Small Services Mktg Com for SME - JMC Vol 12 No 3 JMC

A Small Services Firm MarketingCommunications Model for SME-Dominated Environments

ALKIS THRASSOU & DEMETRIS VRONTIS

Marketing Department, School of Business, Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus

ABSTRACT This research seeks to explore existing research for marketing management andmarketing communications systems for small professional service firms. Further, through primaryresearch methods, it examines the case of construction consultants in Cyprus (CCCs), and itidentifies the specific differentiating factors of these firms compared to literature reviewexpectations. Consequently, this research, through the combination and comparison of theliterature review and primary research findings, develops a marketing communications (MC)model for small professional services firms in SME dominated environments. This model aims toassist the wider marketing practises of small professional firms having to compete in a rarer typeof competitive environment; the SME dominated one. Further, the findings of this research assistsuch firms to improve their understanding of the marketing communications environment so as tobe in a position to develop more effectively and efficiently their marketing communications planand strategy. Finally, this research will assist governmental departments and professionalchambers and associations in improving their comprehension, organization, monitoring, andcontrol of such firms at a collective/industrial level.

KEY WORDS: Marketing communications, SME, services, small firms

Introduction and Research Aims

The subject of marketing communications has been extensively studied through

many perspectives and in relation to a wide variety of business areas. Though both

small firms and services have been the subject of much research, their combined

characteristics have been less popular as a research subject. Even less common is the

study of small services’ marketing communications within an environment

practically dominated by such firms. The aim of this research is to develop a

prescriptive marketing communications model for small construction professional

services firms competing in an environment dominated by such businesses.

Correspondence Address: Alkis Thrassou, Department of Marketing, School of Business, Intercollege, PO

Box 24005, 1700, Nicosia, Cyprus. Fax: 22353722; Tel.: 22 841578. Email: [email protected].

Journal of Marketing Communications

Vol. 12, No. 3, 183–202, September 2006

1352-7266 Print/1466-4445 Online/06/030183–20 # 2006 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13527260600811720

The research aim is achieved through a process that:

(a) explores existing research to build an expected marketing management system

for small construction professional services firms;

(b) consequently establishes an environmental context through the traits and

attributes both of the typical individual firm and the competitive environment;

(c) reviews existing theories on small-firm and service firms’ marketing commu-

nications;

(d) researches through primary methods the case of construction consultants in

Cyprus (CCCs), who offer an ideal case study, identifying the specific

differentiating factors of these firms compared to literature review expectations;

and

(e) combines the literature review and primary research findings to develop the

model.

Though small-firm-dominated environments are usually the exception, their

neglect on behalf of marketers is disproportional. Such environments are not rare in

small countries, geographically isolated areas such as islands, and less developed

countries and/or markets. This exploratory research focuses on one particular case

that offers fertile ground for such work: professional construction consultants in

Cyprus. The findings justify both the choice of subject and the choice of focus.

Specifically, they reinforce the need for such research as they reject conventional

marketing communications theory, demanding customized integrated marketing

communication mixes, adaptability, utilization of individual-firm strengths and

abilities, and often strategies that are normally unsuited to small firms but whose

adoption de facto relies on the limited physical, financial, and knowledge resources

available to small firms. The findings of this research assist such firms in the

development of their marketing communications strategies. Furthermore, and

equally importantly, they improve our understanding of such environments, leading

to improved individual-firm marketing management but also to better regulation

and control of industrial competitive environments; environments which are

commonly under-researched and with authorities lacking scientific material on

which to base their planning and organization.

Generic Theoretical Background to the Marketing Management of CCCs

This section concentrates on those factors that potentially differentiate management

of CCCs because of their categorization as (1) service-firms; (2) small/entrepreneur-

ial/family firms; and (3) construction- related.

Differentiating Factors of the Services Firm Management

Management of services theory, as developed by Lovelock (1996), Lovelock and

Wright (2002), Chisnall (1997), Cowel (1990), Zeithaml and Bitner (2003), Kotler

and Bloom (1984), Connor and Davidson (1985), Palmer (2005), and Guttman

(1987), surfaces a number of important points that need to adapt correspondingly

generic management theory if it should be applied to construction consultants. The

184 A. Thrassou & D. Vrontis

first one is the intense perception of the environment as physical and non-physical,

with the latter naturally presenting complications in both its definition and analysis.

