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African Journal of Agricultural Marketing ISSN: 2375-1061 Vol. 3 (7), pp. 229-231, July, 2015. Available online at 
www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 

 

Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Length Research Paper 
 

Areas to which micro scale enterprises apply marketing 
mix strategies 

 

Adebankole Anthony Abiola 
 

Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences,  Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. 
E-mail: tonyabiola@hotmail.com 

 
 

Accepted 23 June, 2015 
 

The purpose of this study was to examine the application of marketing mix strategy of small and micro 

scale enterprises in Osun State. The study sought to know the extent to which small and micro scale 

enterprises apply marketing mix strategies. The study was conducted on three purposefully selected areas 

of Osun State namely; Ile-Ife, Ilesa and Osogbo. Primary data were used for this study. The primary data 

were collected through the use of the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, 

percentages, and arithmetic mean were used to present and analyze the data. The result of the finding 
revealed that enterprises in Osun State do apply marketing mix strategies and that majority of them apply 

them to a very high extent. About 72% (146) of the sampled population had high application. From the 

findings, the study concludes that small and micro scale enterprises in Osun State do apply marketing mix 

strategies and majority of the enterprises apply these strategies to a very high extent in their business 

operations. 
 

Key words: Application, marketing mix, extent, strategy, small and micro scale enterprises. 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Developing effective strategies in this environment of 
number of controllable variables from the four in the 
constant change is key requirement for corporate original 
marketing mix model to seven. The traditional success. 
Market-driven organizations develop closely marketing 
mix model was primarily directed and useful for 
coordinated business and marketing strategies which 
tangible products. The 7Ps model is more useful for 
consist of deciding on the scope and purpose of the 
service industries and arguably also for knowledge- 
business, its objectives, and the initiatives and resources 
intensive environments.  The extended marketing mix ne- 
 

cessary to achieve the objectives (Cravens and Piercy, 
comprises  the  7Ps.These  include  product,  price, 
2003). promotion, place, people, process and physical 
evidence. The common marketing decision variables 
available A marketing mix consists of controllable 
variables that are conveniently classified and identified as 
the 4Ps of the small and micro enterprises must combine 
to satisfy marketing. These include product, price, 
promotion and the target market. The right product for the 
target market physical distribution (place). The 7-Ps or 
extended must be developed. Channels of distribution 
must be marketing mix is marketing strategy tool that  ex-

  



Adebankole       229 
 
 
 

Table 1. Population distribution of micro and small scale enterprises. 
 

Commercial Population Micro enterprises Small scale enterprises 
towns Total Sample Total Sample Total Sample 

Ile-Ife 338 108 248 80 90 28 

Ilesa 256 82 223 72 32 10 

Osogbo 198 64 180 57 18 7 

Total 792 254 651 209 140 45 
 

Source: Publication of Osun State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Co-Operatives (2004). 
 

 
expands strategized and monitored over time. The existence 
of the enterprises‟ product must be communicated to the 
target audience through a combination of promotion mix 
and the right price should be set to attract customers and 
make profit.  

In both developed and developing countries, the 
traditional sector which is made up of small and micro 
scale enterprises had served and continues to serve as 
the springboard for launching a vibrant modern industrial 
sector (Asaolu, 2001). Nigeria is naturally endowed with 
millions of acres of arable land, billion barrels of oil 
reserves, unexploited minerals, and a wealth of human 
capital. With Nigeria‟s abundant reserves of human and 
natural resources, the country has the potential to build a 
prosperous economy and provide for the basic needs of 
the population (Dionco-Adetayo, 2014). This is achieva-
ble only when there is a vibrant and performing micro and 
small scale enterprises strongly entrenched in the 
economy. The best way of explaining the role of small 
scale industries, stated Asaolu (2001), is to underscore 
its role in the economy of Nigeria. Such roles include the 
creation of employment opportunities, reduction of 
regional economic imbalance, mobilization and utilization 
of otherwise idle resources, development of entrepre-
neurship and serving as training ground for larger 
businesses. Other roles may include the conservation of 
foreign exchange and stemming of rural urban migration.  

