The Effect of Promotional Mix On Sales Performance Of Insurance Companies: The Case of Private Insurance Companies in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Promotional mix element on sale the performance of private insurance companies in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia. The study adopted a descriptive and causal research design. Target population was 119 respondents comprising of 73 staff (marketing and finance department) and 46(agents/broker from selected Insurance companies. Stratified proportionate random sampling technique was used to select the sample. From each stratum the study used simple random technique to select 92 respondents. Primary data was collected from sample respondents through questionnaires using both open and closed ended questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics included such as mean, percentage, frequency and standard deviation were used to describe the characteristics of the variables. Multivariate regression model was used to determine the relative importance of each of the five variables with respect to sale performance. The study findings indicate that direct marketing, personal selling and publicity strategies implemented by the insurance companies affect company’s sale performance significantly in a positive manner. Sales promotion had a positive statistical insignificant effect on sales performance. However, the study found that there was a statistically negative insignificant effect of advertising on sales performance. The study recommended that insurance companies must continue to exploit opportunities exist with direct marketing, personal selling and publicity strategies more in order to achieve better sale performance. It further recommends that study should be done in understanding the effect of advertising and sales promotion activities in depth in order to enhance their contribution to sale performance of insurance companies.