Marketing communication and traditional sales strategies_ a case study of traditional medicine sellers on commercial vehicles

Abstract

The phenomenon of hawking traditional medicines on commercial buses is rampant in Ghana, notwithstanding its ban by regulatory authorities. This study examined the marketing communication strategies used by traditional medicine vendors to sell their wares to passengers in commercial vehicles. The study collected data using qualitative approach involving in-depth interviews and participant observations of five traditional medicine vendors. These vendors were selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The study found that traditional medicine sellers employ both ethical and unethical communication strategies in persuading passengers in commercial vehicles to purchase their products. Some of the ethical communication strategies they employed include identification techniques such as starting every sales encounter with prayers and/or comedy; sales promotions; and direct marketing. These strategies were aimed at building rapport with consumers, establishing trust, enhancing the credibility of the products being sold, and deflection of any suspicions or doubts consumers may have about the product. The unethical communication strategies adopted by the vendors to sell their products included propaganda techniques such as exaggerations, embellishments, half-truths and misrepresentations in relation to the efficacy of the medicines. These questionable promotional themes emphasised exaggerated efficacy, cheap price and other melodramatic claims, and overstate the benefits to be derived from using the medicines. The study, therefore, recommends that government and industry stakeholders, especially the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Ghana Federation of Traditional Healers Association (GFTHA) and others must train these vendors in ethical communication about the efficacy and dosage of traditional medicines, so as to reduce any negative consequences on the general public health.