Perceptions of Turkish construction firms about the marketing concepts

AbstractCompetitive marketing environment requires construction companies to come up with the right strategies to progress. This only becomes possible by preparing rigorous preconstruction feasibility studies. Additionally, the effectiveness of promotion activities of the company is important to acquire a market share which can be realized by having systematic marketing concept. In this study, the perception and application level of marketing concept of construction firms are investigated. The promotion strategies which enable the companies to have systematic applications of marketing concepts in order to compete with other companies in the sector are discussed. To evaluate the marketing attitudes as applied by the companies, a questionnaire was performed with forty nine Turkish construction firms. The perception and application of the marketing are discussed based on the organizational structure and key interest areas of construction companies. The overall result deduced is that the construction companie...


Introduction
Traditionally, production and sales are the two most important tasks of any business. In the past, most of organizers believed that the quality of products or services was the only factor for selling them (Daft 1998). Due to developments in education, advances in technology and increases in society's wealth, customers are looking for the companies which have a mission and give better services. Nowadays, instead of producing something for the sake of production, the needs and tastes of customers are becoming more important. So, the marketing efforts in the production process have taken its due place in contemplating of the tasks. Marketers are interested in customers' demands, develop the services for the customers'

Marketing concept in construction firms
The marketing process in the construction sector is not without problems. The origin of these problems can be pinpointed to seeing the customer as if the customers do not have any knowledgeable and unable to comprehend the processes (Stuart, Slatter 1991). There has been little attention paid to understanding the customer needs and expectations, which are fundamentals of strategic marketing (Huff 1984;Cicmil, Nicholson 1998). Although having an appropriate marketing strategy is the pertinent thing while doing the business, many construction companies do not realize its true worth until it is too late to change.
The managers in the construction sector need to have a realistic model to approach the customers (Smyth 2000;Jaradat et al. 2013). Such a model, however, is only created by using the system theory. According to this approach for the identification of a system, the system's main purpose, boundaries and parts (input, process, output, and feedback features) should be identified first. Besides, knowing the factors that are outside of the system and affect them also plays an important role in the success. The organization's policy, strategic planning, consumers, knowledge about the market, and market opportunities can be considered as the marketing system's inputs. The system process features are marketing research, evaluation, planning, and implementation activities. Outputs of the system are repeats of the previous orders, requests, and new orders. In a study by Polat, Donmez (2010a), an analytic-network-process (ANP) model was developed to aid construction companies in their marketing activities. By using this type of approach, the managers should be able to prioritize and better select the marketing activities.
The 'preliminary studies in construction' consists of the basic services that are submitted by construction companies and aimed to meet customer needs. These include such activities that selection of location and land, preparation of technical specifications of projects, determination of construction cost estimate, and arrangement of contracts. Factors such as, project complexity, conflicting objectives, lack of compatibility, lack of trust and commitment and lack of coherence between the budget and the objectives turn out to influence a co-development strategy. The role played by the key decision-makers (project manager) also influences the success/failure of co-development strategy. The functional interdependence within the project network, its power and knowledge structure and integration of the history of the relationships between its actors provide the framework to analyze this network (Hakansson et al. 1976).
Construction firms that work under the competitive tendering, first determine pricing strategies while they are establishing their marketing strategies. In construction projects, the pricing policies of companies are affected by the firm's capacity to prepare proposals, status of the external factors, and the extent of opportunities which may occur during the project lifetime. Some factors such as the intensity of competition and the size of the project affect the price of the job which is the most important component of the marketing mix (Yisa et al. 1996;Mochtar, Arditi 2001;Skaates et al. 2002;Cova, Salle 2005;Uslay et al. 2006;Crespin-Mazet, Ghamri 2007;Polat, Donmez 2010b). The various changes among the many factors, such as, the structure of the industry, procurement methods, construction processes, client organizations, technology, political and economic environments, related to construction companies' effect these companies' marketing strategies (Yisa et al. 1995;Tang et al. 2007;Arditi et al. 2008;Kajander et al. 2012;Costa, Tavares 2013).
Among the Turkish contractors, the level of marketing orientation is rather low and marketing functions are generally conducted with superficial knowledge about marketing (Dikmen et al. 2005;Demirci et al. 2003;Erdis et al. 2008;Polat, Donmez 2010b). There are misconceptions related with the benefits of marketing perspective and majority of the construction companies do not conduct marketing activities integrated with the rest of the value chain (Hardy, Davies 1983).
The traditional competitive advantages on which most of the construction firms rely, such as technical expertise, historic market connections are rapidly being eroded; so in order to maintain market share, companies should seek different, less traditional competitive advantages such as superior marketing capability (Pettinger 1998).

