The Impact of Crisis Sales Promotions on Branded and Unbranded Toys

This paper presents the research findings of a toys brands sales promotions study conducted in Q4 (4th quarter) of years 2007 and 2009 (preand mid- crisis). The primary research objectives were to determine the impact of economic crisis determinants (such as lowered purchasing power, increased unemployment rates, changed purchasing behavior of consumers) on new years’ toy sales, in particular the impact on known brands’ sales vs. sales of unbranded products. Eight known toys brands promotions sales have been compared to eight unbranded competitive products in different toys subcategories for the two Q4 of year 2007 and 2009. Findings show that although the mean purchase amount had considerably diminished in year 2009, major brands sales were not affected at all.