Abstract:
Sales Promotion has been in constantly growth since 1960‟s and has today become one of the
key factors in the promotional mix. The methods used have become more sophisticated and an
increasing number of companies are realizing the importance of a well-structured promotion
strategy. The Purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of sales promotion on the
purchasing decision of a customer. The research evaluates the impact of sales promotional tools
mainly, price discount, free samples, buy one get one free, coupons, premiums and point of
purchase promotions on purchase behavior of the customers. In order to reach this purpose,
research questions focusing on the objectives of sales promotion, as well as which sales
promotion tools that were used were stated. Based on these research questions, a review of the
relevant literature was conducted, resulting in a conceptual framework, which was used to guide
this study‟s data collection. The sample points for the research were the employees of Arusha
supermarkets. A total number of 80 employees were surveyed using structured questionnaires,
out of which 54 useable responses were received. This study gives an insight into the
organization‟s capability of managing sales promotion by examining the sales promotion programs
offered by supermarkets in Arusha. The results of data analysis indicated that Price discounts,
free samples and buy one get one free are popular among supermarkets and preferred by
consumers. The results also show that preferences for sales promotion programs are dependent
upon consumer‟s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Therefore while launching any
sales promotion, brands need to analyze and study who their customers really are, how much do
they earn, what kind of lifestyle do they adhere and how do they perceive the overall brand.
Nevertheless, future researchers are recommended to study other promotional tools such as
rebates which are excluded in this research.
