The Role of Exhibitions in International Marketing

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Trade Fairs as forms of Exhibitions
Trade Shows
Consumer shows (public shows)
Mixed shows
Benefits of Exhibitions to a country
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Exhibitions, also known as shows, expositions, fairs or just expos are defined as a gathering of people at a specific place and time to display goods and services for the purposes of promoting trade. The word comes from the Latin term ‘expositio’ meaning ‘to show’ or ‘display’.

However, it is important to note that the four varieties of exhibitions may at times mean different things depending on organization, duration and recurrence. Beier and Dumbock (5) differentiate between a fair and an exhibition. They find that traditionally, fairs were shorter, periodic, less organized and randomly situated.

This was in contrast with exhibitions which were one-time events running for months at a particular location designed for the purpose. Exhibitions were also highly organized unlike fairs and were mainly run by local governments.

Another significant difference between fairs and exhibitions was the fact that in fairs unlike exhibitions, goods were sold and bought regularly. Exhibitions were only meant for display with the intention of inducing future sales.

Currently, traditional exhibitions are the modern-day trade fairs and expositions in terms of business operation. Today we have large expositions known as World Fairs or EXPOs where countries come together to showcase their products in the international arena.

Universal Expos form the highest level of exhibitions (Anderson 3). The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is the official body in charge of organizing specialized international expositions. Normally, such expositions last between 3 to 6 months and countries showcase themselves for trade and tourism purposes (Morrow 9). Modern expos differ with trade fairs in terms of theme and architectural design. Various expos have been held since the Brussels expo of 1958 with the latest being the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

Trade Fairs as forms of Exhibitions

This has been the primary method through which countries have marketed themselves as exporters. They are more specialized and industry-specific. Traditionally, trade fairs were horizontal i.e. various products confined to a particular industry were showcased.

Today, these fairs are vertically organized and the entire industry is often represented, right from the manufacturer to the consumer. These participants are usually pre-qualified by confirming attendance and the nature of their business.

Trade Shows

These are usually industry specific but limited in scope compared to trade fairs. They are more focused on the industry or companies rather than the country of origin. These shows are attended by members of the public though the company representatives play a bigger role in ensuring that the products are well presented for display (Kerin & Cron 87).

The basic aim of trade shows is to promote the company through display and advertisement. However, recent trade shows have included the trade function and more and more product and service contracts are being signed during trade shows.

In one way or another, trade shows do market the country of origin and the fact that they are international in nature presents a good opportunity for the country to ensure that it coordinates with the private sector to promote the country’s image.

Since exhibitors at trade shows are generally manufacturers or producers, trade shows play an important role almost equivalent to other types of exhibitions since they represent the country of origin as an exporter. Trade shows usually on an invite-only basis for companies and they may be as short as a day and as long as ten days. They are usually recurrent in nature with most being held annually (Kijewski et al 287).

Consumer shows (public shows)

These types of exhibitions are usually open to the public and they are mainly run by retail outlets, service providers or manufacturers. Their main aim is to bring goods and services directly to the consumer for direct selling. These shows may be industry wide or interest-wide meaning that even unrelated companies may showcase their goods or services together.

They usually bring consumers together in one place by offering product advice, education, discounts and entertainment. They benefit the seller by bringing in immediate purchases, product awareness and good public relations.

They also present a good forum for product testing. On a national level, consumer shows improve the country’s image where the intended target is a foreign market. However, their application is limited since little mention of the country of origin is made.

Mixed shows

They usually combine both public and trade shows. This is not a category in itself since trade shows and trade fairs qualify as mixed shows since they serve both functions. Mixed shows have the dual effect of promoting sales while increasing product awareness. Usually, these shows are organized in a manner that ensures that the participants meet on certain days while on other days, they are allowed to display their goods to the public (Goldblatt 6).

Benefits of Exhibitions to a country

Exhibitions offer a country the best opportunity to market its products or itself for tourism purposes. This is because of the large number of people who attend exhibitions. Simply put, exhibitions present an interactive forum for supply and demand.

The fact that these exhibitions are usually industry-specific or thematic helps the country concentrate on a particular sector of its economy that may not be doing well. Exhibitions therefore present the country with a great opportunity to revive their industries.

Research has shown that attending exhibitions presents the consumer with better information about a product or industry than any other form of marketing or advertisement. Additionally, no other marketing tool presents the three functions of trade, transparency and development together as exhibitions do.

The trade function occurs where the consumers and producers sign trade contracts during the exhibition. The transparency function provides a market overview for the industry and it enables competitors to meet and exchange information. Lastly, the development function occurs directly and indirectly by promoting the image of the country that hosts the exhibition.

The UFI, which is the worldwide association of the exhibition industry, keeps records on exhibitions around the globe. They report that exhibitions have really caught up as the main advertisement tool for countries and companies.