The second point is the internal marketing’s upgraded value, aiming at the

employees of the firm, and is directly related to the emphasis placed on the non-

physical environment. The third and most significant point though, is the

importance placed on quality, clients’ perception of quality, and the firm’smanagement perception of clients’ expectations. One cannot fail to observe that

services, especially professional services, have a strongly intangible nature, whose

quality and essence relate considerably to firm clients’ and employees’ perceptions to

a degree, in fact, that strategic and marketing aspects of a firm should be

concentrated on communication of impressions as much as they should on the

service itself.

Differentiating Factors of the Small/Family/Entrepreneurial Firm Management

All CCCs can be described as being ‘small’ and/or ‘family’ and/or ‘entrepreneurial’

firms. Consequently, this area of management theory has also been reviewed through

the work of many authors, including Longenecker et al. (2003) Dewhurst and Burns

(1993), Storey (1997), Ballantine et al. (1993), Barrow (1993), Julien (1993), Shutt

(1998), Wickham (1998), Ram and Holliday (1993), Beckhard and Dyer (1987),

Sahlman and Stevenson (1992), Fuller (1994), and Burns and Dewhurst (1989). This

review gave rise to the need for a multiple perspective on small firms to compensatefor the aspects where orthodox management theory cannot explain specific elements

of a firm or an environment, and compensated for the intense focus of most existing

literature on large firms. Above all, this review has provided further differentiating-

to-generic-theory factors provisionally engulfing CCCs as well.

Regarding the firm’s internal environment, the most important difference is the

hugely upgraded role of the manager in a small firm, both in terms of power

concentration and also in terms of the association of most of the firm’s

characteristics and processes with the manager’s individual personality andgoals.

The competitive environment component is also subject to an (smaller though)

number of differentiations. First is the question of the degree to which a small firm

affects its market, which varies according to the structure of the specific market.

Second is whether the small firm is small because its market is such that small is the

best option, or as a matter of choice or ability. Economies of scale and scope are also

market characteristics important in determining the size and growth potential of a

firm, as are the concentration of small firms in their market and the degree andnature of cooperation between firms.

Differentiating Factors of the Construction Industry Firm Management

The findings of this section are a distillation of the industry analysis presented in

the literature of authors and organizations specializing in the construction

industry and its national and international characteristics, trends, and patterns.

These include Yisa et al. (1996), Hillebrandt (1984, 1985), Hillebrandt andCannon (1990), Whitfield (1994). The construction industry has been found to

A Small Services Firm Marketing Communications 185

bear a number of characteristics which, although not unique, in combination

demand for organizations operating within it or in association with it to

correspondingly adapt their management processes.

While these characteristics are related to the general construction industry

situation, further review provides a better understanding of the specific-to-

construction-consultants situation, as this is an integral but also separate part of

the industry. The findings are based on the work of specialist authors on the subject

including Male (1991; 1996), Lansley (1987; 1991), Latham (1994), Preece and

Tarawnch (1996), Preece and Shafiei (1998), Preece and Barnard (1999), McNamara

(1998), Thompson and Smyth (1997), Chapman (1998), Addis and Ghamdi (1998),

Yisa et al. (1996), and more.

Specifically, they demonstrate that consultants have gone through a number of

changes because of the redefinition of professional roles, changes in contracts and

procurement methods, increasing client demands, and other reasons. With respect to

firm management, there has been a shift in size toward both ends, specialization, a

shift toward the client end as opposed to the construction end, increased client

expectations from architects, and strengthening of the role of chartered surveyors at

the expense of architects. Diversification strategies, acquisitions, and mergers are

considered as optional strategic steps towards competitiveness, and ability to change

is introduced as a major strength factor. Furthermore, the adaptation of Porter’s five

competitive forces to consultants is provided as a useful guide towards general

theory models application to consultants contingency model for strategic manage-

ment.

Marketing with respect to clients has been found to be most effective when the

firm presents itself as a high-quality expert without too much specialisation, flexible,

dynamic, responsive, and adaptable to any situation. Moreover, marketing is

becoming an increasingly important consideration for all sizes of firms towards

competitiveness, with formalization naturally usually absent from small firms.

Inadequate attention is found to have been given to technical aspects of the firms’

products (skill, knowledge, and experience), while ambiguities about the nature of

marketing, general industry attitudes to marketing and the difficulty of marketing

professional services as opposed to tangible products have been stated as inhibiting

marketing processes in consulting firms.

Competition amongst consultants is found to be perverse, owing to the clients’

lack of knowledge and information, firms, competing for territory instead of type of

clients, and firms’ suicide bidding to defend their territory. This results in lower

quality, prices, and profitability and creates the need for improved quality and better

people in the industry. Further changes toward improvement are potentially better

government support, teamwork partnering, long-term relationships based on trust,

quality assurance, and flexible organizational structures.