Materials and methods
In this study, a questionnaire is organized firstly to determine the level of understanding about the marketing perceptions of construction companies in Turkish construction sector as a whole. There is the fact, however, that the construction sector consists of many subsectors and the companies can have different organizational structures. Thus, there is a need to determine the marketing concepts employed by construction firms considering their subsector activity areas, such as residential, commercial and infrastructure construction as well as their organizational structures such as simple, hierarchical, project and network. The analyses results can also provide clues to companies which need to adjust themselves in the construction sector to be more market-oriented. The questionnaire was prepared considering these abovementioned characteristics of the companies.
The survey is conducted by interviewing forty nine Turkish construction firms ranged from middle to large scale. 65% of survey results were obtained by going to construction firms and interviewing senior managers in person. The remaining 35% were acquired via the mail, fax, and e-mail. Having 82% of survey respondents as university graduates and as responsible persons of the companies from within the administrative and technical point (such as, general manager, construction engineers, accounting, marketing, etc.) can be thought to increase the accuracy of survey results. The results, however, reflect only these people's approach on this subject. In order to view and analyze the distribution and variability of the measured data, frequency tables were used. "Likert Scale Method" was used for graded questions.

Evaluation of questionnaire results
Findings of the study consist of assessment and interpretation of survey results. The results are used to determine the level of perception and application of marketing concepts in the construction companies.

Demographics of surveyed companies
The organizational structures of companies are stated as follows: simple organizational structure: 25 (51.0%); functional/hierarchical structure: 11 (22.5%); both product and function based partitioning (project type): 7 (14.3%); and a network consisted of experts in and around headquarter: 6 (12.2%) out of forty nine (100%) companies. According to these, most of the companies have simple and functional/hierarchical organizational structures.
In the simple (classical) organizational structure that is usually used in small projects, activities of a project are performed by the corresponding departments based on their self departmental functions. In the functional or hierarchical structure, the managers of units can establish relations also to some other departments' personnel and command these personnel.
In the matrix type of organizational structures, the personnel who belong to different departments depending on their profession perform project activities under the management and coordination of project manager who is also the sole responsible person for the project, temporarily for the duration of the project. These personnel return to their departments after completion of the project.
To produce a commodity or a service, when two or more companies cooperate for a long period of time, a network type of organization is created.
Companies that have the systematic marketing concepts and also complement or understand each other within the construction sector may use a mixed organizational structure (such as matrix plus network) in today's economic conditions. This organizational structure should be thought to provide positive contribution to marketing mix (product, price, advertising and distribution) by outsourcing and effective use of core components.
Contrarily, having simple and functional/ hierarchical organizational structures for construction companies is a factor that may affect their marketing strategies negatively.
The key interest areas of surveyed companies are found as follows: residential construction: 16 (32.7%); infrastructure: 12 (24.5%); commercial construction: 9 (18.3%); and others: 12 (24.5%) out of forty nine (100%) companies. These represent the firms' main field of activities although during the interview, the companies stated that their interest areas include other construction types as well. In the following analyses, only the three types of activity areas, namely, residential, infrastructure, and commercial constructions are considered.
The survival of construction firms that specializes in housing and has limited capital depends on the newly acquired projects. In Turkey, the increase in national income per capita and 1.3% annual population growth create a need for around 300,000 houses per year (UniCredit 2011). In addition to a number of houses the rising demand for quality houses have changed the perspective of construction companies about marketing.
There are many risks in connection with engineering, construction, financing, and operating the investment projects for companies engaged in the infrastructure works. Despite the risks, the country's medium-term economic growth spurs a demand in this area. Especially the high engineering costs, the lengthy construction time, and overtime in schedules due to technical complexities in energy and infrastructure investment projects are making up the most of these potential risks. To minimize the impact of these risks and to meet the future demand, the industry should put up their own marketing plan and policies.
The construction companies specialized in office and commercial buildings are facing a steady demand in the medium term due to strong economic growth in the country. The number of shopping centers built in the last few years in the retail sector is already indicating this demand. It is expected from these firms to have stable marketing plans and policies because of their business in these conditions.

