ABSTRACT

The study analyzed the effect of product modification on the market performance of soft drink product in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. The objective of the study were; to determine the effect of product modification sales performance; to analyze the effect of product modification of the profitability of seven up; to ascertain the effect of product modification on increase in market share; to determine the effect of product modification on achieving customer loyalty. A sample size of 133 was adopted for the study and a well structured questionnaire was used for the collection of primary data which were later analyzed using multiple regression model. The study included that product modification has positive effect in the sales and profitability of soft drink industry; that branding has positive influence on the buyer behavior of customers in the sofidrink market; that product differentiation helps in achieving brand loyalty which reflects in customer loyalty and sales turnover (rate) in the softdrink market; that market segmentation complements product branding and differentiation in achieving better customer satisfaction in the soft drink industries; that there are some problems encountered in the adoption of these three marketing strategies namely, poor product design, high competition, high cost of marketing anci distribution especially, poor or inadequate patronage. However, the study recommended that product modification, branding differentiation and market segmentation should be taken seriously in the soft drink industries. This is because there is influx of numerous products in the soft drinks market. Product differentiation will help not only attract strategic market segmentation which enhance better customer satisfaction and efficient marketing. That strategic plan should be put in place to achieve effective product positioning. This implies that the product attributes namely, shape, colour, quality, etc that are used to differentiate (branding) the promotional efforts of advertising, personal selling etc should stress more on these attributes so as to attract preference to the product against that of the competitor. A good strategic market and marketing research as well as buyer behavior studies should be carried out by the marketers. Such marketing efforts will help to identify which product attributes will the buyers prefer, their quantity of purchases, their locations, their socio-economic and psychographic variables etc. all these are related profiles that will help to design strategic product branding and relative marketing programs not only to influence the buyer behavior, but also to achieve competitive advantage at the long run; the researcher also recommends for further research on this study area to enhance strategic innovations in the complimentarily of product branding, product differentiation, market segmentation and product positioning; all will be geared towards efficient and effective marketing not only in the soft drinks market, but in the general consumer market.