Marketing communications in processed agricultural products: A case study on Çukurova Region

In this study, it is aimed to examine which level marketing communicating tools the businesses operating in the food industry in Çukurova Region use and whether there is a relationship between business performance and the usage of marketing communication tools and the level consumers are affected by the marketing communication tools. For this purpose a survey was conducted with 92 enterprises in Adana and Mersin which operate in milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, fruit juice industry and 400 households living in Adana provinces determined by sampling. As a result of the survey with enterprises; it was determined that they used the marketing communication tools to increase sales, reduce inventory and so on, even though they aren't mostly aware of the concept of marketing communications and they indicate that they don't practice marketing communication programs. The mostly used tools by the enterprises are personal sales, direct marketing, sales promotions and advertisement. Also, as a result of the analysis, a correlation is determined between the enterprises' usage of marketing communication tools and brand and market performance. As a result of the survey with consumers, it is determined that the sales promotions are the most effective marketing communication tool when buying food products and changing the brand they use. When the consumers mainly buy food products they buy products which they decide in the market. In this case, advertisement, promotion and how natural the content of the product is the most important factors. Also it was determined that while buying different food products, consumers which have different gender, age, education and income levels, have different attitudes to marketing communication tools.