Abstract

Sulait Tumwine1*, Charles Omagor1 and Agaba Gershom2

The aim of this study is to investigate factors that influence newspaper copy sales and their impact on financial performance of print media companies. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that was physically distributed to newspaper readers and managers during 2011 and 2012. The questionnaires were filled by 694 newspapers readers and 16 managers of print media companies. The results show that when print media want to boost their financial performance, it is important to improve the content of a newspaper and then appropriate cover price, select the distribution channel that reaches the readers easily and choosing the brand values that trigger the buyers to buy. Competition and technological advancement and promotions do not improve financial performance. Generally, cover price, newspaper content, branding and distribution account for 56.6% of the variation in financial performance of the print media companies in Uganda. A single research methodological approach was used in this study. Multiple respondents in a firm were studied, neglecting other key stakeholders such as vendors. Finally, a regression analysis for all the constructs was undertaken; each construct needed its own regression. In order to boost financial performance, managers in print media companies should improve on product offers, insertions and update news in a copy to match any increase in price, take into account economic conditions and readers purchasing power, staple/make a copy difficult to be opened or read by a person before buying and adopt the fastest distribution channel. This is the first paper that focuses on the factors that influences newspaper copy sales and their effect on financial performance in Uganda`s print media.