A Literature Review Generalizing About Trade Show

Effectiveness for Corporate Exhibitors

Dr. Robert Beland
Tiffany Stearns Chacon
University of Florida
July 2010

Abstract

This literature review seeks to discuss the research that has been
conducted regarding trade shows and their effectiveness for corporate exhibitors.
This study will explore the benefits and features of trade shows as well as the
negative aspects that companies face when they participate in trade shows and
exhibitions. This review attempts to give a clearer picture of the state of the trade
show industry from the viewpoint of the exhibitor. The pieces reviewed include
journal articles, trade show industry research done by organizations such as the
Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), articles published by exhibit
houses, books, journal articles and presentations done by industry experts and
professionals. The results of this literature review showed that trade shows are a
cost effective means of locating a companys target market, presenting their
products to that target market and moving toward closing sales with buyers
within their target market. Additionally, the literature review found that show
selection, measuring return on investment and pre-show/post-show efforts will
assist corporate exhibitors in having more effective, efficient trade shows.
Introduction
For the last several decades, trade shows and exhibitions have been a
primary tool for most companies as a means to reach out to retail stores as well
as consumers. For the purposes of this review, trade shows will be defined as
business-to-business events where manufacturers (corporate exhibitors) gather
to meet with corporate attendees in order to build relationships with those
corporations so that the attendees will purchase the products or services from
the manufacturers. For example, at the Natural Products Expo West, over 2,000

manufacturers of products such as Emergen-C, Muscle Milk or Gatorade will

have booths so that the attendees (executives from retail stores such as GNC,
Vitamin Shoppe and Walgreens) will visit their respective booths and hopefully
start purchasing their products. Some companies will exhibit in as many as 400
trade shows a year. In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of trade shows in the
United States and Canada grew from about 3,000 shows a year to over 4,000
trade shows a year. The Trade Show Bureau reported that the number of
attendees grew from 60 million to 85 million and the number of exhibiting
companies grew from 1 million to 1.3 million (1994). Konikow effectively captures
the sentiment toward trade shows during this time:
On the roles trade shows can play and the importance of trade shows to
marketing programs in general, researchers have been unanimous: trade
shows, if properly planned, can be an integral part of a companys
marketing communications program in the way they convey the desired
messages to prospects through graphic displays, trained booth staff, have
products and/or service demonstrated, have brochures and collateral
support materials, etc. (Konikow 1983).
Today there are over 13,000 trade shows in the U.S. and Canada in
approximately 2,000 venues. The amount of exhibitors, however, has stayed
about the same: 1.5 million (CEIR, 2009). Due to the recession, many companies
have begun to scale back their trade show involvement. Many organizations and
companies desire to have a measurable return on investment when they
participate in any marketing activity. While trade shows can be a good tool for

organizations to use, it is difficult to measure return on investment and return on

objectives for these events.
Figure 1 shows the results of surveys and research conducted by CEIR in
2009 regarding the number of exhibitors, attendees and the revenue of trade
shows for the last several years.

Figure 1: Attendance of exhibitions overall in 2000-2008

The results of this literature review will allow for a better understanding of
the state of the trade show industry. The review will show the factors that improve
effectiveness of trade shows for corporate exhibitors. After summarizing the key
points of these pieces of literature, an analysis of the factors affecting trade show
effectiveness will be conducted.

As the literature is reviewed, there will be several main markers that will
be analyzed for trade show effectiveness:

Show Selection
Return on investment (ROI)
Return on objectives (ROO)
Cost of trade shows
Exhibit Design
Trade Show Staff
Pre-show/Post-show efforts

These markers were chosen based on the emphasis of the literature

reviewed. If a marker was mentioned in several of the pieces of reviewed
literature, the marker was included in this review.
Show Selection
In order to look at the effectiveness of a trade show, exhibitors must
determine where to locate their target audience. The purpose of a trade show for
exhibitors is to interact with potential customers. A trade show can only be
effective and efficient for a company if their target audience is present and
prepared to purchase their products or services.
Despite the recession, trade show attendee quality is high. More than 93%
of attendees authorize or approve purchases for their companies and more than
70% are in professional or managerial positions at their companies (Weisgal,
2009). In order to take advantage of trade show attendee quality, exhibitors must
select their trade shows effectively. Kerin and Cron (1987) found that trade show
selection is crucial to the success of the trade show and that a well-selected
show will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a trade show for a
company.

