On the Effectiveness of Marketing Planning

Abstract

I recently updated my boxscore of studies on the effectiveness of planning (Armstrong 1989). I found seventeen empirical studies that concluded that formal planning led to better performance, four that showed no effect, and three that showed that formal planning produced poorer results. The results from MPNZ do little to change the weight of the evidence. My conclusion from all of the evidence to date is that traditional formal planning produces better results. Some planning procedures, primarily those related to beating the competitors, yield poorer results.

Hopefully, this study will stimulate further research on what planning procedures improve performance. In particular, experimental and laboratory studies should be conducted. These studies, as well as any additional crosssectional studies, should include information on the planning processes, the conditions faced by each firm, and the impact of planning on key stakeholders.

Keywords: marketing planning, formal planning, strategy