A Comparative Study of the Marketing Strategies of Competing Food Stalls in Cavite City as a Basis for a Proposed Marketing Strategy Enhancement

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The number of food stalls has been increasing during the past years. Food stalls offer almost the same variety of products; therefore, direct competition exists between them. The only thing that keeps them different from each other is their marketing mix strategies, thus, making it one of the most important factors to be considered in business. However, many business owners still lack knowledge in implementing effective marketing mix strategies. Thus, this study determined and compared the marketing mix strategies of food stall owners in terms of service, product, place, price, and promotion applied by competing food stalls in Cavite City as a basis for a proposed marketing strategy enhancement.

METHODS

This research is quantitative in nature. The researchers used purposive sampling in selecting the respondents. This study utilized the non-experimental, descriptive comparative design. A total of five food stalls owners at Muralla, Cavite City was interviewed about the background of the business and was given a survey questionnaire about the marketing mix strategies implemented.

RESULTS

The following were the results of the study: in terms of service, four of the strategies were applied most of the time, however, actions for service uniqueness were applied sometimes; in terms of strategies concerning the products, actions were applied most of the time; in terms of place, actions were applied most of time except for stall designing which was done rarely by stall owners; in terms of price, having a reasonable price was done mostof the time, promos were offered rarely, and competitor-based approach in pricing was never done by owners; in terms of promotion, offering of freebies was done sometimes, attending local affairs was done rarely, however, establishing a name, connecting with customers through social media, and providing advertisements were never done by the stall owners. Using One-way Anova, there were significant differences between the marketing mix strategies implemented by the competing food stalls located at Muralla, Cavite City.

DISCUSSIONS

This study proposed a set of strategies in order to enhance the marketing strategies of food stalls in terms of service, product, place, price, and promotion. On the same hand, the proposed marketing enhancement strategies focused on promotional areas as based on the overall findings of data, actions concerning promotions were rarely applied. Hence, the findings of this study were the basis of the proposed marketing strategies enhancement.