When selecting trade shows to participate in, companies have to

determine whether they will take part in vertical or horizontal trade shows.
Vertical trade shows are shows that are very specified, such as trade shows for
resveratrol (a specific antioxidant health supplement) suppliers whereas
horizontal trade shows are broader, such as trade shows for health supplement
companies. Skyline and Tradeshow Weeks industry analysis shows that 39% of
exhibitors rate having more success at smaller regional shows and 37% rate
having more success at big national shows whereas 13% of exhibitors rated
having success at vertical market shows and only 4% rated having success at
their own private events (2009).
However, another study reported that exhibitors attract more of their target
audience if they participate in vertical shows rather than horizontal shows. The
same study showed that attendees intending to purchase locate exhibitors easier
at smaller, regional shows (Dekimpe et al, 1997). Kerin and Cron (1987) and
Heifen Fu et al (2007) also found that exhibitors choosing between horizontal and
vertical shows found that horizontal shows bring a less satisfactory outcome
compared to vertical shows.
Exhibitors surveyed shared that the biggest way they are cutting their
budgets is by show selection (Skyline & Tradeshow Week, 2009). Rather than
participating in all of the shows companies have participated in previously,
companies are selecting their shows more carefully in order to have increased
success at the shows they attend.
Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) can be defined as the gain or loss from the
money invested in various efforts (in this case, trade shows) that drive sales
(Lorimer, 2005). In order to calculate ROI for trade shows, you divide the gross
sales dollars resulting from the trade show by the cost of the trade show.
CEIR research has shown that 64.2% of exhibitors want to generate leads
at trade shows and 42% want to sell their products or services (2009). What this
means is that some companies will attempt to measure ROI by sales at trade
shows whereas other companies will attempt to measure ROI by sales from
leads when the trade show is completed.
While exhibitors surveyed most often selected awareness as their
justification for trade show attendance, exhibitors that justified their trade show
attendance with sales were more likely to see an increase in their trade show
budget (Skyline & Tradeshow Week, 2009). Therefore, if exhibitors put more of
an emphasis on measuring their ROI, they will get a positive response. In an
analysis of the trade show industry conducted by Skyline Exhibits and Tradeshow
Week, exhibitors surveyed showed that only 40% measured the results of the
trade shows they attended based on their return on investment (2009).
The CEO of CEIR, Douglas Ducate admits that measuring return on
investment for trade shows is a challenge (Orlando CAB Meeting, 2009). While it
is clear that sales can be a tangible return on investment, companies can gather
hundreds of leads at a single trade show some leads will not purchase at all
whereas other leads will purchase large quantities of products in months to come
after the show. However, it is still necessary for companies to attempt to measure

the return on investment at trade shows. There are other ways of calculating ROI
in addition to using gross sales. Jane Lorimer (2005) lists the following three
ways of calculating ROI:

Estimating ROI from collected sales leads

Projecting ROI from distributor recruitment

Projecting ROI from sales conversions

When estimating ROI from collected sales leads, Lorimer suggests

knowing the average number of qualified sales it takes a company to present to
possible buyers and how many of these potential buyers will actually buy. After a
company knows this data, the company will be able to calculate an average close
ratio.
Calculating ROI from distributor recruitment is similar in principle to
estimating ROI from collected sales leads. The formula is as follows:

Number of dealers (or sales reps) recruited x Average annual revenue per
dealer (or new sales rep) = Potential gross sales for this objective.
Potential gross sales Cost of the Event = Estimated ROI (Lorimer, 2005).

