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ABSTRACT BALISACAN, JEREMY M. 2019, Marketing Practices and Business Performance of Pork 'Longganisa' Enterprise in the City of Batac, Ilocos Norte. Undergraduate Thesis. College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development. Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, 2906 Ilocos Norte. 63 pp. Adviser: Mrs. Ethel Reynda M. Calivoso. This study attempted to assess the marketing practices and business performance of the pork 'longganisa' enterprise in the City of Batac, Ilocos Norte. It focused on the relationships of the entrepreneurs' marketing practices and the performance of their enterprise in terms of the volume of sales and net profit. Eighteen (18) pork 'longganisa' entrepreneurs were purposively selected as respondents since only those that have market stands in the city public market were considered. They were personally interviewed with the aid of an interview shedule which was composed of questions on the profile of the entrepreneur and the enterprise, and the marketing practices in the following aspects: product, pricing, promotion and place or distribution channels. These were assessed using the Likert Scale with descriptive interpretations ranging from 'highly practiced' to 'not practiced.' The data gathered were tabulated and analyzed using frequencies, means, and percentages. The Pearson product moment correlation was used in the analysis of the relationships of the sales performance and net profit of the enterprise and the marketing practices of the entrepreneurs. The pork longganisa' entrepreneurs were relatively young with an average age of 44 years, dominated by married women, most of whom are college graduates. Only few has attended relevant seminars and trainings but all are members of the Batac Meat Vendors Association, Majority of these enterprises have been in operation for 1 to 10 years as sole proprietorship. These enterprises mostly started with a modest capital ranging from Php 5,000 to Php 19,999 which were mostly sourced from savings. Family members were the sources of most labor in addition to 1 to 3 hired workers. Daily sales are averaging below 30 kg with an estimated net profit of below Php 1,999. The entrepreneurs attributed their management skills mostly from their own experience. Results of the analysis revealed that the product marketing practices, specifically, regularly lobed tying was "highly practiced" which was based on customers' preference. The price of the products was based on the prevailing marketing price which is considered the "standard." Majority directly sold their products as fresh using plastic bag as packaging material. Public relation turned out as the most highly practiced way of promoting their products. Obviously, the public market is the site for selling and distributing longganisa' products of the entrepreneurs. However, the distribution outlets of some respondents were retailers or either the "empanadahan" or use of the couriers was "moderately practiced." Results further showed that the marketing practices on product, and place or distribution outlets strongly influenced the daily sales performance and net profit of the pork 'longganisa' enterprises. In contrast, pricing and promotion marketingpractices did not show strong relationships with either sales performance or net profit as all of the respondents adhered to standard price per kilogram of pork 'longganisa.' Also, from the variables under the the socio-demographic profile of the entrepreneurs, only sex showed significant influence on both daily sales and net profit while on the enterprise profile, years of operation and capital showed strong relationships with both daily sales and net profit. As to the problems encountered by the entrepreneurs, the high market fee, rental and taxes were a primary concern. However, the entrepreneurs tried to cope with these problems by achieving economies of scale through increasing their volume of production and by selling other meat products such as fresh meat and 'bagnet'. |
