Center for Exhibition Industry Research
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Using Trade Shows Throughout the
Product Life Cycle
T
rade shows are an excellent place to introduce new
products. Newer products add life and vitality to
trade shows and they keep interest alive for attendees
looking for the most current and exciting products on the
market. But what do you do with a mature product being
sold to the same old market? Do trade shows lose their
effectiveness when compared with other forms of
promotion?
First, it is essential to understand what the product life
cycle is and its various stages.
The Product Life Cycle
and Stages
The product life cycle typically consists of four stages:
introduction, growth, maturity and decline. In the
introductory stage, primary demand for the product is
just starting to grow and the product is stilI unfamiliar to
potential users. During the growth stage, technology and
the competitive structure of the market is changing and
long-term market share leadership is still up for grabs.
Most products are in the maturity stage, during which
they are familiar to most prospective buyers. When
weaker competitors begin to exit and sales decrease, the
product enters the decline stage.
Traditionally, marketers have been urged to invest heavily
in promotional vehicles like trade shows early in the life
cycle of a product. Conventional wisdom holds that
advertising is the most
effective means of promotion
in the latter stages of the
product life cycle. Recently,
however, these tried and true
ideas have been challenged.
Fragmentation of advertising
media, downsizing, relationships-based marketing and
other trends have weakened the power of advertising
during the maturity phase. Meanwhile, trends toward
relationship marketing and purchasing have made
personal contacts more important. Because of these
trends, the role of trade shows across the life cycle may
differ in practice from conventional wisdom. This
research, commissioned by the Trade Show Bureau and
conducted by Baylor University’s Center for Professional
Selling, examines the potential effectiveness of trade
shows across all phases of the product life cycle.
Trade Show Objectives
The first set of questions dealt with the effectiveness of
shows in achieving certain objectives across the life cycle.
Specifically the question asked to what degree trade
shows work in each stage of the product life cycle. Trade
shows should work best in the early stages of the product
life cycle; however, after examining the results across life
cycle stages and objectives, we find that corporate exhibit
managers believe otherwise.
Product Life Cycle and
Show Objectives
The sample was divided into four groups depending on
what stage of the life cycle their primary product was in.
Most companies have products in each of the four stages
so they are able to evaluate the
effectiveness of shows in each
stage of the life cycle. Many
exhibit managers whose
primary product was in the
decline stage reported that
trade shows work well
in developing secondary
markets, finding new
applications for their product
and recruiting distributors.
They reported that shows did not work well in the decline
stage in generating leads and only moderately well for
obtaining sales in the decline stage. For all other
objectives and stages, their perceptions of show
effectiveness were equivalent to exhibit managers whose
primary product was in an earlier stage. These results lead
us to the conclusion that shows work equally well
regardless of what stage a company’s product is in.
It appears that trade shows are used primarily in the early
stages of the product life cycle as a means of promotion
while in the latter stages they are used as selling tools.
Yet, even though shows are seen as more effective
for generating leads and product awareness in the
introductory stage, the importance of trade shows
for these purposes should not be restricted to the
introduction. Other objectives for exhibiting at trade
shows, such as image building and establishing a
presence, are shown to be accomplished in all stages of
the product life cycle. The perception that trade shows
are useful only in the early life of a product is not accurate
because each phase of the product life cycle benefits from
trade show participation.
managers. to first rate the importance of each objective,
then indicate the stage of the product life cycle in which
the particular measure would be used.
The most frequently used show performance measure is
the number of qualified leads and the least is the number
of freebies given away. The cost per product demonstration
was also rated unimportant, a somewhat surprising
finding since the number of demonstrations is an
important measure of trade show performance.
Product Life Cycle and
Performance
The results tell us that, for the most part, organizations
use trade shows to achieve the same objectives regardless
of the stage of product life cycle for their primary
product. However, two significant differences do exist:
Trade Show Performance
› Volume of literature passed out is not important in the
introduction stage but grows in importance over the life
cycle.
› Attitude of booth visitors is very important in the
introduction stage but declines in importance over the
product life cycle.
