Short answer

Focus on core, actionable marketing elements like customer interaction, visual appeal, and value proposition when designing strategies for small or informal businesses.

Field: Innovation & Markets
Source: Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa) (2009)
Method: Survey
Sample: 93 participants
Evidence: Moderate effect

Informal small businesses, like hawkers, prioritize customer-centric tactics such as excellent service, appealing product displays, and competitive pricing to achieve marketing success. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2009 study published in Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa). Using Survey with 93 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Focus on core, actionable marketing elements like customer interaction, visual appeal, and value proposition when designing strategies for small or informal businesses.

Study

Innovation & MarketsHigh ImpactModerate effect

Customer service, presentation, and discounts drive marketing success for informal traders

Informal small businesses, like hawkers, prioritize customer-centric tactics such as excellent service, appealing product displays, and competitive pricing to achieve marketing success.

Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa) · 2009

Key Findings

0129% of hawkers applied the marketing concept.
0251.6% applied the societal marketing concept.
0338.6% applied the marketing mix.
04The top 3 marketing tactics used were customer service, stall/product presentation, and offering discounts.

Application

Design takeaway

Focus on core, actionable marketing elements like customer interaction, visual appeal, and value proposition when designing strategies for small or informal businesses.

How to apply

When designing marketing campaigns or support materials for small businesses, emphasize practical, easily implementable tactics like improving customer service protocols, visual merchandising guidelines, and clear pricing strategies.

Project actions

01When researching small businesses, look at what they *actually* do, not just what theory says they *should* do.
02Consider how cultural context might influence marketing choices.

Method & Evidence

AimTo determine the extent to which generally accepted marketing principles and tactics are applied by hawker businesses in the East London CBD, and to identify influencing factors.

MethodSurvey

ProcedureA three-section questionnaire was administered through interviews with 93 hawkers. Section A collected demographic information, Section B assessed the use of identified marketing tactics, and Section C asked hawkers to rank their most effective marketing tactics.

Sample93 participants

ContextInformal trading sector, East London Central Business District

Variables

IVMarketing tactics (customer service, presentation, discounts), application of marketing concepts (marketing concept, societal marketing concept, marketing mix)

DVMarketing success (implied by hawkers' ranking of tactics)

CVDemographic information of hawkers

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

+Investigates a practical, under-researched area of informal business marketing.
+Uses a direct interview method to gather data from the target group.

Limitations

The findings are specific to the East London CBD hawker market and may not apply to other types of businesses or locations.

Reliability & validity

The use of interviews with a structured questionnaire provides a degree of reliability. Validity is supported by the focus on observed practices and hawkers' own rankings of effective tactics, though subjective interpretation remains a factor.

Think critically

How might the 'societal marketing concept' be interpreted and applied by informal traders with limited resources, and what are the potential limitations of this application?

Design Principles

"Prioritize tangible customer benefits and clear value communication in marketing strategies for resource-constrained environments."

Understanding the practical marketing strategies employed by small and informal businesses provides valuable insights into effective, low-resource approaches. This knowledge can inform the development of more accessible and relevant business support programs and marketing tools for entrepreneurs in similar contexts.

What This Means for Your Design

Small businesses, especially those selling on the street, find success by being friendly, making their stalls look good, and offering good prices.

How to use in your project

1.Use this study to justify focusing your own design project on practical, user-tested marketing strategies for a specific business type.
2.Cite this to support the idea that customer service and presentation are key drivers of success in certain markets.

Add to My Project

Quick Cite

Paragraph starter

Research into informal trading sectors, such as that conducted by Chandler (2009) in the East London CBD, highlights the critical role of customer service, stall presentation, and pricing strategies in driving marketing success. This suggests that for small and micro-enterprises operating with limited resources, a focus on these tangible, customer-facing elements can be more impactful than complex theoretical marketing frameworks.

Source

Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa)

Marketing tactics of selected micro small businesses in the East London CBD area

journal · 2009

View source

Questions About This Research

What does the research say about customer service, presentation, and discounts drive marketing success for informal traders?: Focus on core, actionable marketing elements like customer interaction, visual appeal, and value proposition when designing strategies for small or informal businesses. Evidence: Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa) (2009).
Why does "Customer service, presentation, and discounts drive marketing success for informal traders" matter for design?: Understanding the practical marketing strategies employed by small and informal businesses provides valuable insights into effective, low-resource approaches. This knowledge can inform the development of more accessible and relevant business support programs and marketing tools for entrepreneurs in similar contexts.
How can designers apply this research?: Focus on core, actionable marketing elements like customer interaction, visual appeal, and value proposition when designing strategies for small or informal businesses.
What were the main findings?: 29% of hawkers applied the marketing concept.. 51.6% applied the societal marketing concept.. 38.6% applied the marketing mix.. The top 3 marketing tactics used were customer service, stall/product presentation, and offering discounts.
What research method was used?: Survey with 93 participants.
How strong is the evidence?: Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2009 journal from Unisa Institutional Repository (University of South Africa).
What should I do differently in my next project?: When designing marketing campaigns or support materials for small businesses, emphasize practical, easily implementable tactics like improving customer service protocols, visual merchandising guidelines, and clear pricing strategies.
What are the limitations?: The study focused on a specific geographic area and type of informal business, limiting generalizability. No significant correlations were found between demographic statistics and marketing application.