Bringing together the generic management, strategy, and marketing models as met

in mainstream literature (see above reviewed authors), a Preliminary Management

System is constructed (Figure 1). This model provides a literature-based prescriptive

marketing management system for construction industry consultants, requiring of

course case-specific primary and secondary data collection toward testing for

individual cases.


Figure 1. A marketing management system for construction consultants.


Generic Theoretical Background to SME and Services Marketing Communication

Having developed a theoretical model of the marketing management system for

construction consultants that provides the contextual framework of the research

subject, the next step is to focus specifically on marketing communications (MC).

The literature review toward this aim necessarily covers three areas of MCs theory:

primarily services and small firms, and secondarily consumer behavior.

Services’ Marketing Communication Theories

Lovelock and Wright (2002) deal specifically with services marketing and extensively

with their MC. Their work on services MC though is best viewed and comprehended

in light of their overall services marketing management theory. Dividing the

communications mix (Figure 2) into ‘personal’ and ‘impersonal’ tools, they naturally

place a greater relative weight the former, especially in relation to complex services

such as the ones under study here. An element whose importance they stress is the

need for a communications interface channel such as the role of an account manager

or consultant. Through this channel, they also emphasize direct contact methods,

such as customer service and customer training.

Regarding advertising, they present evidence indicating a clear tendency for

service firms to communicate information. Sales promotion, as well as public

relations, is also presented as important tools. Nevertheless, one fails to notice in

these any greater relative weight compared to orthodox MC theory.

This is not the case for two other methods/tools, which appear to hold a special

role in compensating for two main services marketing disadvantages. First,

instructional material is an effective way of explaining to clients complex services

which are normally difficult to understand or to make decisions on. Bearing in mind

the service characteristic of frequent and substantial customer involvement in the

production process this becomes a comparatively more significant tool. Second,

design and physical evidence are comparatively more significant as the only tangible

part of a service. These may be ‘real’, such as offices and equipment, or ‘mental’,

such as symbols. Third, Lovelock and Wright (2002) find further benefits in the

parallel implementation of ‘internal’ communications toward building corporate

culture and identity, all much in line with ‘mainstream’ theory on the subject.

Palmer (2005) also deals specifically with services’ marketing and extensively with

their MC but gives more attention also to the questions of target audience choice.

Furthermore, his services communications model (Figure 3) is more comprehensive

in order to include all potential channels. Owing to the later time of researching the

subject, he also naturally devotes more to the concept of the Internet and its

consequent word-of-mouth effects. In general though, his work is very much in

agreement with that of Lovelock and Wright (2002), regarding the individual

methods/tools and quite orthodox regarding the additional subjects.

Zeithaml and Bitner (2003), though largely similar in their approach to the above-

reviewed authors, do extend their work to become both more prescriptive and more

specific. They identify the key reasons for service communications problems as being

(1) inadequate management of service promises; (2) inadequate management of

customer expectations; (3) inadequate customer education; and (4) inadequate


internal MC. They subsequently present a strategy for each toward matching service

promises with delivery (Figure 4).

Herrington et al. (1996) researched the subject of intensity and effectiveness of

MCs in services vs non-services. Their research provides some important findings

Figure 2. Marketing communications mix for services. Source: Lovelock and Wright (2002).

AUDIENCEMessa

ges originating

from within the organization

Production ch

annels

SOURCES

Messages originatingfrom outside the organization

Marketingchannels

Front-line staff

Service outlets

Word of mouth

Media editorial

AdvertisingSales promotionPersonal sellingPublic relationsDirect marketing

Online marketing

Figure 3. Extended communication channels for services. Source: Palmer (2005).


regarding this research: first, it was confirmed that MC intensity among service firms

was lower, but only regarding services of consumer markets. Second, contrary to

predictions, the average current impact of MC on sales is not lower for services than

for non-services. Third, the need was identified for individual managers to assess and

monitor MC mix to identify the components having the most impact on current sales

results. The need to respect the differences of various types of marketers in planning

activities is further stressed by McArthur and Griffin (1997).

Yisa et al. (1996) provide some important findings for MC. The first is that the

conservative nature of the industry as a whole results in MC being treated with

scepticism and apprehension. This conservatism is partially the result of construction

companies being frequently family business for generations. Second, and conse-

quently, MC is treated as a collection of isolated tools and activities such as brochure

and video distribution, advertising, etc. instead of being treated as an integrated

system. Third, the characteristic of many organizations being involved in a single

project provides strong basis for conflict. As a result, it is logical that beyond

‘internal’ and ‘external’, MC needs also to play a part in the relationship with

collaborators. Fourth, strategic MC mixes should be designed based on the

capabilities of individual firms and managers rather than conform to generic

prescriptions. Fifth, special note is made on the need for dual-direction commu-

nications that will allow companies also to listen to and understand both the

individual clients and the industry as a whole.