For calculating ROI from sales conversions, Lorimer suggests conducting

a sales conversion study via telephone or email and utilizing professionals with
experience in conducting these studies (2005).
Return on Objectives
One way of measuring trade show effectiveness is by measuring return on
objectives (ROO). In several studies conducted by many researchers, objective
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setting has been proven to be an important and vital precursor to successful

trade show performance (Cavanaugh 1976; Bellizzi and Lipps 1984;
Gopalakrishina and Lilien 1995).
An analysis of trade show exhibitors showed that the primary guidelines
used to measure trade show results by exhibitors are as follows:

Lead counts: 58%

Sales revenue generated: 44%
Return on Investment (ROI): 40%
Client contacts: 40%
Booth traffic: 40%
Brand awareness: 26% (Skyline and Tradeshow Week, 2009)

When measuring ROO, exhibitors will take these guidelines and compare
their actual results to the objectives that they set.
CEIR conducted a survey among sales and marketing managers across
all industries that participated in trade shows and asked, Annually, how many
people visit your trade show displays? The average response was over 20,000
visitors annually (2009). Another CEIR survey showed that 81.9% of exhibiting
companies attend trade show because they want to brand their company or
present a positive company image (2009). Trade shows allow for that kind of
branding: face-to-face interactions with an average of 20,000 people a year can
positively affect brand image in the minds of retailers and consumers alike.
Cost of Trade Shows
Exhibitors surveyed showed that those who have cut their budgets greatly
outnumber those who are increasing their budgets by 4 to 1 (Skyline and
Tradeshow Week, 2009). The same survey showed that the average change in
the exhibit budget for 2009 is -9.2%.
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Despite the decline in trade show participation in the last couple of years,
Browning and Adams found that when you compare the average cost of a sales
call versus the cost of a face-to-face interaction with a customer at a trade show,
the cost per customer of the trade show was much less than the sales call
(1988). In 2009, CEIR found that the cost to simply identify a potential customer
without an exhibit lead is $443 per customer whereas the cost of identifying a
potential customer with an exhibit lead is $96. This cost includes exhibit
construction, storage and transportation, exhibit space, salesperson salary, travel
and entertainment (CEIR, 2009). The same study showed that the cost of an
initial face-to-face interaction or appointment with a prospective customer would
cost an organization $1,039 without an exhibit lead and only $96 with an exhibit
lead (CEIR, 2009).
A similar study by CEIR showed the cost of closing a sale with an
exhibition lead and without an exhibition lead. The cost of closing a sale with an
exhibition lead was $2,188, whereas the cost of closing a sale without an
exhibition lead was $3,102 (CEIR, 2009). Additionally, the average number of
field sales calls to close a sale with an exhibition lead was 3 or fewer versus
closing a sale without an exhibition lead took more than 3 field sales calls (CEIR,
2009).
Exhibit Design
One of the most important physical elements of a trade show for an
exhibitor is the exhibit design. Exhibitors as a whole seem to place importance on
the size of the booth space: 47% of exhibitors surveyed showed that they would

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rather cut shows than booth size (Skyline & Tradeshow Week, 2009). In the
cross-national study conducted by Dekimpe et al, exhibitors have a better chance
of attracting their target market if they have a larger booth space (1997).
In an analysis conducted in 2006-2009 by Skyline Exhibits & Tradeshow
Week, exhibitors surveyed showed that exhibitors budgets for exhibit
refurbishment/design/replacement increased every year in 2006-2008 but in
2009, exhibitors saw a decrease in their exhibit design budgets. One survey
question asked exhibitors, How serious is the issue of rising exhibition and event
costs (excluding travel and lodging related costs) to your organization? 50% of
exhibitors surveyed responded that the issue was very serious/critical. 46%
responded that the issue was moderately serious.
The same group of exhibitors said that the following changes improved
their trade show results:

Graphics:
o Brighter
o Clear/straight to the point
o Simple/less clutter
Changing booth layout:
o More open space
o More entry points
o Less clutter
o Greater focus on specific products (Skyline & Tradeshow Week,
2009)
As budgets decrease, the trade show industry has seen a decrease in

custom exhibit designs and an increase in hybrid custom or custom modular

designs where pieces of the booth are custom and other pieces are not
custom. 67% of exhibitors who moved from custom exhibits to hybrid custom

