African Journal of Marketing Management Vol. 3(1) pp.

6-13, January 2011

Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/AJMM
ISSN 2141-2421 ©2011 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Impediments to barter trading: Analysis of practitioners

and non-practitioners perceptions
Mercy Mpinganjira1* and Portia Oliver2
1
Department of Marketing Management, University of Johannesburg, P. O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg,
South Africa.
2
Department of Business Management, University of Johannesburg, P. O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg,
South Africa.
Accepted 26 December, 2010

This paper imperially investigates impediments to barter trading in domestic market environment using
a sample of firms from the media industry in South Africa. Data was collected from a total of 70 firms,
61 of whom indicated that they practiced barter trade while 9 were non-practitioners. A structured
questionnaire was the main instrument used to collect the data. The questionnaire was designed after a
review of literature and conducting in-depth interviews with some media practitioners conversant with
barter trade. The results show that barter trade is a common practice among firms in the South African
media industry. On the difficulties associated with barter trade, it was found that there are many factors
that can act as impediments to barter trading and that in general non-practitioners perceive more
impediments to barter trading than practitioners. The results further show that although practitioners
can in general be said to perceive few impediments to barter trading, there are wide variations on how
different firms perceive the impediments with some regarding many of them as important impediments
to their barter trading activities and others disagreeing. The results have significant practical
implications on the management of barter trade and these have been highlighted in the paper.

Key words: Barter trade, impediments, media industry, South Africa, barter trade practitioners, barter trade
non-practitioners.

INTRODUCTION

In his 1776 Wealth of Nations report, Adam Smith (2005) observed that there has actually been a
described barter trade as primitive, crude and unrefined resurgence of barter trade in both domestic and
system of exchange (Kaikati, 1976). Barter trade is international trade since the early 1990’s. Davis (2009) as
however still being practiced today in both developed and well as Carlin et al. (1999) observed that the persistence
developing countries. The Universal Barter Group (2008) of barter trade is like a puzzle to some economists.
reported that in 2004, 30% of the world’s total business The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate
was conducted on non cash basis; 65% of all businesses barter trade within a domestic market. Unlike international
listed on the New York Exchange and one third of all barter trade which takes place between traders located in
small businesses in the US were involved in barter different countries, domestic barter trade takes place
trading. Despite lack of reliable up to date statistics on between traders located with the same market.
barter trading, the Small Business Association (2008) as
well as the International Reciprocal Trade Association
(IRTA) (2009) reported that there are enough indications Research problem and objectives
to show that barter trade is growing by the year. Cresti
Although barter trade as a business practice has been
growing, the growth has not been matched by growing
research interest in the practice. This is particularly so
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mmpinganjira@uj.ac.za. Tel: with barter trade within domestic markets. Most of what is
+(27) 11 559 1421. Fax: + (27) 11 559 1477 written on the subject is not based on empirical
 Mpinganjira and Oliver 7