Statistics from the year 2000 alone show that there were about 30,000 exhibitions held globally. In those exhibitions, approximately 3.2 million participants exhibited their products and services to over 350 million people who attended these events.

Normally, when an exhibition is held, the organizer pays related taxes, invests heavily in infrastructure and brings as many exhibitors as possible to one location. This has the effect of bringing direct benefits to local governments and residents of the area around the location of the exhibition as they offer support services for the attendees.

This is achieved through wages and jobs being created and exhibition participants making certain expenditures. While hosts may benefit directly, there is a spin-off effect that brings economic gain to all parties.

An analysis of the spin-off effect reveals that the first persons to benefit are the organizers of exhibitions through payment of registration fees for attendance. Other direct benefits accrue to central and local governments through the remittance of taxes and also to the residents who get jobs and wages directly related to the exhibition.

Restaurants, transport companies and retail stores also add to the list of direct beneficiaries of exhibitions. Other non-monetary benefits include an enhanced reputation and also the establishment of a future market for trade and tourism.

The advantages of exhibitions are so many such that in a 2004 management survey, German managers stated that they felt that participating in exhibitions brought much more value to the company than media advertisement (Beier & Dumbock 34).

The reasons given for the high ranking of exhibitions were threefold; first exhibitions enabled their companies introduce new services and products, initiate more sales and finally develop relationships with known and future buyers and suppliers.

While it is quite understandable why managers would consider exhibitions before advertisements, it remains unclear why there is more investment in the latter rather than the former. However, the reason might be the inconsistency of exhibitions and the fact that they are beyond managerial control.

Exhibitions remain high interest events. They bring together important suppliers and buyers unlike in other marketing tools where the information is received by interested and non-interested buyers. This is why they are good targets for new products and increased sales.

There is also the transponding-and-delay effect whereby an organization can still be raking in benefits from attending an exhibition twelve months or more after the closure of the event (Robbe 35). The fact that the producers and retailers get an opportunity to make new contacts and relate face-to-face with consumers makes exhibitions invaluable to both countries and industries.

In addition to the above benefits, exhibitions also have special advantages.

These include; lowering of transaction costs which is achieved by concentrating product and service providers in one location, neutral sales area whereby visitors and exhibitors are able to interact freely without commitments or the harsh competitive climate of routine trade, conditional locational pull where the customer enjoys the benefits of getting products closer to his or her location without ordinary hustles (Rosson & Seringhaus 81) and finally, limited availability where the short duration of exhibitions ensures that there is concentration of various marketing tools such as media coverage, salesmen etc. in one particular area.

This ensures that showcased products receive maximum attention.

Judging from the benefits stated above, it is quite clear why countries may use exhibitions as the best marketing tool for rebranding and reviving industries. An exhibition gives the country an opportunity to present itself to an established clientele which brings about foreign investment (Czinkota & Ronkainen 317).

Where the country hosts the exhibition, it gains immensely through direct foreign exchange earned and indirectly through the promotion of its image and its qualities. Therefore, these events can be useful in rebranding, revival and rejuvenation of a country through trade and tourism.

Conclusion

As seen above, countries can use exhibition events to boost their image for both trade and tourism purposes. This is achieved in three aspects; the product aspect, the distribution aspect and finally, the contract aspect (Christman 5).

The product aspect refers to the presentation of the country’s goods, services and tourist benefits as a distinct product package that is attractive to the attendees of the exhibition. Secondly, the distribution aspect refers to the acquisition of a new market base for the showcased package either for trade or for tourism.

Finally, an exhibition boosts a country’s economy through the contract aspect where interested participants in the exhibition make purchases from the country’s stand, or sign long-term contracts to purchase goods or services from that country.

Works Cited

Anderson, Eleanor. The Expo Story. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1986.Print

Beier, Jörg and Dumbock, Simon. The Role of Exhibitions in the Marketing Mix. UFI Journal, 1 (2005): 1-45

Christman, Christine. The Complete Handbook of Profitable Trade Show Exhibiting. Washington: Prentice Hall, 1991. Print

Czinkota, Michael and Ronkainen, Ilka. International Marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western, 2002. Print

Goldblatt, Joe Jeff. Special Events, 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Print

Kerin, Roger A. and Cron, William. Assessing Trade Show Functions and Performance: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Marketing 51 (1987): 87-94.

Kijewski, Valerie, Eunsang Yoon and Gary Young. How Exhibitors Select Trade Shows. Industrial Marketing Management, 22 (1993): 287-298.

Morrow, Sandra. The Art of the Show, Second Edition. Dallas: Greenwood, 2002. Print

Robbe, Don. Expositions and Trade Shows. Montreal: Wiley, 2000. Print

Rosson, Philip and Seringhaus. F.H.R. Visitor and Exhibitor Interaction at Industrial Trade Fairs. Journal of Business Research, 32(1995): 81-90.

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