Figure 4. Approaches for integrating services marketing communication. Source: Zeithamland Bitner (2003).


Small Firms Marketing Communication Theories

Longenecker et al. (2003) present MC especially for small businesses. Although, by

and large, the theory developed is identical to larger-firm theory found in

mainstream literature, there are a few potentially important differentiators. First,

special emphasis is given to personal communications methods where the market is

small and/or when the businesses have a limited number of customers. Second, small

firms are limited in their design of the marketing mix by the limits of their budget.

Third, the higher the value offered by the product to the customer, the greater the

importance of personal communications. Fourth, personal communications by small

firms frequently means communication by the owner/manager/entrepreneur himself/

herself. Fifth, one of the most efficient techniques is obtaining personal referrals.

Sixth, consequent to budget and/or target market limitations, MC by small

businesses often needs to be especially focused. Similar findings are noted by

Palmer (2005) who supports that small service firms, despite having an informal

approach to marketing, spend more time with their customers than larger firms. He

also notes that owners/managers/entrepreneurs are usually the ones to perform this

task and appears supportive of the concept of ‘generalists’ as opposed to ‘marketing

specialists’ for small firms. Further support is given to the above regarding small

firms and their characteristics, especially at the sector level, by Dewhurst and Burns

(1993) and Storey (1997).

Said (2000) presents some specialized findings with regards to small business in

Malta, a small-business-dominated environment. Though his concentration is on

collective international promotion of these firms through electronic means, his

research also identifies some more generic characteristics. These include, among

others, (1) a lack of proper marketing practices; (2) a traditionally sheltered market

competitive situation that is becoming more vulnerable to liberal global trends; and

(3) a contradiction between the realization of the need for more, faster, and better

market (and marketing) knowledge and information on the one hand, and an

apparent unwillingness to pursue this on the other hand. These findings are very

much consistent with the findings of an analogous research in Cyprus (Thrassou,

2002). The latter’s findings are also consistent with Kotler et al. (2005), who support

that for small firms, formalized marketing techniques (not necessarily MC) are not

necessary and that they can be adopted and adapted to resources available with

relative success.

Moini (1998), regarding government support programs, also finds a general lack

of awareness among small firms. These results, although not directly related to MC,

do indicate an obvious weakness in adopting marketing practices that ultimately do

affect MC as well. Campbell (1996) does not contribute to the question of MC

directly but investigates the effect of a free-trade agreement on small firms as a

sector. Her results are valuable since they show that even in the case of small firms

competing in a non-small-firm-dominated environment such agreements have an

impact on small firm competitiveness at a local level as well. This is expectedly even

truer in the more extreme case of currently small-firm-dominated environments.

Korhonen et al. (1996) researched the subject of ‘inward internationalization’ of

SMEs to find that developing their promotion strengthens the operational basis of

SMEs. In view of Campbell’s findings, it is a potentiality that where MC or other


activities fail to compensate for negative changes in the competitive environment,

then inward internationalisation through foreign larger-firms, in combination with

MC might provide the solution. In other words, one parameter that should be born

in mind is that where MC cannot support the marketing strategy, the reverse might

be considered.

Reedy and Schullo (2004) through their work on electronic marketing,demonstrate the continuously growing spectrum of communication means available

to businesses. These allow small firms to undertake tasks and target segments that

the past left out of reach. The MC implications are multiple with the most important

one being a potential need for small firms to fit strategy to MC means rather than the

opposite. This requires a redefinition at a strategic level of their marketing goals and

processes with MC as a primary instrument and cause.

The Consumer Behavior Context of Marketing Communications in Small Consulting

Firms

The literature reviewed so far has presented both the marketing management context

and the MC focus for small professional firms. As a matter of precision and further

insight, it is nevertheless necessary also to present MC through the consumer

behavior perspective.

Blackwell et al. (2001) present the consumer decision process model as consisting

of seven steps: (1) need recognition; (2) search for information; (3) pre-purchaseevaluation of alternatives; (4) purchase; (5) consumption; (6) post-consumption

evaluation; and (7) divestment. In light of the findings of services and small firms’

characteristics it is apparent that especially steps one, three, and six are very weak in

the case of construction consultants and small professional firms. The complex and

specialized nature of the service in combination with the lack of clear benefits

necessitates an MC mix that primarily will inform, educate, and consult the potential

client. Additionally, step five (consumption) in the case of such services is parallel

and synchronous to production, with in fact the client being a co-producer.The degree of success of the service delivery, therefore, depends on the efficient

and effective involvement of the client, itself depending on its ability rather than its

will to participate. MC, therefore, are expectedly again the key to ensuring a

successful service. Furthermore, the intangible nature of the product and the limited

client knowledge on it upgrade the importance of understandings and ultimately

affecting, critical elements such as client attitudes, beliefs, and feelings toward the

service.