investigations. The few empirical studies available on African media industry, (b) establish the difficulties
domestic barter trade are mainly based on studies done commonly associated with barter trading, (c) investigate if
in the USA, UK and Australia during the 1980’s and there are differences in perceived difficulties between
1990’s. Furthermore, business literature on barter trade barter trade practitioners and non-practitioners different
in general tends to concentrate more on its benefits, with sizes and (d) discuss the possible implications of the
little attention given to the difficulties and factors that findings to the management of this trade.
would discourage companies from using it. Literature
from the barter industry itself tends to list the many
benefits associated with barter trade without mentioning Literature review
the difficulties that firms may encounter in its use. Such
information may be good in serving as promotional The 2006 edition of Collins English Dictionary defines
material for the industry but for companies interested in barter trade as ‘trading goods, services etc in exchange
barter trading knowledge of the difficulties that may be for other goods, services etc rather than money’. In its
encountered is also of high importance. Such knowledge pure form, barter trade involves the direct exchange of
can help firms be more pro-active in their barter trading goods and/or services between two or more trading
activities so as to avoid the potential difficulties thereby partners without the exchange of money. Hennart (1990)
improve on their chances of reaping more of the benefits observed that barter trade has changed over the years
associated with barter trading. with newer forms commonly referred to as countertrade,
This paper aims at contributing to literature on barter characterised by variations of conditions and agree-
trade by investigating the use of barter trade within a ments. In this paper, barter trade is defined as any form
domestic market environment and understanding its of trade in which full or partial payment for goods and/or
associated difficulties. A sample of firms drawn from the services is made using other goods and/or services.
South African media industry was used in the study. The According to literature as highlighted in the introduction,
media industry was chosen due to the fact that in many barter trade is growing worldwide by the year. A number
countries, domestic barter trading is said to be highly of factors may help explain the growth in barter trade
prevalent in this industry. Barter News (2009) noted that experienced over the past two decades. They include
media is commonly used as the major ‘currency’ in the factors related to developments in information technology
barter market place. South Africa is Africa’s largest as well as the general business environment in which
economy and has the biggest and most diverse media firms have to operate. Technological advances in
industry on the continent (World Advertising Research computers and the advent of the internet in particular has
Centre, 2008). The industry is broadly subdivided into made matching of needs much more easily today than
print media (newspaper and magazines), broadcasting was the case before (Stodder, 2000). The primary reason
(radio and television), outdoor and ‘other’ media. The why barter trade is traditionally associated with high
outdoor media encompasses outdoor displays such as levels of inefficiencies is because of the need for double
billboards, adverting and notices on bus shelters and coincidence of wants from the parties involved. In
vehicles including busses. The ‘other’ media category traditional barter, a prospective seller of cloth looking for
includes online media and use of cinemas to reach the corn needed to find not just a seller of corn but one
public. Sales of advertising time and space are a major looking for cloth at that particular point in time. Through
source of revenue for firms in the South Africa media use of internet, a firm can make its products available to
industry. Media Facts (2009) reported that the total potential barter customers all over the country and even
above-the-line-advertising was at R24.6 billion in 2008. the world making it easy to find interested customers.
This is advertising that reached a wide spectrum of the Developments in information technology have also
population and is channelled through advertising resulted in growth of the barter trade industry especially
agencies. R10 billion of the 2008 advertising revenue third party organizations specializing in mediating
went to television sector, R 9.3 billion to the print sector, between individuals and/or organisations in their barter
the radio sector got R3.3 billion while the remainder went exchanges. The barter brokers often help eliminate the
to the other media sectors. Competition for advertising need for double coincidence of wants, as many of them
revenue is considered to be very stiff in the industry. It is offer trade credits that can be redeemed at a later date
not uncommon for firms to have unfilled advertising time (Orme, 2004).
or space. Additionally, media space and time is highly Apart from developments in information technology, the
‘perishable’ in that it cannot be regained once the time to general business environment that most businesses are
be used lapses. Barter trade has the potential to help operating in is characterised by increasing turbulence
firms prevent loss of revenue from unsold media space resulting often from growing competition among firms
as media companies can exchange their unsold space for and/or unstable economic conditions. Difficult business
other valuable products and services to their firms. environments require more creativity on the part of
The specific objectives of the paper are to (a) managers in order to keep their organisations going if not
investigate how widely used barter trade is in the South thriving. Bazar (2008) noted that barter trade is one such
8 Afr. J. Mark. Manage.

