Davis, Chay
(2020)
A Victim of Success? Increasing Classified Revenue in a Declining Market: A Case Study in Barbados.
Doctor of Business Administration thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
Abstract Main purpose This action research study investigates the extent to which a classified advertising manager at a leading newspaper publisher in Barbados sought to grow advertising revenue in an anemic economy in 2015, and 2016. The manager sought to achieve this growth by transitioning his sales team from a state of ad-taking, which is associated with ‘passivity’, ‘poor customer engagement’ and a ‘paucity of sales’, to one of adaptive selling, which is more ‘proactive’, ‘probing’ and ‘pioneering’ in both nature and scope. Research approach The researcher utilises a multi-method approach, which comprises a dominant quantitative paradigm and a supportive qualitative paradigm, where the former enabled the researcher to quantify the views among his classified advisors and advertisers to understand whether they were receptive towards adaptive selling practices, while the latter paradigm, helped shed light on anomalous data. Other supportive designs included document analysis, which gave the researcher voice and meaning into the phenomenon under investigation. Review of outcomes The findings of the study confirms that adaptive selling in the department under review helped its classified advisors increase their sales in an anemic economy during the periods 2015 and 2016. However, when an economy experienced severe contractions, coupled with an aggressive Government austerity programme, the data revealed that adaptive selling in itself was unable to increase sales among classified advisors, since advertiser spending was significantly restricted. The data from classified advisors reveals that commercial advertisers were more receptive to engaging adaptive selling, because it enabled them to fully capitalise on their advertising investment; while private advertisers, who placed obituary and in-memoriam notices were equally receptive to adaptive selling, because it enabled them to honour the legacy of their deceased relatives. These advertiser preferences helped to accrue incremental revenue for the department under review. Keywords: Adaptive selling, upselling and cross selling, worded and display advertisements, classified advisors, customised selling, anemic economy, and coaching.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctor of Business Administration) |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Management |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2020 14:10 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2023 23:51 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03087835 |
| Supervisors: |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3087835 |
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