While these enterprises occupy an important place in 
the economy, it is discouraging to observe that many of 
them that enter the business world in Nigeria and in other 
parts of the world every year fail rather than succeed. 
While they remain significant contributors to the economic 
and social well being of all countries, they continue to be 
plagued by poor performance levels and high failure 
rates, despite government assistance and interventions. 
 

Solutions to this failure rates have been proffered in 

areas of finance, educational level of owners with little or 

no effort taken to look in the area of marketing strategies 

of these businesses. This paper, therefore, investigated 

selected small and micro scale businesses in Osun State 
to ascertain  the  extent,  if  at all, to which they apply marke- 

 

 
ting mix strategy in their business operations. The 

purpose of this paper, therefore, was to investigate the 

type of marketing mix strategies and the extent of their 

application by small and micro scale enterprises in Osun 

State using the following objectives; 
 
1. To examine the type of marketing mix strategies 
employed by small and micro scale enterprises in Osun 
State   
2. To investigate the extent of application of marketing 

mix strategy by small and micro scale enterprises in Osun 

State  

 
Research hypothesis 
 
The following research hypothesis was tested: 
 
1) Ho: Small and micro scale enterprises in Osun State 

do not apply marketing mix strategies in their business 

operations. 

 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
 
The study was conducted on registered micro and small scale 

enterprises in Osun State. The questionnaire was the instrument 
used for data collection. The population of the study consists of 
registered small scale and micro scale enterprises in three major 
commercial cities of Osun State totaling 792. The towns covered by 
the researcher are Ile-Ife, Osogbo, and Ilesa. The population frame 

was collected from Osun State Ministry of Commerce, Industry 
and Cooperative. A total of 254 enterprises were covered by the 

researcher. The sample size was arrived at in accordance with 
sample sizes recommended for different population sizes calculated 
at 95 percent confidence level (that is +/-5 percent margin of error) 
for works of this nature (Dionco-Adetayo,2003). Systematic random 

sampling was used in selecting every third enterprise. A total of 
254 questionnaires were administered on the respondents. The 
respondents were only the owners/managers of the enterprise. 
Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze 
the data and test the hypothesis.  

Table 1 shows the population distribution of the enterprises in 
the three cities of the study.  

The marketing mix strategies were product, pricing, promotion 

and  distribution .  To  determine  how  often  a   marketing   mix  



 
 
 

 
Table 2. Distribution of respondents on marketing mix 

strategy adopted by the enterprises. 
 
  Variables Frequency Percent 
  Product Strategy  35 17.0  
  Pricing Strategy  23 11.5  

  Promotion Strategy  75 37.0  

  Distribution Strategy  70 34.5  
  Total 203 100  

  Source: Author‟s Research Survey, 2010.   

 Table 3. Application of Marketing Mix Strategies.   
    

 Level of application  Frequency Percent Mean score 
 Low (0-4) 18 9 0.1  
 Average (5-8) 41 19.5 0.2  

 High (9-12) 144 71.5 0.7  
 Total 203 100   
 
Source: Research Survey, 2010. 
 

 
Strag is applied, the total grade weight was divided by the number 

of variables. The interval below describes how level of application 

was chosen after division of the total grade weight by number of 

variables. 
 
X=  Total Grade Weight  

Number of Variables 
 
For 1<X<2 = Never 

2<X<3 = Rarely 

3<X<4 = Sometimes 

X ≥ 4 = Frequently 
 
Therefore, any enterprise that used the four variables – product, 
price, promotion and distribution frequently had a total of 16 weights 
which is considered to be applying the variables highly.  

Descriptive statistics were used in the presentation and analysis 

of data. The descriptive statistics used were contingency tables, 

frequencies, percentages and the arithmetic mean. 
 
 
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 

OF DATA 
 
Marketing mix strategy 
 
Objective 1 which sought to investigate the type of 
marketing mix strategies used by micro and small scale 
enterprises in Osun State was achieved using questions 
on the type of marketing mix strategy used by the 
enterprises. This was described and analyzed in Table 3.  