tool firms use in order to deal with difficult economic and and Palia (1999) found that this can also prove difficult. In
business times. Egan and Shipley (1996) observed that their study on international countertrade practices among
strong latent demand often exists during difficult Australian firms, they found that the number one difficulty
economic times only that it is often not satisfied as need sited by counter traders was to do with the difficulty of
to purchase is not matched with ability to pay. Through reselling goods offered by customers. The fact that some
use of barter trade, firms are able to facilitate payments firms may accept products with the intention of reselling
without the need for cash. Apart from helping during them can also be a disadvantage in that the barter
difficult economic times, barter trade has also been found partners can now become competitors since they will be
to be a strategic tool that firms can use in order to drive offering similar goods to the market.
greater efficiencies and deliver ongoing financial and In order to deal with the demands of barter trade, some
marketing benefits irrespective of economic conditions. firms make use of the services of barter brokers. As
Some of the benefits commonly associated with barter trade noted before, barter brokers can help in facilitating the
include the fact that it helps conserve cash thereby matching of needs between firms as well as eliminate the
improving on cash flow; generate incremental sales and need for double coincidence of needs by offering trade
profits; enhance productivity through increased capacity credits that can be redeemed at a later date. Barter
utilisation; dispose unsold/excess inventory without brokers however charge for their services and Knes
having to discount heavily to normal cash paying (2007) observed that the charges can often be exorbitant,
customers thus maintaining present product price thus diminishing the potential profits from barter trading.
integrity as well as establishing and building long term Problems may also arise in that it may become difficult to
business relationships based on trust (International redeem accumulated trade credits due to continued
Reciprocal Trade Association, 2009b; Ference, 2009; unavailability of products of interest to an organisation.
Cellarius, 2000). As barter trade involves exchanging goods for other
Lithen (2002) noted that barter can indeed be a good goods, it has the potential to negatively impact on the
deal for companies, but only if they enter it with their eyes cash flow of a company if not well managed. Statov
wide open to the full spectrum of pitfalls and oppor- (1996) cautioned that organisations needs to be wary of
tunities. A review of literature on domestic barter trade accepting disproportionate amount of barter business
activities shows that there are many factors that can compared to cash business as they still have expenses
impede on the use of barter trade. Common difficulties that needs to be paid for in cash such as salaries. Barter
range from those associated with negotiations and trade can also be a threat to the value of organisations
administrative requirements; product quality and disposal; products. Lee (2004) noted that most companies are
use of intermediaries as well as with the impact of barter often not willing to go public about their barter dealings as
trade on the financial side of the business. this can negatively impact on the perceived value of their
Ference (2009) observed that barter trade, unlike products. The fact that barter trade is often associated
monetary transactions, is characterised by protracted with inventory that is proving difficult to sell for cash, open
negotiations before an agreement can be reached. While acknowledgement of the existence of such inventory in a
this gives an opportunity for the parties involved of company can greatly reduce the bargaining power of its
knowing each other better, the negotiations can be too sales people. Liesch and Palia (1999) found that
time consuming depriving the staff involved of time for ‘problems with pricing’ are very common among firms
other business activities. Additional administrative staff involved in countertrade. This may be due to difficulties in
may thus be required to not only negotiate but also to assigning monetary value to goods and/or services being
monitor, enforce and control the terms of barter deals. offered for exchange.
Vendig (2003) as well as Mardak (2002) noted that From the review of literature, it is clear that despite its
barter trade often results from excess or ‘distressed’ many associated benefits, there are many potential diffi-
inventory that is proving difficult to sell through normal culties associated with barter trade which may prevent
cash channels. Barter trade can thus be used by firms from engaging in it or optimally reaping its benefits.
companies to offload low-quality products. Verifying the
quality of products offered may sometimes be difficult due
to among other factors lack of knowledge or expertise in RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
a particular product category. It would for example be
As not much empirical research has been conducted in the field of
difficult for a person to verify the quality of software barter trade particularly within domestic markets, a multi-method
program without the necessary information technology skills. research design was used in the study. The first phase consisted of
Neale et al. (1992) cautioned that firms need to be qualitative exploratory research in the form of in-depth interviews
more discerning in the selection of goods receivable. In with five executives from the media industry conversant with barter
their study on countertrade practices among UK firms, trading issues. The objective was to get their perspective on the
use of barter trade in the South African media industry as well as its
they found that the number one difficulty was to do with associated benefits, difficulties and management practices. The
firms having no ‘in-house use’ for goods offered. Firms current paper focuses on the difficulties of barter trading.
may however accept goods that they do not have ‘in . Convenience sampling method was used to identify the executives
house use’ of with the intention of reselling them. Liesch with the main criteria being demonstrated knowledge and practical
 Mpinganjira and Oliver 9

Table 1. Involvement in barter trade by firm size.

Sector/sub-sector Practitioners Sector/sub-sector % Non-practitioners Sector/sub-sector % All firms Overall %

Newspaper 18 90 2 20 20 28.6
Magazine 11 91.7 1 8.3 12 17.1
Television 8 100 0 0 8 11.4
Radio 18 78.3 5 21.7 23 32.9
Outdoor 6 85.7 1 14.3 7 10.0
Total 61 87.1 9 12.9 70 100

