This paper focuses on two aspects of the radio measurement problem: the environment in which the study is carried out and the characteristics of the methodologies developed and tested by researchers in Poland and elsewhere. In the first part of the paper, the market is described in terms of population size and density, recent history of the radio market and the size and structure of advertising expenditures in Poland. The available techniques of radio audience measurement are also examined within this context. The second part of the paper presents key findings of comparisons between different methods of data collection and their possible impact on the competitive position of radio among other media.
Radio is a very popular medium in Poland. The Polish radio market is presently defined on one hand, by high vitality regional and local stations, and on the other by the clearly defined leadership of ProgrammeI of the Polish Radio and the strong, equivalent position of two commercial networks - RMF FM and Radio Zet. At first glance, this arrangement of forces seems to be quite stable. In fact this situation is far from petrifaction. Especially in local markets the dynamics of change in patterns of radio listening is still strong. One can also see the shaping of different patterns of listening to national stations or networks in various parts of Poland, as well as definite profiles of co-listening behaviour. It is also evident how important a variable the place is in surveys of radio listening. The rapid changes taking place in the radio market require an adequate radio audience measurement system. This paper seeks to briefly present how these changes have stimulated the development of research techniques used for a reliable evaluation of the radio audience in Poland.
The research on selected regions of Poland by Wojciech Konieczny, in association with B.P.S. Consultants Poland Ltd., assumed the hypothesis that in the conditions of the developed radio market, if radio stations and their principals are concerned with the range among the average person, the control of the regular audience is of greater importance than the control of core listeners. The regular audience better reflects the average daily range of the station, moreover, it enables identification of both the possible negative tendencies in the way audience contact the station Programme and the reasons for lack of loyalty conditioned by the programme preferences of shared listeners.
In the 1989-1993 period, a profound revolution transformed the car market in Poland. In parallel to an economic bust and a drop in real incomes, the number of registered passenger cars grew by. Most of the newly registered vehicles were second-hand, privately imported cars from the West. This lead to a 10% increase in the share of Western cars in the total of privately owned cars. An influential factor behind this private import was the stereotype of "Western equals better" - this being regardless of brand, playing a secondary role. All Western brands are rated higher than in domestic and East European. The stereotype of a monolith group of "Western better" is now becoming differentiated by individual brand image. The public opinion's favorites are Mercedes and BMW, also highly regarded are other brands held to be German. The transformation in Poland led to a change in brand perception and consumer behavior. FIAT's investments led to an appreciation of domestically manufactured cars. German brands continue with their stable high standing, and Japanese and French brands clearly improved their image. East European brands are depreciated. The distinction into "domestic inferior - imported better" is subsiding. The emotional approach is losing ground to rational behavior. Buying decisions are most strongly dependent on price, exploitation costs, safety concerns. When those values are more or less equal - it is the brand image that decides.
The author, in this paper, will draw on his experiences in Poland acquired since January 1994 highlighting the difficulties his company has faced since acquiring a business at the beginning of 1994. The business, a dairy in Slupsk, North West Poland, will be used to illustrate what progress has been made in changing management of that business and what is still required to be done. The author will, where appropriate, make comparisons with another Polish business where his company has formed a partnership with local government.
This paper presents the attempt to launch a periodic consumer survey programme within the conditions of free-market economy build in contemporary Poland. The consumer survey approach is based on a theory of psychological economics developed in the forties by George Katona. It explores relationships between attitudes of consumers and macro- economic trends determining business cycles. The extend to which such macro-economic factors as the level of consumer goods production depend on consumers appraisal and moods can itself be the measure of the role of free-market mechanisms in economy. To check if in today Poland one can notice performance of this kind of mechanisms an analysis was carried out in which assessments of consumer confidence made by DEMOSKOP over a period of 37 months were compared with the data, published monthly by the Central Statistical Office - GUS, concerning retail sales and industrial production. Some of the results of the analysis are presented in this paper. They justify the statement that the Polish economy has begun to adopt free-market rules in some areas while in another ones it still remains depending on administrative rather than consumer decisions. The brief discussion of the problems met by an attempt to apply an approach of psychological economics to contemporary Polish conditions ends the paper.
In Poland as well as in other socialist countries there is the three level management system on the market. The central level of management consists of many central institutions as: Cabinet, Central Planning Board and ministries. On the medium level there are associations and commercial centres, the basic level consists of enterprises and consumers. By the high degree of centralisation as a rule of the socialist economy, there is the problem how to reconcile the central planning with market decisions. It enables the new economic system introduced after 1972. The main aim of the new economic system is to shift some powers from the central management level to the enterprises, giving them free choice and flexibility on the market. The new economic system requires another information system delivering enterprises more information on consumer's preferences, demand changes and other features enabling decision making. The paper presents the structure of an integrated market information system and market management in Poland by the authors' proposal. The proposed market information system supported by research background gives the needed data to all management levels and secures a cross flow of information to all market participants.
The paper presents a procedure of establishing the educational needs of marketing, implemented at the Polish Management Development Institute, while preparing and running a series of the tailor-made seminars for the top managers of the Polish industrial organisations. Apart from the other tasks, the Institute is responsible for preparing and running a cyclical process of management development for the senior managers of the branch unions of the Polish industrial enterprises. One of the topics covered by the process is marketing. A success in management development depends mostly on a close suitability to the needs of its participants. Since marketing is still a subject to a continuous worldwide dispute, preparing and running a successful venture in this field is rather difficult. In a case described, a series of the tailor-made seminars had been determined as the best way to suit to the specific needs of the top managers of the Polish branch unions from several industries.
The aim of this paper is to present the problems of advertising and sales promotion in Poland. It has been tried to adopt the approach being of interest to the foreign exporters, first of all.
After defining the concept of distribution and its place in marketing the author has presented the role of trade in Poland's economy. Then he discusses the channels of distribution, structure and organisation of retail and wholesale trade as well as basic directions of trade policy. We witness a rapid process of concentration and integration as well as modernisation of trade. In the further part of the paper conditions of distribution system functioning have been reviewed and characterised. The reforms introduced in the distribution system aim at increasing the enterprise adaptability to market situations, simplification (rationalisation) of distribution channels and creating premises for employing the active marketing strategy.
The need for marketing research in Poland arises from the fact that, although the economy is planned, it has a monetary character. Products are manufactured as goods, that is not for the producer's own needs but for sale, while the distribution of the national product is achieved through the medium of money. It is with money that we buy in the market the goods we need, which then become objects of consumption. In this way each cycle of social production is closed.