Companies' marketing perspectives
The marketing perceptions of construction companies are grouped into seven categories: I: Customer satisfaction; II: Provide profit; III: Developing strategies to ensure for selling the product; IV: Customer-oriented product or service creation and pricing; V: Getting a hold in the market; VI: Providing a competitive advantage; VII: Increasing market share; VIII: Advertising the company; IX: Providing an easiness for the coming of new products or tenders.
The answers about construction companies' marketing perspectives are shown in Figure 1. The choices are arranged from the most agreed to the least agreed in the figure based on the calculated average values. The length of whiskers represents one standard deviation from the average. According to the figure, the answers are scattered mostly on choices IV and II. In light of this assessment, the preferences of business managers can be ranked as I > IV > V > III > II > VII > VI > VIII > IX. According to this, managers perceive marketing mainly as delivering customer satisfaction (choice I). After that, creating and pricing product or service oriented for customers are the perceived concepts in marketing (choice IV). The results suggest that managers do not see the marketing as providing easiness for the coming of new products or tenders (choice IX). Figure 2 shows the marketing perspectives of companies according to their key interest areas. According to the figure, there are no big differences between the residential, commercial, or infrastructure firms except in two questions. The answers to two choices, namely, IV (customer-oriented product or service creation and pricing) and II (provide profit) differ. The residential construction companies perceive the marketing as providing profit more than the infrastructure and commercial companies do (choice II). On the other hand, residential companies do not see creating and pricing product or service oriented for customers as marketing to the extent that commercial companies do (choice IV). The differences may be attributed to the necessity of providing long-lasting infrastructure and commercial structures due to the increased customer awareness about quality and worthiness in addition to the high level of competition among the firms.  Figure 3 shows the marketing perspectives of companies according to their organizational structures. Again, the two choices can be focused on to explain their divergence. Providing profit (choice II) as marketing is seen mostly by project type of organizations. Creating and pricing product or service oriented for customers (choice IV) as marketing is agreed on mostly by network type of organizations.

