Assessing the Role of Positioning Strategy on Market Performance of Soft Drink Manufacturing Enterprises (SDMES) in Rwanda

Abstract

The study empirically attempts to answer two questions: Does positioning strategy influence market performance? Do resources of a firm have a directional influence on positioning strategy-performance relationship? The sample includes 149 marketing/sales and corporate staff of Urwibutso Enterprises Ltd and Inyange Industries Ltd which are soft drink manufacturing enterprises in Rwanda. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. A multiple and simple regression model was employed to estimate the nature of the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Market share, sales and profitability were applied as comprehensive measures for market performance, and Aaker and Shansby's model was applied as a measure for positioning strategy. Results confirm that a firm's assets and capabilities have a strong and significant association with a firm's positioning decisions and targets. This means that, managers can use resources and capabilities to strengthen an enterprise' positioning strategy decision making function.The study further observes that the 57.5% of variations in performance in these enterprises are largely explained by product quality, Price and cultural symbols (Table 9). Impliedly, if an enterprise emphasises a limited number of positioning dimensions, performance results in terms of Market share, sales and profitability get better.