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designs reported that their exhibits had a similar impact. 27% of exhibitors
reported that the hybrid custom exhibit had a greater impact than the custom
design and only 7% of exhibitors felt that the previous custom design had a
greater impact (Skyline & Tradeshow Week, 2008).
Trade Show Staff
According to Gopalakrishna and Lilien, the amount of salespeople at a
trade show booth should have a positive impact on the amount of potential
customers contacted (1995).
In a cross-national study on the effectiveness of trade shows, Dekimpe et
al confirmed that companies will attract a higher percentage of their target market
when they increase their booth staff per square foot (1997).
An industry analysis by Skyline Exhibits and Trade Show Week showed
that over half of the exhibitors surveyed confirmed that salespeople make the
best trade show staffers (2009). The same survey indicated that exhibitors get
better results from their booth staffers when they have improved personnel
selection and clearly communicate to the staffers their goals prior to the show.
Heifen Fu et al found that half of exhibitors surveyed had not provided any
form of training for their trade show staff and the exhibitors that did provide
training did not provide formal training (2007).
Pre-Show/Post-Show Efforts
In the previously mentioned cross-national study conducted by Dekimpe et
al, the researchers found that organizations will attract their target audience more
if they spend more time and money on pre-show efforts than those organizations

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that do not (1997). Bellizzi and Lipps found that pre-and-post-show efforts are
vital in making a well-designed exhibit space pay off (1984).
Exhibitors surveyed said that their primary pre-show efforts included direct
mail and email blasts (Skyline Exhibits & Tradeshow Week, 2009).
Heifen Fu et al found that exhibitors considered pre-show activities as more
effective in trade show success than pre-show promotion (2007). Pre-show
promotion would be considered efforts such as mailers, e-mail blasts and
telephone calls to attendees. The exhibitors listed pre-show activities as
including:

Analyze product features; and define target market

Discover economic and cultural traits of the geographic and

demographic target markets

Analyze trade shows characteristics (e.g. audience quantity and

quality) for right selection

Make a detailed plan for participation in a trade show
Budget for participating in a trade show
Translate names of the company, products and brochure into
the popular language of the target market (Heifun Fu et al,
2007)
Analysis

Show Selection
Show selection is an important part of measuring trade show
effectiveness. Exhibitors need to exhibit at trade shows where the attendees are
potential customers. In many ways, show selection, ROI and ROO go hand-inhand. As exhibitors focus in on measuring ROI and ROO, there will be a natural
progression toward exhibiting at fewer shows but those few shows will be the
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most efficient and effective shows for the exhibitor. So instead of a company
attending 400 trade shows a year, a company might attend 200 trade shows but
spend more money at those 200 trade shows so that they can have a bigger
impact where it matters.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Measuring ROI is critical to trade show effectiveness for exhibitors.
Previously, ROI was not emphasized because awareness at trade shows was
considered more important than ROI. However, due to the recession, every
marketing expenditure must have a tangible justification that can be proven
through hard data. Awareness is no longer an acceptable justification for most
companies to participate in trade shows. Instead, companies need to measure
ROI in order to justify their participation in trade shows.
If exhibitors put more emphasis on ROI, they will see more of a return on
their investments. As was noted previously, the exhibitors that closely measured
ROI for the trade shows they participated in saw an increase in their budgets. As
exhibitors put more of an emphasis on ROI, they will exhibit at fewer shows but
they will participate at the shows where they get the biggest return on their
investments. As a result, those exhibitors budgets will increase and we will see
more money channeled into fewer shows rather than money evenly disbursed
between many shows.
Return on Objectives (ROO)
In many ways, measuring return on objectives can be less tangible and
more difficult than measuring ROI since an objective can be anything from