Functions of the marketing department
Some other related data about the firms are as followed: thirteen out of forty companies have a separate marketing department. The number of personnel working in the marketing department ranges from 0 to 12 (12 people; 10 people; 3 people in 5 firms; 2 people in 2 firms; 1 person in 3 firms; and 0 person in 1 firm). Also, in four of these companies with marketing departments, one person in four firms works at other departments of the company as well.
The professions of these people are as follows: 32% engineers; 11% architect; 47% business managers; and 11% other. The organizational structure of the marketing department of a company can vary according to the company. The observations made during the survey showed that companies with a simple and functional/hierarchical organizational structure consist of one or two marketing employees, and organizations with project and network have dozens of marketing employees on staff. On the whole, putting an organizational structure helps all employees of the company to understand what the role of each person is in the marketing department.
Construction companies are asked about what the main functions or activities of marketing department should primarily be. The opinions are grouped as follows: I: Developing policies which will improve the public image of the company; II: Bringing out the advertisement process of company; III: Creating a new customer profile; IV: Preparing for bidding; V: Investigating the conditions of competition; VI: Determining the needs of customers; VII: Supporting to increase or sustain the profitability of the company.
Considering the distribution of values in Figure 4, preferences of business managers can be arranged as I > V > VI > III > VII > IV > II from the most to the least agreed on. In other words, company managers see that improving policies to increase the company's public image as the most important function of a marketing department (choice I). Other important functions as judged by the respondents are investigation of the conditions of competition (choice V) and activities for determining customer requests (choice VI). Managers expresses that preparation of a tender (choice IV) and bringing out the advertisement process of company (choice II) are the least important activities of a marketing department. Figure 5 shows the perceived functions of marketing department according to key interest area of companies. From the figure, it can be seen that mostly the perceptions of commercial companies differ from the other types of companies in many choices. For example, investigating the conditions of competition (choice V) as a function of marketing seems to be more important for commercial construction companies. Conversely, improving policies to increase the company's public image (choice I) as a marketing function is seen to be less important for commercial construction companies. The varying perspectives of these construction firms with different main activity areas may be attributed to confusion about differing long-term economic growth forecasts within and among those sectors. Figure 6 shows the perceived functions of marketing department according to the organizational structures of companies. Again, the companies with project and network type of organization are not agreed on many choices. For example, on choices I, V, VI, and III the project and network type of organizations have almost opposite views.

Internal and external business factors which affect marketing process
Managers are asked about the business practices occur in and outside of their decision circle as listed in Table 1 and   Table 1, the following about the internal factors that affect marketing processes can be said: Managers mention that insufficiency of information networks (X ao = 3.98), the financial power of the own business (X ao = 3.96), and adequacy of the number of employees (X ao = 3.92) as the most important internal business factors affecting marketing activities.
An ANOVA analysis was performed between each pair of choices for the internal factors. The results are given in Table 1. According to the results in Table 1, choice I is clearly different from other choices. Additionally, the rest of the choices can be grouped into two different groups based on the p-values from the ANOVA analysis as follows: the first group includes IV, III, and VII; and the second group consists of V, II, and VI.
According to the analysis, managers do not consider the marketing process as the waste of time and money although the marketing activities which are done properly require extensive time and financial undertaking (X ao = 2.08). In the interviews, managers said that the marketing processes involve a comprehensive data collection and analysis activities, therefore qualified manpower and financial abilities are needed. Figure 7 shows the significance of internal business factors in marketing activities attributed by managers according to the main field of activities of companies. According to the figure, managers from the infrastructure companies responded higher significance values in all factors opposite to the opinions of managers from the residential companies. Figure 8 shows the significance of internal business factors related to organizational structure. It stands out that the network type of organizations place more significance values on internal business factors than other types of organizations do.
The responses of managers about the effects of external business factors on marketing processes are summarized in Table 2. According to the statistical values in Table 2, the following can be said: 1) Managers see the most important external business factors are (i) influencing economy and bureaucracy by political power; ever-changing government policies (X ao = 3.61); (ii) constant and rapid change of the industry's marketing environment (X ao = 3.22); (iii) decreased purchasing power of people as a result of deterioration in income distribution (X ao = 3.12); and (iv) administrative differences and practices of companies and of professional groups located in the sector (X ao = 3.06).   2) Cultural differences of companies and of professional groups located in the sector is not seen as an important external business factor on average (X ao = 1.94).
The external business factors affecting the marketing activities are statistically analyzed. For each pair of factors a one-way ANOVA analysis is performed and resulted p-values are presented in Table 2. According to the p-values, clearly choice I is different from other choices. Whereas, other choices can be said to form two groups such as, group one consists of choices V, II, and III and group two including only choice IV. Figure 9 shows the external business factors as seen to be important in marketing processes related to the key interest areas of companies. From the figure, it can be said that the companies whose main field of activity is infrastructure put more importance on external If the internal and external business factors are evaluated together, it can be said that all companies see the internal business factors more important than the external business factors since the averages in internal business factors concentrates around the value of four compared to the averages in external business factors which concentrates less than the value of four. Figure 10 shows the external business factors effective in marketing processes according to the organization types of companies. Similar to Figure 8, the network type of organizations place more importance on all external business factors.

