Marketing Communications and Environmental Turbulence: A Complexity Theory View

Abstract

This paper investigates how the choice of different marketing communications activities is influenced by the nature of the company's external environment, when viewing the environment through a complexity theory lens. A qualitative, case method, using depth interviews, investigated the marketing communications activities in four companies in order to identify the promotional activities adopted in more successful firms in turbulent and stable environments. The results showed that the more successful company, in a turbulent market, subtly uses some destabilizing promotional activities but also makes use of some stabilizing promotional activities. This paper is of benefit by emphasizing a new way to consider promotional activities in companies.

The Influence of the Level of Environmental Complexity and Turbulence on the Choice of Marketing Tactics

“…The results have highlighted that destabilising marketing tactics are important in complex/turbulent environments, and since most respondents from most industries saw their environments as more or less complex and turbulent (rather than simple and stable), such destabilising tactics would be important to all marketers. However, stabilising tactics should not be neglected, as they are also seen as having some importance -they help to avoid disruption of the firm's own relationships with loyal customers and build and maintain sound customer relationships and maintain customer loyalty (Mason, 2014).…”