MC in the means of both receiving the necessary information and transmitting itsuccessfully towards controlling these elements. The MC mix, therefore, needs to be

designed parallel to the implementation of the methods and analyses that will allow

the measurement and understanding of these elements. Of interest to this research

are also the various means of stimulating word-of-mouth communications and

targeting of opinion leaders. Word-of-mouth has been shown by previous reviews to

be relatively more important to small construction consultants, while the reliance on

opinion leaders also appears more frequent in the specific industry. Similar

conclusions are drawn through the review of work by Schiffman and Kanuk(2004), Hawkins et al. (2004), and Solomon (2004).


Methodology

An exploratory research period involving a number of interviews and general and

specific literature research and review clearly showed that the complexity and

sensitivity of the various subjects under study did not encourage strict numeric

formalization. This research, therefore, was inclined to follow a considerably more

qualitative approach as a much more suitable means for investigating a highly social

and behavior-dependent subject. Multidimensional triangulation and extrapolation

are often used to understand not only situations but also their cause and effect. As

no one method was considered to be singularly vital, and paying the deserved

attention to each method, cross-validation has been applied, with all results being

validated by the corresponding ones from all the other methods. The weight of each

method was not considered constant, but varied according to the subject at hand.

In the absence of complete CCC-explicit material, directly related literature review

concentrated on scattered literature of a smaller scale, while indirectly related and

background theory literature mainly included the general theories and models on

related subjects found in internationally recognized academic work. Fairly recent

and comprehensive statistical data with a great number of parameters relative to the

subject has furthermore been discovered and used by this research. Empirical

evidence/observation was adopted as an additional methodological technique,

though only as the provider of research direction and not as part of the research

results. Interviews were chosen by this research to be the most important source of

primary data since circumstances allowed access to all the people holding the key-

positions in the sector. The preliminary research period and piloting showed that the

free response form was the most effective and indicated the best general content and

context of the CCC manager interviews. The interviewees sample totalled 33 people

and it was chosen according to their position in the CCC task and macro-

environment. All interviewees held key positions though not necessarily within the

same field. These included presidents of professional associations, government

officials of related ministries, top managers of major organizations, and others.

Focus groups added a valuable source of data, both in terms of quantity but also as a

medium that allows more comparison, extrapolation, and cross-referencing.

Grouping was made according to position/experience/age and nine sessions,

averaging eight people, took place. Their aims was to cross-validate data gathered

through the other methods, but also to prompt more in-depth discussion on complex

and sensitive issues that individual interviewees were apprehensive to expand on.

A survey approach was rejected consequent to the findings of the preliminary

research, which indicated various practical difficulties, such as interviewees’ lack of

comprehension of key business terms, interviewees’ reluctance to participate, and

others issues. Instead, questionnaire-based semi-structured interviews were found to

be the best alternative. This method aimed at providing this research with a set of

more quantitative data, much along the lines of a questionnaire survey, but

overcoming the various difficulties of the latter. From 180 requests, 58 such

interviews ultimately took place and involved a questionnaire, which was read out to

the interviewees and the questions explained/expanded on individually when

necessary. Two types of scaling were used. The first is similar to Likert’s summated

ratings, while the second type required the respondents to prioritize a number of


options against multiple subjects. The type of sampling used was Stratified Random

Uniform Sampling Fraction. The sample population was all civil engineers and

architects that had worked for the previous two years for a CCC. The sample was of

a single-stage.

Primary Research Findings – CCC Differentiating Factors

Cyprus presents a business environment that does not fit the theory developed in

relation to other markets. This consequently renders it largely inadequate in terms of

direct or indirect adoption or even substantial adaptation to Cyprus, demanding a

new perspective with focus on the specific market of Cyprus. The primary research

has shown this to be the case, because of Cyprus exhibiting the following

differentiating characteristics, which are subsequently presented.

