Award Date

1-1-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

Audrey C. McCool

Number of Pages

136

Abstract

Inventory control has been a challenge to wholesale firms since inventory can be easily affected by numerous operational, social, cultural, and environmental factors. Besides, marketing related factors create uncertainty as to the levels of the product demands, and that uncertainty makes inventory forecasting much more difficult and forces wholesalers to estimate the impacts of the potentially influential factors. Hence, an understanding of the factors affecting inventory levels is the primary goal of this study; Utilizing historical inventory data and other marketing related information provided by an Asian wholesale corporation, the researcher estimated the effect of promotion on product sales and replenishments with considerations of the wholesale environment and cultural influences. Several theories were applied in this study in order to explain demand fluctuation, and these theories acted as guidelines for the study. Nine research hypotheses were tested in this study to investigate the effects of the marketing related factors. Multivariate analyses, post-hoc univariate F tests, and multiple linear regressions were then performed to elicit reliable results; Results of the study indicated that product attributes, such as brands, items, price, and package sizes, are the main factors affecting buyers' purchase decision. However, types of promotion were found to have no significant impact on either sales or orders in the same month when products were promoted. Lagged effects of promotion were observed two and three months after promotional events ended. In lag two, a significant difference was found in orders only, which indicated that a wholesale firm expected to have increased sales after implementing those promotion strategies. Sales of the new products introduced in the events did significantly increase in lag three. In the Asian culture, buyers are trying to avoid uncertainty. Hence, the response time to a new product by increasing purchasing volumes might be longer; Promotion is the strategy used to stimulate sales. However, in this study, the effect of promotion was not significant enough to be used as an indicating factor of inventory prediction. Hence, future research might want to find out how a wholesaler can apply promotion strategies effectively to stimulate buyers' purchase intentions and increase sales, as well as profits.

Keywords

Asian; Asian Culture; Corporation; Forecasting; Impact; Inventory; Marketing; Promotion; Wholesale; Wholesale Corporation

Controlled Subject

Marketing; Management

File Format

pdf

File Size

3788.8 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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