experience with this type of trade in the media industry. African media industry as 61 of the 70 respondents
From the findings in the in-depth interviews as well as review of indicated using it. This represents 87.1% usage rate. The
literature, a structured questionnaire was developed for the
quantitative phase of the study. A draft questionnaire was first
results also show that the practice is common across all
developed and pre-tested on a convenience sample of 15 respon- media sectors/subsectors with three of the five sectors/
dents from the media industry before coming up with the final subsectors showing that 90% and over of their firms
version. The main reason for pre-testing the draft questionnaire was included in the sample engaged in the practice. None of
to find out if the questions used were easily understood by the the five sectors/subsectors had less than 75% of its firms
respondents. The respondents were also asked to indicate any involved in barter trading. The findings agree with
further questions that they would like to see investigated in the
study or suggest question modifications if deemed necessary. The
BarterNews (2009:1) observation that barter trade is very
findings during the pre-testing stage showed that no major changes common in the media industry in most countries. The
to the questionnaire were necessary. After pre-testing the draft perishable nature of media space/time makes barter
questionnaire, a final version was developed taking into account the trade a good option to consider as it can help a media
comments received in the pre-testing stage. company convert its unfilled advertising time and/or
The final questionnaire was electronically mailed to a total
space into products, services or reciprocal advertising
sample of 120 organisations from the broadcasting, print and
outdoor sectors of the media industry in South Africa. Stratified time and/or space that they might otherwise have to pay
random sampling was used to select the firms from a sampling for.
frame consisting of a total of 197 firms. The sampling frame used in Table 2 present findings relating to perceived difficulties
the study was developed using media organisations listings by of barter trade. Both practitioners and non-practitioners
South African Government Communication and Information were asked to indicate the extent to which they regarded
Systems (GCIS), Media Contact Directory, the Magazine Publishers
Association of South Africa (MPASA), and the Out of Home Media
a number of factors as important difficulties associated
South Africa (OHMSA) members. Stratification was based on the with barter trade. The perceptions were measured using
media sector/subsector firms come from and included television, a five point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree
radio, newspaper, magazines and the outdoor sector. The firms in (5 = strongly agree). The results in Table 2 include mean
the sample were identified at strategic business unit level and not at values on each of the difficulty investigated for barter
corporate level as the media listings used had the firms at strategic trade practitioners, non-practitioners and all firms
business unit level.
The electronic mail containing an attachment of the structured
respectively.
questionnaire was e-mailed to the contact personnel in each of the Since mean values have been used in presenting the
identified firms. The e-mail contained information introducing the results, all mean values of 1 or to the nearest of 1 mean
study and a request that the questionnaire be passed on to the strong disagreement, those of 2 or to the nearest of 2
senior person responsible for barter trade in their organisation or mean disagreement while those of 3 or to the nearest of
the marketing manager in the case where there was no such
3 indicated a neutral position. Mean values of 4 or the
person. The e-mails were followed up with telephone calls for the
purposes of finding out if the questionnaires had been received and nearest of 4 mean agreement while those of 5 or to the
passed on to the appropriate person. Contact details of the nearest of 5 mean strong agreement. Note that the
responding employee were solicited with the intention of making means in the all firms column have been presented
future follow ups. according to rank with the factors having the highest
At end of the data collection process, a total of 70 usable mean on top.
responses were obtained representing a total response rate of
58%. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social
According to Table 2, results in the ‘all firms’ column
Science (SPSS) version 18. show that firms regarded only 3 out of the 18 difficulties
investigated as important difficulties of barter trading.
These included the fact that barter trade could lead to
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION mismanagement and fraud within the company if proper
controls are not put in place; the fact that inability to fully
Table 1 gives some background statistics of the control delivery of products/services provided by third
respondents focusing on a number of practitioners and parties may impact negatively on the image of the com-
non-practitioners by media sector/subsector. The results pany as well as the difficulty associated with fluctuating
show that barter trade is a common practice in the South value of goods as trading arrangements extend over a
 10 Afr. J. Mark. Manage.

Table 2. Mean values – perceived difficulties of barter trading.

Std Non- Std All Std

Practitioners
deviation practitioners deviation firms deviation
Barter could lead to mismanagement and fraud
within the company if proper controls are not 4.15 1.09 4.56 0.53 4.20 1.04
put in place

Inability to fully control delivery of

products/services provided by third parties may 3.52 1.18 4.00 0.00 3.59 1.11
impact negatively on the image of the company