How the marketing activities are performed
In the survey, the managers are also asked about the marketing activities done in their companies. The responses are summarized in Table 3. The results in Table 3 show that these companies have plans for marketing even though the companies' organizational structures may not be suitable. Along with this, the respondents mention that they adopt mainly the policies regarding to establish a market share. These findings reveal that these construction companies do not have an integral and systematic approach for marketing strategies.
Managers who said that they do not have written marketing plans give existence of rapidly changing environment, taking time and money to prepare such a plan and hence seeing the plan preparation as a wasteful activity, and considering a written plan as not practical as results. Nonetheless, they also say that there is an unofficial marketing plan which usually has been prepared by shareholders or managers. It is said that the progresses regarding this unofficial plan is monitored by keeping specific and weekly reports through the regular meetings. The reasons for not having any strategy to develop a written marketing plan can be the presently existing customers and the confidence in their current approach.
The managers stated that they were inquiring about the whole job by evaluating the output performances and providing feedback activities. They, however, did not specify the extent of these feedback activities. Figures 11 and 12 show the marketing activities fulfilled in the companies separated in to their key interest areas and separated in to their organization structures, respectively. The biggest discrepancies are seen in choices VIII (do you do market-oriented technical and scientific assessments?) and V (do you study the market opportunities?) in Figure 11. In both questions, commercial construction companies have given more positive responses than the residential construction companies have done. In general, residential companies responded less positively to questions, which may mean that they spend fewer efforts about marketing activities. Also, according to Figure 12, network type of organizations gave more positive answers to questions compared to hierarchical type of organizations. Since the commercial construction sector is affected by the economy growth/decline rate more than the residential construction sector does, the commercial construction firms undertake technical and scientific assessments (such as, SWOT analysis) to evaluate market opportunities. Meanwhile, due to high demand in residential construction sector, according to the Figure 11, the firms in this sector do not seem to be implementing many marketing activities, such as design, procurement, advertisement, and etc.

What kind of efforts are spent in promotion process
In the survey, the managers are asked about the promotion activities done in their companies. The responses are summarized in Table 4.
According to Table 4, an appropriate advertisement and presentation is seen to be required in promotion process in marketing activities. Figure 13 shows the efforts spent in promotion activities related to the main field of activity of companies. According to the figure, commercial construction companies place more emphasis on promotion activities while the residential construction companies put the least emphasis on related activities.   Figure 14 shows the percentage of positive answers to questions about the promotion activities related to the organizations structures of companies. The biggest discrepancy is seen on question V (does the marketing process require different activities?).

Conclusions
The continuous increase in competition, changes of customer demands, and opening up new markets force companies to pay more attention to marketing and advertising efforts. The companies also need to devote more time for systematic and planned marketing approaches to Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 2015, 21(3): 423-440 reach their specific company objectives along with the developed strategies. Nowadays, time, cost, and quality requirements become compelling elements of market pressure especially at big and medium sized companies. These issues turn the companies' focus on self-development of these matters and search various innovations in internal organizational and functional configurations of their own companies. Today, having the marketing department in the organizational structure of particularly large companies has become a necessity for competition.
The overall result deduced from this study is that the construction companies do not have a systematic approach to marketing. The companies have adopted primarily the approaches to keep their current places in the sector and to marketing with the experiences and the knowledge about existing practices. The survey results indicate that construction companies do not take on seriously the systematic marketing because of these factors; (a) situated in an environment that has constant and rapid changes; (b) requiring the marketing process more time and financial commitments; (c) having clients already; and (d) believing that their current approaches are good and adequate. The perception and application of the marketing are discussed based on the organizational structure and key interest areas of construction companies. The opinions about the different aspects of marketing vary on the construction companies depending on their actively involved fields and their organizational structures. Starting from this point on, in future studies, a model which helps to implement a systematic marketing approach for the construction companies will be prepared.