ASSESSMENT OF MARKETING STATUS IN ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICES IN INDIA

Abstract

In last couple of decades, the functioning of architectural firms has witnessed tremendous changes. Spurred by the internationalization trend in the architectural practices throughout the world, many of the firms have started using business concepts previously avoided by the firms. Professional bodies across the globe have relaxed the norms related to promotion and marketing of architectural services. Evidently, architectural professional firms have begun to practice marketing concepts to posit their firms in the widely expanding and competitive marketplace. However, there exist little known studies on `what architects do to promote their services'. The present study focuses on Indian architectural firms and attempts to determine the current promotional and marketing efforts of the architectural practices in India. It also seeks to investigate about the causes of absence or presence, as the case may be, of marketing within the practices in the country. The study is based on a primary research process of data collection through survey administration. The data is analysed using both descriptive and empirical research techniques. The findings revealed that trapping business through marketing activities exists in the architectural firms in India. Firms consciously indulge in a few below-the-line marketing activities and obliviously using other prominent marketing tools to promote their services. Further, the awareness level of respondents on the basic marketing terminology is found to be low. However, there exists a general optimism towards the importance of marketing for the positioning and strengthening of the firms in the highly competitive market-place. Furthermore, the respondents displayed a great zeal of enthusiasm towards recognising the concept of marketing as a distinct business activity inevitable in architectural practices. The findings also suggested that unclear professional guidelines related to promotion activities act as a major attitudinal barrier towards practicing marketing as a legitimate activity. The findings suggest that there has to be a greater role of marketing functions within the architectural firms to expand business. Also, there is need to integrate marketing knowledge within the academic curriculum to enable the entrepreneurs and young professionals in promoting business activities to sustain their practices.