Firstly, the CCC professions have been developed only during the last two to threedecades, consequently lacking in maturity, control and organization at a collective

level. Decades-long severe political turbulence, which ended in the late seventies, but

was continued by uncontrolled economic growth, resulted in general macro-

environmental lack of organization. The present stability and fair organisation is

relatively newly achieved and CCCs have not yet mastered the survival skills

necessary for this new environment. Additionally, the CCC task environment, i.e. the

construction industry, is extremely susceptible to economic conditions and especially

the tourist sector, with abrupt changes in demand.The market itself is extremely small with the geography of the area tremendously

limiting the ability of CCCs to expand their operations and grow. Furthermore, the

CCC market is predominantly made up of very small firms. Approximately 90% of

firms have one to nine employees, with almost all the rest having fewer than twenty-

five employees. Another differentiating factor, one that has much practical effect as

well is that social norms and attitudes often dictate organizational approaches that

defy business logic. Internally, the major CCC environmental characteristic is the

disproportionately strong element of power being concentrated a single person, thisusually being the owner-manager. This results in a number of internal environment

peculiarities: it creates the potential for better control, better intra-firm relationships,

and increased efficiency and flexibility, but rents the overall structure more

vulnerable and fragile by depending on the knowledge, experience, instinct,

situation, personality, periodic psychological states, values, beliefs, and abilities of

a single person.

Regarding their wider categorization, the family firm is a frequent case among

CCCs, though the elements of such firms are similar to the ones met in mostdeveloped (Western) countries. In addition, CCCs carry a disproportionately large

number of characteristics generally accepted in related literature as also belonging to

entrepreneurial firms.

Engineers’ and architects’ university-level education is almost totally obtained

abroad, resulting in a very high understanding and knowledge of foreign cultures,

languages, environments, methods, techniques, and attitudes. Professional education

is minimal and the little that exists is totally organized by authorities outside the

firm. Regarding professional development, a critical constraint is that the marketsize does not provide niches and allows little specialization, while it rewards the


development of multiple skills and a wide-spectrum of activities. Regarding CCC-

specific research and development, it always was, and still is, non-existent with

respect to both technology and business.

The competitive environment is fierce, with an extremely high buyer (client)

bargaining power. A most important effect of the above is the CCC competition

becoming price-dependent, with fees rarely surpassing a bare minimum ‘survival’level. Additionally, low fees result in cost cutting, often through diminished quality

and consequently creating a situation where CCCs offer lower quality than what

they are capable of and than what they would have liked to offer, against their clients

interests, largely because of the client’s wrongful perception of what is in their

interest. Moreover, there is a distinct lack of CCC experience in competition, which

leads to a form of competitive environment with no widely accepted notions of

ethical competition. Sense of product value by the clients is confused with very few

large/experienced returning clients. Confused is the sense of additional services valueas well, with most clients not understanding the range and nature of CCC

responsibilities, but often placing on these a much greater value than they do on the

product (design) itself.

‘Social networking’ or ‘connections’ appear to play a disproportionately

important role in the CCC competitive environment. Due to mostly practical/

business reasons acquisitions are non-existent, while due to mostly personal/social

reasons mergers are also extremely rare. There is very little public pressure on CCCs

and the construction industry in general to abide by widely accepted notions ofethicality, while social responsibility is defined by the legal obligations, though even

this is not absolute. The most active pressure group towards social consciousness and

responsibility is the CCC professionals themselves.

Owing to political and geographic reasons, international expansion involves a

sudden ‘leap’ from local competition, without the natural intermediary step of

‘national’ competition. The home country international competitive position and the

individual CCC international competitive position are naturally unique to Cyprus,

naturally encompassing a mixture of economic, political, cultural, technological andother characteristics.

Conclusions and Development of a Marketing Communications Model for CCCs

The construction of the model is achieved through a three-step process:

(1) The literature reviews of both the generic marketing management theory and

MCs theory are cross-referenced with the findings of the CCC primary

research.

(2) Individual elements and characteristics are identified as the ones encom-

passing the model and are isolated and extracted.

(3) These are assembled, interrelated and assigned their relative weightaccording to the findings of the primary and secondary research.

Personal MC tools should bear a greater relative weight. This is supported by

services MC theory (Lovelock and Wright, 2002; Palmer, 2005), small firm theory

(Longendecker et al. 2003; Palmer, 2005; Storey 1997), generic marketing managementtheory, and primary research findings which indicate a frequent personal management


dimension and a strong social component of CCC marketing management (section

above). Additionally, elements that can substitute for the intangibility deficiencies,

such as ‘design’ and ‘physical evidence’, should also be given greater relative

attention.

Client education and training should be a primary aim of MC owing to the

complexity of the offered service, the client involvement in the production process,the difficulty of assessing quality, perceived risk, and the subjectivity of client

attitudes and beliefs. In parallel though, it was found that beyond practical/factual

aims, MC needed to transmit images and impressions that shape attitudes and

beliefs, in the case of CCCs relating to quality, perceived risk, and similar elements.

