PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OF RICEBERRY PRODUCT IN YASOTHON PROVINCE

Abstract

Objectives of this research were: 1. To study factors influencing the promotion of rice berry product, analyze the promotion strategy, study the guidelines for the development and to build-up promotional strategy for riceberry product in Yasothon Province. The mixed-methods research was used in the study. For the quantitative research method, the questionnaires were distributed among the sample size of 400 people, while 27 riceberry entrepreneurs in Yasothon Province were interviewed to obtain data under the qualitative research method. The SWOT Analysis was utilized together with the TOWS Matrix.

The results revealed that the coefficient of determination (R Squared) is 0.19 in which it meant  that the promotional strategy of riceberry product by the consumers in Yasothon Province was predictable from the three independent variables that were competitive, supporting and marketing mix factors at the level of 19 percent. The rest of 81 percent was explained by other factors. The hypothesis testing showed that the competitive, supportive and marketing mix factors had an influence on the promotion of riceberry product in Yasothon Province at the statistical significant value of 0.05. From the interview, it was found that the marketing mix composing of product, price, place and promotion had an influence on the promotion of riceberry product. From the SWOT Analysis, the two appropriate strategic promotional alternatives for riceberry product in Yasothon Province were: 1) the segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP), and 2) the integrated marketing communication (IMC) in which it consisted of: 1) advertising, 2) personal selling, 3) sales promotion, 4) publicity and public relations, and 5) direct marketing.