The concept of strategic control in marketing management in connection to measuring marketing performance

Abstract

This study deals with the issue of marketing control (the function that ties together the process of marketing management). More directly, we aim to provide a scientific reflection on the model presentation of the strategic level of such control. We present the views discussed in the literature on marketing control, which can be treated as its model conceptual and structural solutions. The main objective of the study was to define key factors in individual areas (the market area, the area of the customer’s value, the financial area) that are connected to business activities and show their interconnection. We further analyzed the relevance of marketing and business activities in connection to performance evaluation in three areas: market, customer, and financial performance. The empirical evidence of the study came from quantitative, firm-level data gathered through an email questionnaire, which yielded 708 qualified responses from companies in the Czech Republic. The analysis employed factor analysis on the way to identify the key marketing indicators supporting corporate strategy marketing in specific areas. Furthermore, Pearson’s chi-square test was used to find possible dependencies between observed factors. According to the obtained results and the application of the chosen statistic methods, we identified seven factors of which five factors were acceptable. For these five factors, we identified seven statistical dependencies. The obtained results show that companies primarily use financial indicators to monitor and check their activities in the marketing area. The usage of financial indicators in connection to the marketing area is based mainly on the traditional approach of companies in the measuring process. The whole control mechanism in the company requires continuous control of all corporate activities, with relevant changes in implementation, and a comparison of obtained results to competitors or a company’s results in previous years.This study deals with the issue of marketing control (the function that ties together the process of marketing management). More directly, we aim to provide a scientific reflection on the model presentation of the strategic level of such control. We present the views discussed in the literature on marketing control, which can be treated as its model conceptual and structural solutions. The main objective of the study was to define key factors in individual areas (the market area, the area of the customer’s value, the financial area) that are connected to business activities and show their interconnection. We further analyzed the relevance of marketing and business activities in connection to performance evaluation in three areas: market, customer, and financial performance. The empirical evidence of the study came from quantitative, firm-level data gathered through an email questionnaire, which yielded 708 qualified responses from companies in the Czech Republic. The analysis employed factor analysis on the way to identify the key marketing indicators supporting corporate strategy marketing in specific areas. Furthermore, Pearson’s chi-square test was used to find possible dependencies between observed factors. According to the obtained results and the application of the chosen statistic methods, we identified seven factors of which five factors were acceptable. For these five factors, we identified seven statistical dependencies. The obtained results show that companies primarily use financial indicators to monitor and check their activities in the marketing area. The usage of financial indicators in connection to the marketing area is based mainly on the traditional approach of companies in the measuring process. The whole control mechanism in the company requires continuous control of all corporate activities, with relevant changes in implementation, and a comparison of obtained results to competitors or a company’s results in previous years.