Internal communications should be an integral part of the MC mix though not

necessarily as a separate MC tool. Communications may be simultaneously directed

towards internal audiences while targeting external audiences.

MC should be as focused as possible owing to the fact that (a) the nature of thebusiness means that the client numbers are low and, therefore, need to be better

targeted; (b) complexity of the service demands for stronger and more effective

communication which can only be achieved through focus; (c) small firm budget

limitations largely forbid mass or random communications; and (d) advancements in

electronic MC allow for continuously greater focus.

Word-of-mouth (associated with personal referral as well) should be relied on as a

direct MC mix instrument since the small size of the market in combination with the

strong social elements of the business environment allow it to be. At the same time,other MC mix elements may allow indirect use of word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth

therefore should be at the same time a tool but also a target of MC.

Toward assuring a match between client expectations and perceived service

quality, MCs should manage service promises, manage customer expectations,

improve customer education, and manage internal marketing communications

(Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003). From the actions proposed toward these, and after

cross-referencing with primary research findings, a number are noted as especially

important. They are: realistic promises and if possible guarantees; communication ofcriteria for service effectiveness; elimination of unrealistic client expectations; setting

of performance standards; communication of best client-company collaboration

methods; clarification of performance standards; organization of most effective

vertical, horizontal, and client-company communications systems and if necessary

human channels.

The MC model should be flexible and adaptable to the competitive and

management context and people of the individual firms (McArthur and Griffin,

1997; Yisa et al., 1996; Thrassou, 2005). This is further supported by the primaryresearch findings that show the dependence on the abilities of individual managers

but also the differences in style and methods according to the educational

background of professionals (see ‘double adaptation’ element of model as well).

The findings of the primary research regarding the marketing management context

of CCCs have revealed an overall lack of effective marketing practises. The same was

observed specifically to marketing communications, which is consistent with both

general small firm theory (see above) and specific-to-construction-consultants

theory. The major problem regarding MC is lack of integration, but perhaps evenmore importantly, and differently to most similar situations, a lack of willingness to


conform to modern MC practises; an inherent construction industry problem of

conservatism. Thus, extraordinarily and reverse to the above, the firms’ management

organization and culture within a firm often may need to be adapted to MC (see also

‘double adaptation’ element of model).

Consequent to the absence of large firms and to the market size, it is possible for

small firms under these circumstances to undertake competitive roles and strategicmarketing tactics within the industry that are normally unattainable in more usual

environments. One possibility is for a small firm to be for all practical purposes (and

therefore correspondingly act strategically as) a market leader, or public relations

and lobbying may be a disproportionately important MC instrument.

Apart from MC targeting potential/existing clients and employees, two other MC

targets should be considered. One that should be the result of a collective effort

relates to the attitude and beliefs that the public hold in relation to CCCs and their

professionals, the other stems from the fact that CCC projects involve manyorganizations. This may require an additional clear target for CCCs, i.e. the various

potential collaborators who are and will be neither clients nor immediate associates.

The limitations set by the size of individual CCCs, including budgets, knowledge,

human resources, etc. raises the question of collective MC. This, while being

practically impossible in terms of simple promotional tactics, appears most feasible

regarding other MC aims, such as information, client education, public’s attitudes,

etc. In fact, the wider the target audience and the commoner the aims, the more

feasible and beneficial collective action is considered to be. To this there appear to beinherent obstacles such as the ability and/or will of small consulting firms to work

together.

Although MC is a process normally within the wider marketing strategy, it is

possible that for CCCs it will actually be a critical factor in forming strategy.

Specifically, two elements contribute towards this: first, as mentioned above, the fast

evolutionary pace of electronic MC may in fact allow the targeting of audiences in a

manner, scale and/or segments that the past practically prohibited (Reedy and

Schullo, 2004). Not surprisingly, the new means of MC, therefore, may demand areorientation of CCCs’ means and targets at a strategic level. Second, it is likely that

where MC can nolonger support the small consulting firm in a changing, globalized

environment then again strategic reorientation may occur to allow the support of

MCs. Such a case may be the home-country’s entrance into a free trade or similar

agreement altering the nature of competition.

Bringing the findings together, and resting within the contextual boundaries of

contemporary MC theory, a CCC Marketing Communications Model is developed.

The model (see Figure 5) portrays the main elements and processes involved in thedevelopment of the CCC MC mix. The secondary components and other

information concerning the individual MC tools are not presented. This as a matter

of practicality first, but also as a matter of avoiding repetition of ‘classic’ MC theory.

