.n

Downloads

Published

2007-06-19

Issue

Section

Research Contributions