Fluctuating value of goods because of trading

3.38 1.08 4.00 0.00 3.46 1.03
arrangements extend over a long period of time

Problems redeeming accumulated trade credits

3.21 1.04 4.11 0.33 3.33 1.02
within the stipulated time period

Diminished working capital flow therefore

3.38 1.04 4.00 0.50 3.29 0.99
limiting financial resources available to the firm

Time consuming negotiations 3.15 1.01 4.00 0.87 3.26 1.38

High brokerage costs when using agents 3.18 1.42 3.67 0.97 3.24 1.03

Product quality not conforming to specifications

3.10 1.12 4.11 0.33 3.23 1.11
promised during negotiations

Uncertainty in projecting the profitability of any

3.13 1.09 3.56 0.73 3.19 1.05
given transaction

High administrative burden associated with

3.07 1.11 3.89 0.78 3.17 1.10
barter trade

Barter trade is a threat to the company's money

3.05 0.97 3.78 0.67 3.14 0.97
paying customer base

Difficulties in determining the monetary value of

3.03 1.17 3.11 1.05 3.04 1.15
goods offered/received in barter

Barter trade can devalue a company's products 2.92 1.12 3.78 0.44 3.03 1.11
Unscrupulous middlemen who misrepresent
2.89 1.21 3.22 1.12 2.93 1.20
goods on offer

Customers become competitors when they

2.82 0.91 2.78 0.97 2.81 0.91
trade products offered in barter to other parties

The difficulty of inspecting the quality of goods

2.70 1.05 3.56 0.88 2.81 1.07
offered in barter

Difficulties in finding in-house use for goods

2.44 0.90 2.78 0.83 2.49 0.90
received/offered through barter trade

Difficulties finding suitable markets for goods

2.38 1.00 2.67 1.42 2.41 0.86
offered

0.53
Difficulties - overall 3.09 0.53 3.62 0.28 3.16
 Mpinganjira and Oliver 11

long period of time. These three factors had mean values summated average of the 18 factors. The results on
of 4.20, 3.59 and 3.46, respectively. The results show ‘overall difficulties’ showed that non-practitioners overall
that firms were neutral on all the other factors except one. average was 3.62 while that of practitioners was 3.09.
They disagreed that difficulties in finding suitable markets From the results of practitioners and non-practitioners,
for goods offered was an important difficulty of barter it can be seen that the high neutral values of practitioners
trade. This factor had an overall mean value of 2.41 while contributed a lot to having high neutral means values on
the others had mean value to the nearest of 3. This may most factors when all firms were considered together. A
be due to firms mostly accepting goods and/or services further analysis was conducted on the results of
that they have in house use of. This point actually came practitioners to find out why most of the factors come out
up during the in-depth interviews, with the executives with neutral mean values. This was done by examining
noting that companies are more likely to accept products the distribution of answers along the 5 points of the Likert
and/or services they have internal use for. This is mostly scale. The analysis involved calculating the percentage of
because unlike in other countries notably the developed firms who indicated strong agreement or agreement with
countries of USA, UK and Australia where they have a the factors followed by those who were neutral and those
well developed barter trade exchange or brokerage who indicated agreement or strong agreement. Table 3
system, the industry in South Africa is not all that well presents the results of the analysis.
developed. Most of the barter exchanges would thus be According to Table 3, the only factor to which most of
at a one to one level with very little use made of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed to as being an
dedicated barter brokers although advertising agents important difficulty to barter trade was the fact that barter
would sometimes play the middleman role. trade could lead to mismanagement and fraud within the
Analysis of the difficulties at group level showed that company if proper controls are not put in place. 80.3% of
both practitioners and non-practitioners regarded the fact the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this
that barter trade could lead to mismanagement and fraud statement, 8.2% were neutral while 11.5% disagreed or
within the company if proper controls are not put in place, strongly disagreed.
the most important difficulty associated with barter trade. Five other factors, making it 6 out of the 18 had levels
There were however wide variations in the perceptions of of agreement/strong agreement or disagreement/strong
practitioners and non-practitioners regarding most of the disagreement of over 50%. 54.1% of the firms agreed/
difficulties investigated. According to the results in Table strongly agreed to two of the five factors being important
2, practitioners regarded only two factors as important difficulties to barter trade. These included the fact that
difficulties associated with barter trade. These included inability to fully control delivery of products/services
the fact that barter trade could lead to mismanagement provided by third parties may impact negatively on the
and fraud within the company if proper controls are not image of the company and the problem of fluctuating
put in place as well as the fact that inability to fully control value of goods because of trading arrangements
delivery of products/services provided by third parties extending over a long period of time. The percentage
may impact negatively on the image of the company. levels of disagreement and strong disagreements were
These two factors had mean values of 4.15 and 3.52, greater than 50% for difficulties relating to finding suitable
respectively. The practitioners were neutral on all other markets for goods offered; finding in-house use for goods
factors except two to which they disagreed. These received/offered through barter trade and the difficulty of
included difficulties in finding in-house use for goods inspecting the quality of goods offered in barter. The
received/offered through barter trade and difficulties in three factors had 62.3, 60.7 and 52.5% of the firms
finding suitable markets for goods offered. These two disagreeing or strongly disagreeing to them being
factors had mean values of 2.44 and 2.38, respectively. important factors to barter trade.
The non-practitioners on the other hand regarded 13 of Of the 14 factors that had neutral mean values, the
the 18 factors as important difficulties associated with results according to Table 3 show that only two factors
barter trade and were neutral on the remaining 5 factors. namely diminished working capital flow therefore limiting
This means that they did not disagree with any of the 18 financial resources available to the firm and unscrupulous
factors being important difficulties associated with barter middlemen who misrepresent goods on offer, had indeed
trade. The results also show that non-practitioners unlike more firms percentage wise who were neutral than the
practitioners not only regarded many factors as important none-neutral ones. This shows that most of the factors
impediments to barter trade but for each of the factors with neutral mean values on the part of practitioners were
except one, namely that customers become competitors due to divergent perceptions with some firms agreeing to
when they trade products offered in barter to other the factors being important difficulties of barter trading
parties; their mean values were higher than those of while many others regarding the same factors as not
practitioners. This means that non-practitioners regarded important difficulties of barter trading. This being the
the difficulties as in general of greater magnitude than the case, it is also important to note that on 11 of the 18
practitioners. This is further supported by overall factors, there was higher percentage of firms agreeing or
perception of difficulties which was calculated as a strongly agreeing to them being important difficulties to
12 Afr. J. Mark. Manage.