The model, however, does pinpoint the discrepancies between ‘classic’ MC theory

and CCC MC findings.

The environmental factors influencing promotional activity were adapted from

Kitchen’s (2001) ‘environmental factors influencing promotional activity’. The

elements that make the component of MC audiences were adapted from the work ofFill (2002) (‘direction of communication profile strategy’) and Pickton and


Broderick (2001) (‘illustration of the range of players in the MC industry’).

Regarding the choice of tools and media available, it was based on the research

findings and the adapted work of Pickton and Broderick (2001) ‘choice of media

possibilities’ and ‘media characteristics’ and Smith and Taylor (2002) ‘summary ofmedia characteristics’.

Figure 5. An integrated marketing communications model for small construction consultants.


Limitations and Recommendations

This research is largely exploratory and therefore naturally limited regarding a

number of aspects. First, the choice of Cyprus construction consultants as the basis

for model development does not guarantee the applicability of the findings to other

types of small firms or other markets or industries. These have to be separately

researched for reliable and valid findings. Second, the scope and spectrum of this

research was inevitably too large to cover its parts to any great depth (an acceptable

deficiency for exploratory research). The model therefore, although prescriptive, is

general and cannot as it stands be used as a detailed ‘road-map’ to MC mix design or

implementation. Consequently, it is recommended for researchers wanting to

investigate further individual elements to use this research as the foundation but

concentrate more on depth than breadth. Third and assuming that there is greater

focus to allow for it, a more quantitative approach to compliment the qualitative

methods of this research is recommended.

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Notes on Contributors

Alkis Thrassou obtained a B.Eng. (Hons) degree in Engineering and a Ph.D. in

Strategic Marketing Management from the University of Leeds (UK). From 1996

until 2002, he has worked as business and project manager for an engineering and

management firm in Cyprus, leading teams of professionals through many projectsof varying size and nature. In 2002, he joined the Marketing Department

of Intercollege, Nicosia, Cyprus, involving himself in various scholarly activities,

lecturing on marketing-related subjects to both undergraduate and postgraduate

students, and undertaking research in the fields of general marketing, construction

firms, small firms, services and consumer behaviour. He retains strong ties with the

industry, acting also as a consultant and he is furthermore the president of the board

of directors of MGK Estates Ltd, a public land-development company.

Dr Demetris Vrontis studied in the United Kingdom and obtained a BSc (Hons)

degree in Business from the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), a PGCE

(HE) from MMU, a VTC from Henley School of Management, an MBA

(Distinction) from the University of Hull and a PhD in International Marketing

from MMU.

Dr Demetris Vrontis is the Dean of the School of Business at Intercollege in

Nicosia, Cyprus. Dr Vrontis is a Visiting Teaching Faculty for Henley School of

Management in the UK, a Visiting Professor for Vorarlberg University in Austria, aVisiting Fellow at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK and an External

Examiner for Nottingham Trent University in the UK. During the period January


2004 to July 2006, Dr Vrontis was initially the Head of the Department Marketing

and then the Associate Dean of the School of Business. Before joining Intercollege

(1997–2003) Dr Vrontis was a senior lecturer at the Manchester Metropolitan

University Business School (MMUBS), where he was leading and directing two of

the University’s postgraduate programmes.

Dr Vrontis’ prime research interests are on international/global marketing,marketing planning, branding and marketing communications, areas that he has

published in over 45 refereed journal articles and presented papers to conferences on

a global basis. Dr Vrontis is also the author of 8 books and widely contributed

chapters and cases in books/edited books in the areas of international, global

marketing and strategic marketing planning. He is the editor of the EuroMed

Journal of Business, a Country Editor for Cyprus for the ‘‘Journal for Global

Business Advancement’’ and the ‘‘Journal for International Business and

Entrepreneurship Development’’. He is also a member of the editorial board inthe ‘‘Journal of Promotion Management’’, the International Research Journal of

‘‘Innovative Marketing’’, ‘‘International Journal of Management Cases’’ and ‘‘The

Cyprus Journal of Sciences’’. Currently, he is acting as a guest editor for the Journal

of Marketing Communications, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and

Small Business, Journal for Global Business Advancement, Journal for International

Business and Entrepreneurship Development, International Journal of Internet

Marketing and Advertising and Journal of Business Research.

Dr Vrontis is the President of AGBA (Association for Global BusinessAdvancement) - Europe Chapter (USA) and a regional director of CIRCLE -

Centre for International Research for Consumers and Location and their

Environments (UK).


Documents

Small Services Mktg Com for SME - JMC Vol 12 No 3 JMC