The role of buzz marketing in enhancing the mental image of the organization

((An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of employees in the Kalah Food Products Trading Company in the holy Karbala Governorate))

Thesis submitted to Council of the College of Administration and Economics / University of Karbala,

Submitted by the student

Tijan Mohammed Mahdi Aziz Al Shamry

Supervised by

Professor Dr.

    Abdel Fattah Jassem Zaalan

Abstract

The current study sought to determine the level of influence of buzz marketing and its contribution in its dimensions to enhancing the mental image of the food products company under study. In order to achieve this, the buzz marketing variable was measured in three sub-dimensions: (creating a buzz, seeding strategy or planting ideas, and providing incentives for participation), and then measuring the mental image of the organization in three dimensions: (cognitive dimension, emotional dimension, behavioral dimension). The problem was summarized in a set of questions based on the researcher’s perceptions, the most important of which was (to what extent does buzz marketing affect enhancing the mental image in the company under study?). The current study used the descriptive analytical approach. In order to determine the relationship between these variables, a set of main and sub-hypotheses were developed. The hypotheses were tested after obtaining the necessary information for the field aspect by using the questionnaire as the main tool for collecting data, by distributing it in the intentional sample method, as the researcher distributed (298) questionnaires to a number of employees in the company, the study sample, and (289) questionnaires were retrieved, (282) of which were valid for statistical analysis. With a response rate of (84%), and to analyze the data, a set of statistical methods available in statistical programs (SPSS, V.25, Microsoft Excel V.2013, AMOS, V.25) were used. The study reached a set of conclusions, the most important of which was (it became clear that there is a correlation and an impact of the buzz marketing variable in enhancing the mental image at the level of the study sample company. This indicates that the company’s management seeks to pay attention to associative marketing in terms of supporting its advertising campaigns, adopting modern promotion methods, presenting new ideas in manufacturing products, and providing the necessary incentives to maximize customer participation. This in turn enhances the company’s mental image). Based on these conclusions, the researcher presented a set of recommendations, including (encouraging the company’s management to conduct research and development studies for the food products market related to continuous and within a specific periodic period to evaluate all competitors and the performance of their products and update the evaluation according to the updated information specific to each competitor in order to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of each of them and determine strategies to confront them and how to benefit from them in enhancing the strengths and addressing the weaknesses).

Key terms: Buzz marketing, Organizational mental image.