Integrated Marketing Communication Strategies that Affect Loyalty of Catering Service Users: A Case Study of Chinese Table Business in Udon Thani Province DOI:

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to 1) study the integrated marketing communication strategies of the Chinese catering business in Udon Thani province 2) study the perception of integrated marketing communication strategies of the business users in Udon Thani province 3) to study the loyalty of service users to the business of the Chinese catering in Udon Thani Province and 4) to study the hypothesis integrated marketing communication strategy that affects the loyalty of users of the Chinese catering in Udon Thani Province. It was a mixed research including qualitative research. with key informants  a Chinese catering business operator who ran the business for a period of 5 years or more, utilizing 5 people. and quantitative research The sample population was 401 of the business users in Udon Thani province.  Research tools used in this research were in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The data was analyzed by forming conclusions and the use of descriptive statistics consisting of mean, percentage, standard deviation and inferential statistics using Pearson's Correlation statistic.

         The results showed that 1) It was found that Chinese catering business operators in Udon Thani province use marketing communication strategies, including advertising, sales promotions,direct marketing, sponsorship and word of mouth marketing 2) It was found that service users perceived marketing communication strategies such as word-of-mouth marketing had the most, significant effect, followed by direct marketing, promotion sponsorship and the least used was advertising. 3) It was found that overall loyalty was at a high level. The most significant was the emotional aspect followed by the intention to purchase the product. The least significant was product awareness.                    From hypothesis testing, it was found that word-of-mouth marketing had the highest impact on loyalty, followed by promotions, sponsorship direct marketing and the least impactful was advertising. The integrated marketing communication strategy consists of advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing, sponsorship and word of mouth marketing, which affects loyalty of service users in a statistically significant manner.