Title: Eco-Based Product Strategies and Marketing Performance of Quoted Food and Beverage Companies in Nigeria
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between eco-based product strategies and marketing performance in Nigeria, focusing on quoted firms in the food and beverage industry using both primary and secondary data. The study also considers the role of technology as a moderator between eco-based product strategies and marketing performance. Market share and profitability are used as proxies for marketing performance while eco-product packaging and eco-product labeling both serve as the study independent variables. The two main independent variables and the moderator variable all are measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from very low extent to very high extent. On the contrary, the data on both market share and profitability cover a period from 2012 to 2016 and are obtained from the annual reports of the 14 sampled companies. Our results show that eco-product packaging and eco-product labeling, both have a positive relationship with market share but have a negative relationship with profitability. However, in either direction, the magnitude of the influence of eco-product labeling is much higher than that of eco-product packaging. Our results also suggest that technology plays an offsetting role in the relationship between eco-based product strategies and market share but plays an enhancing role in the relationship between eco-based product strategies and profitability. Our main conclusion therefore, is that there is a trade-off between market share and profitability objectives anchored on eco-based product strategies.