Abstract:

The aim of this article is to identify customers' perceived usefulness of offline communication tools when searching for SMEs. The aim of this paper is to help clarify the impact the selected offline communication tools have when reaching target audiences of SMEs. The basic set for the purpose of the survey is the population of the Eastern part of Slovakia. 1055 respondents were addressed, and it was possible to include 987 respondents' answers based on the criterion of completeness of the completed questionnaires. The aim was to identify the attitudes and preferences of respondents in relation to traditional (offline) forms of marketing communication focusing on SMEs. Specifically, we focused on offline communication tools such as Advertising newspapers, Advertising billboards, Advertising leaflets, TV advertising, Radio advertising, and last but not least, an advertisement in the Daily press was analysed. Data collection was conducted through simple random sampling in October and November 2016. To verify the hypotheses we used the software StatSoft STATISTICA. Due to the nature of the analysed variables we used correlation analysis. Based on research findings, it can be noted that a total of 27.56% of respondents prefer traditional offline communication tools to get information about SMEs. Given the existence of a statistically significant dependence on the impact of online communication tools when searching for SMEs, the strongest dependency identified for Advertising leaflets and Advertising newspapers. The weakest dependency was identified in the case of Billboards. The research results are intended to assist SMEs in deciding on the strategic direction of their marketing communications.