The data in Table 2 showed that all the enterprises 

adopted the four marketing mix strategies namely pro-

duct, pricing, promotion and distribution. It showed that 

37% use more of promotion while 34% use more of 

distribution. Only about 11% percent use more of pricing 

strategy and 17%  use  more  of  product strategy. This is 
 

230       Afr. J. Agric. Mark. 
 
 
 
shown by the number of owners that use a particular mix 
strategy by showing each mix variables preferred by 
owners of enterprises.  

This result agrees with World Bank (2008), that small 
and micro scale enterprises provide goods and services 
tailored to local needs and at cost that are affordable to 
local people. The implication of this is that other pricing 
strategies may not be considered except to enter the 
market at prices affordable by local people. Benevides 
(1992) also noted that for this sector of the economy, 
equipment for production purposes are often second 
hand and the manufacturing process is most often than 
not inefficient compared to other sectors of the economy. 
This may explain the less emphasis paid to product as a 
marketing strategy. 
 
 
The extent of application of marketing mix strategy 
 
Objective 2 which sought to investigate the extent of 
application of marketing mix strategies by small and 
micro scale enterprises in Osun State was achieved 
using the questions on extent of application of marketing 
mix strategies by small and micro scale enterprises which 
was described and analyzed in Table 3.  

The data in Table 3 showed the analysis of the extent 
to which the small and micro scale enterprises in areas of 
investigation apply marketing mix strategies. The data 
revealed that 9.0% of the enterprises with mean score of 
0.1 had a low application of marketing mix strategies, 
20% with mean score of 0.2 had an average application 
and 71% of the enterprises with mean score of 0.7 had a 
high application or made high use of marketing mix 
variables. 

This result showed that a high number of micro and 
small scale businesses are involved in the application of 
marketing mix strategies. Based on this, the null 
hypothesis was rejected and the alternate accepted. As 
such small and micro scale businesses apply marketing 
mix strategies in their business operations. This finding 
goes to buttress previous research findings that noted 
that small businesses can significantly add to the 
economic growth of a nation if they consistently progress 
in capital accumulation and profit generation, which are 
greatly hinged on profitable customers‟ satisfaction, which 
is in turn a function of the marketing decision of the 
businesses (Bamgboye, 1994; Anyanwu, 1995; Atijosan, 
1996, 2000). 
 
 
Conclusion 

 
The extent of application of marketing mix strategies by 

small and micro scale enterprises in Osun State was 

investigated and was considered to be high considering 

that majority of the enterprises (71.5%) investigated 

applied the variables frequently. About 57 enterprises 
(28.5%) of the total respondents had low and fair application



Adebankole       231 
 
 
 
application, while 146 enterprises (71.5%) applied the 
variables frequently. However, it was noted in the study 
that only about 11% percent of the enterprise owners use 
pricing strategy and 17% use product strategy. This is 
shown by the number of owners that use a particular mix 
strategy by showing each mix variables preferred by 
owners of enterprises. The implication of this is that 
owners of enterprises in this class of industry may not be 
aware of the different pricing strategies available for use 
in their businesses which may explain their less use of 
the strategy. Also in this class of industry equipment for 
production purposes are often second hand and the 
manufacturing process is most often than not labour 
intensive and inefficient compared to other sectors of the 
economy. This may explain the less emphasis paid to 
product as a marketing strategy.  

Based on the above findings, the study concludes that 

small and micro scale enterprises in Osun State do apply 

marketing mix strategies and majority of the enterprises 

apply these strategies to a very high extent in their 

business operations. 
 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
Based on the finding of the study and the subsequent 
conclusion drawn from it, the following recommendations 
are made. For the business enterprises to harness the 
best out of these strategies, they must employ a more 
systematic and coordinated approach to the application of 
the strategies. Specific resources must be allocated for 
the use of these strategies, they must be monitored and 
evaluated on timely basis and the best combination of 
them for each enterprise must be adapted.  

Enterprises are advised to continue the application of 
product and promotion mix strategies while they study 
pricing and product mix strategies to find out how best to 
use them to bring about balance in the usage of all the 
marketing mix strategies for better business operations.  

. 

 
 
 

 
Conflict of Interests 
 
The authors have not declared any conflict of interests. 
 
 
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©  Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.