By examining how trade show performance is measured
and in which stages those measures are used, we can
understand exhibit managers’ perceptions of how trade
shows should be used across the product life cycle.
Twenty-seven measures of trade show performance were
generated by reviewing previous Trade Show Bureau
studies and through in-depth interviews with corporate
exhibit managers. The survey asked corporate exhibit
The top six measures overall are the number of qualified
leads, performance of booth personnel, booth traffic,
sales obtained, number of customer requests for
additional information and attitude of visitors to the
booth. Number of qualified leads was the most
important objective among users across all stages except
decline, in which it was second. Booth traffic was second
and third in each stage, and performance of booth
personnel was in the top three across all stages. Most
corporate exhibit managers reported that their primary
product was in the maturity stage, with growth being the
second most reported category.
Product Life Cycle and
Pre-Show Promotion
The importance of pre-show promotion varies across the
stages of the product life cycle. It is most important in the
introductory stage and drops in importance from thereto
the growth and maturity stages. Another drop occurs
from the maturity to the decline stage.
Personal invitations are the most commonly used
pre-show promotion. Blanket direct mail, advertising
and publicity are used most during the introduction
stage. Pre-show promotions are used primarily to
announce new products and new programs at the booth
during the introduction stage and to invite customers
and prospects during the growth and maturity stages.
During the decline stage, pre-show promotions are
used to announce new programs. These differences
may explain the varied media used in pre-show
promotions across stages.
Booth Staffing Practices
Companies whose primary product is in the introduction
phase are more likely to staff the booth with marketing
personnel (3l% compared to about 20% for all other
stages). This finding is consistent with the earlier finding
that promotion objectives appeared to be more important
in the introduction stage. It is interesting to note that
there is a significant increase in sales personnel for ‘
companies in the decline stage, in which nearly 80% of
the booth staff are from sales.
Lower management is more likely to be employed by
companies in the introduction and decline stages (40 and
41% respectively) while middle management generally is
involved in the growth and maturity stages (49 and 53%
respectively). The companies in the decline stage are most
likely to use top management in the booth (32%
compared to 18% for the others).
OveralI, about 20% of the booth staff is top management,
48% is middle and 32% is lower management.
Post-Show Follow-Ups
Based on Trade Show Bureau literature and interviews
with corporate exhibit managers and marketing
executives, eight potential follow-up actions were listed.
The primary follow-up technique is a telephone call
by the account representative, regardless of life cycle
stage. Differences do occur, however, across stages for
other follow-up actions. Both tracking leads all the way
to the sale and getting feedback on lead quality are used
more frequently in the introduction stage. During the
decline stage, telemarketing is used most frequently and
mailing brochures is rarely used.
In a number of instances, the follow-up action was not
known by the respondent because it is the function of
another department in more cases than not. This is
particularly true in the growth and decline stages.
Importance and Use of
Performance Measures
Exhibit managers who feel that a performance measure
is important show a much greater tendency to use that
measure in evaluating shows than do their counterparts
who feel that the performance measure is much less
important. This relationship holds true for all stages of
the product life cycle.
Conclusions
Trade Show Bureau research indicates that seeing new
products and solutions is a main objective of attendees at
trade shows. These results also indicate, however, that
trade shows are effective in achieving a wide range of
goals across all stages of the product life cycle. This means
that factors other than the stage of the product life cycle
are more likely to influence trade show success. The
primary finding of this study, though, is that trade shows
work, no matter what stage the product is in.
About the Study
Approximately 1750 exhibit managers and 1300
marketing executives were randomly surveyed, resulting
in 217 and 250 responses respectively. Subjects were
surveyed from six different industries:
› Computer/High Tech
› Food and Beverage
› Gift and Apparel
› Hospitality/Service
› Medical
› Manufacturing
Trade Show Bureau gratefully acknowledges the following
organizations for providing mailing lists: Healthcare
Convention & Exhibitors Association, Food Marketing
Institute, Exhibitor Times and Business Marketing.
The study was commissioned by the Trade Show Bureau
and conducted by Dr. Jeff Tanner and Dr. Larry Chonko
of Baylor University’s Center for Professional Selling.