Table 3. Difficulties of barter trading – further analysis of practitioners perceptions.

Practitioners
SDA/DA Neutral A/SA
Mean
% % %
Barter could lead to mismanagement and fraud within the company if proper
11.5 8.2 80.3 4.15
controls are not put in place

Inability to fully control delivery of products/services provided by thirds parties may 26.2 19.7 54.1 3.52
impact negatively on the image of the company

Fluctuating value of goods because of trading arrangements extend over a long

26.2 19.7 54.1 3.38
period of time

34.4 16.4 49.2 3.21

Problems redeeming accumulated trade credits within the stipulated time period

Diminished working capital flow therefore limiting financial resources available to 18.0 50.8 31.2 3.38
the firm
Time consuming negotiations 34.4 16.4 49.2 3.15

37.7 19.7 42.6 3.18

High brokerage costs when using agents

37.7 19.7 42.6 3.10

Product quality not conforming to specifications promised during negotiations

32.8 31.1 36.1 3.13

Uncertainty in projecting the profitability of any given transaction

36.1 23.0 41.0 3.07

High administrative burden associated with barter trade

37.7 21.3 41.0 3.05

Barter trade is a threat to the company's money paying customer base

47.5 9.8 42.6 3.03

Difficulties in determining the monetary value of goods offered/received in barter

41.0 23.0 36.0 2.92

Barter trade can devalue a company's products

37.7 41.0 21.3 2.89

Unscrupulous middlemen who misrepresent goods on offer

Customers become competitors when they trade products offered in barter to other 41.0 36.0 33.0 2.82
parties

52.5 16.4 31.1 2.70

The difficulty of inspecting the quality of goods offered in barter

60.7 23.0 16.4 2.44

Difficulties in finding in-house use for goods received/offered through barter trade

62.3 26.2 11.5 2.38

Difficulties finding suitable markets for goods offered
*SDA = Strongly disagree; DA = Disagree; A = Agree; SA = Strongly agree.

barter trade than those that disagreed or strongly barter trade is a very common practice among firms in the
disagreed South African media Industry. Its practice cuts across all the
media sectors and subsectors. The high prevalence rate
of barter trade in the industry offers opportunities for firms
CONCLUSIONS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS facing monetary constraints in their efforts of promoting
their products in the market to consider doing some of
From the results of this study, it can be concluded that their business using barter trade. Such firms will need to
 Mpinganjira and Oliver 13

find out the kind of products or services they can offer to barter trade in other industries. This would allow for
media organisations in exchange for promotional space comparisons to be made and industry specific factors
and/or time. The high prevalence rate is also a vote of relevant to understanding barter trade uncovered thereby
confidence in the many possible benefits firms can derive further enhancing our understanding of the practice.
from this practice. Instead of completely losing out on
sales or heavily discounting advertising space and/or
time which are often the case when supply exceeds REFERENCES
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