An investigation of the marketing performance measurement practices of South African organisations

[摘要] ENGLISH ABTRACT:The marketing function has been characterised as the only result-producing function of theorganisation and as having the responsibility for achieving profitable revenue growth bymeans of demand creation. Marketing performance measurement thus not only influencesorganisational performance, but also influences the marketing function's stature within theorganisation. Hence, marketing performance measurement is a critical management task.However, the negligence of the marketing function to demonstrate its contribution toorganisational performance has caused the marketing function to lose its stature within theorganisation and consequently, has a limited role in organisational strategy formulation. Onlyby implementing proper performance measurement practices, will the marketing functionregain its credibility with top management, the organisation and resume a central role inorganisational strategy. Marketers' negligence to measure their performance is linked to thepaucity of research in marketing performance measurement. The intricacy of problemsmarketers have to overcome concerning performance measurement adds to theirdisinclination to measure marketing's performance. Nevertheless, if marketing performance isnot measured, marketing will be unable to contribute to long-term organisational success. Theaim of this study was therefore to investigate the marketing performance measurementpractices of South African organisations.The marketing performance measurement practices were investigated by focussing on: (1)the overall satisfaction with the existing measures of marketing performance, (2) themarketing performance measures considered by top management, (3) the periodicity ofcollection of marketing performance measures, (4) the importance top management attaches tothe marketing performance measures, (5) the types of benchmarks employed, and lastly(6) whether and how the marketing asset was measured.The results of the study indicated that the South African marketers in this study areuninformed about proper marketing performance measurement practices and that marketingperformance measurement is still in the development phases in these South Africanorganisations. The surveyed marketers' satisfaction with the existing measures of marketingperformance indicated their ignorance about the state of marketing performancemeasurement in South Africa. 'Financial measures emerged as the dominant marketingperformance measure. In comparison to the other measures in the study, 'financialmeasures were collected most often, considered most often and deemed the most importantmarketing performance measure. Internal benchmarks were used by the majority ofmarketers in this study while external benchmarks were rarely employed. Only the minorityregularly measured the marketing asset.A more balanced set of marketing performance measures was proposed to replace theexisting dominant 'financial measures presently utilised by most organisations in this study. Itwas further recommended that top management set aside their bias towards non-financialmeasures, considering their influence on the surveyed marketers' use of marketingperformance measures. The introduction of external benchmarks in marketing performancemeasurement practices was suggested, since the predominant use of internal benchmarkscreates a false impression of confidence of the state of marketing performance. It was alsorecommended that marketers develop measures to quantify the marketing asset. The lastrecommendation was that the South African Marketing Research Association (SAMRA)should stimulate research in the field of marketing performance measurement.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University