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gathering 100 leads with name, address, phone number and buying authority to
raising brand awareness.
The key to measuring ROO is by setting objectives that can actually be
measured. For example, rather than setting the objective of raising brand
awareness, a company could set the objective of having a face-to-face
conversation with 500 trade show attendees regarding our company.
While ROO has been emphasized in the past by companies justifying
trade show attendance with raising brand awareness, measuring ROO can be a
great tool for corporate exhibitors to rate their trade show effectiveness.
Measuring ROO can be a particularly effective tool for shows that do not have as
much of an emphasis on sales or events that do not have a sales aspect at all.
Cost of Trade Shows
Based on the cost of trade shows versus the cost of field sales calls, it is
clear that trade shows are a more effective tool for finding potential customers,
interacting with those customers and either closing sales or moving toward
closing sales. Combined with other forms of measurement, the cost of trade
shows can be made more effective, making the trade show expenditure an
effective and efficient spend.
Exhibit Design
As previously discussed, exhibitors will attract their target audience more if
their exhibit space is larger. If exhibitors attend fewer shows, they will have more
money to put toward the shows they do attend in order to expand their booth
space, thus attracting more potential customers.

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Also, as a result of decreasing exhibit budgets, the trend toward hybrid

custom exhibits has increased. If exhibitors take advantage of this trend, it can
increase their efficiency and effectiveness by decreasing their budget.
By making changes to exhibitors booth designs having lighter, simpler
designs with more space exhibitors can spend less money, energy and time
and therefore increase their effectiveness at trade shows.
Trade Show Staff
The benefits of carefully selecting trade show staff and training those staff
members are clear. Well-trained booth staff will attract exhibitors target audience
better than staff that have not been trained. Trained trade show staff members
will compliment other areas of trade show effectiveness measurement such as
trade show costs and ROO. A highly trained staff member with clear objectives in
mind will more than likely be more effective and efficient than two or three staff
members that have not been trained and that do not know the corporations
objectives and goals for the trade show. Therefore, if a company selects their
trade show staff carefully and effectively as well as trains their staff members,
this will increase the trade show revenues and decrease the trade show
expenditures.
Additionally, trained booth staffers who have clear goals and objectives in
mind for a particular trade show will do a better job of meeting those objectives
and goals, thus increasing the effectiveness of the trade show for the corporate
exhibitor.

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Pre-Show/Post-Show Efforts
There is clear evidence that pre-show and post-show efforts can increase
trade show effectiveness for corporate exhibitors. When exhibitors participate in
pre-show efforts, it increase their trade show effectiveness by doing the following:

Prepare and train trade show staff

Set objectives and goals
Research the best solutions for exhibit design, shipping, electric,

travel and accommodations

Reach out to potential customers who will be attending the trade
show and set up appointments before the trade show

When exhibitors participate in pre-show efforts, it allows them to utilize

their time and budget more efficiently and effectively. Likewise, with post-show
efforts, it is important for exhibitors to follow up with the leads they generated at
the trade show. According to a 2009 CEIR report, 29% of exhibit leads close on
the 5th sales call following the exhibit so it is vital for exhibitors to continue to
follow up with their sales leads from trade shows.
In order to maximize efficiency and effectiveness for pre-and-post-show
efforts, its important for any promotions to have the ability to be tracked. This
way, exhibitors can do an ROI analysis for the pre-show and post-show efforts.
For example, since most exhibitors who participate in pre-or-post-show efforts
use direct mailers or e-mail blasts, these exhibitors should include personalized
URLs (PURLs) in their efforts. A URL stands for Universal Resource Locator and
is the website address for a specific location on the Internet (such as
www.ufl.edu). A PURL is a website address for a specific location on the Internet
that is personalized for one specific person. For example,
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www.ufl.edu/robertbeland would be the University of Florida website customized

specifically for Dr. Beland. With PURLs, when trade show attendees receive the
direct mail piece or the email blast, they are directed to a landing page or web
page where the URL is customized to them. This makes it simple to track exactly
which individual viewed the company web page thus expressing their interest in
the company.
Findings
This literature review has found that the trade show industry is evolving
with our society. Although the amount of trade shows have increased over the
years, the amount of corporate exhibitors has stayed the same for the last
decade perhaps in response to the recession. Despite this trend, trade shows
are still a useful tool in reaching a companys target market. The research has
shown that trade shows can be a cost-effective means of meeting potential
customers. In response, exhibitors must place more of an emphasis on the
following factors:

Measurement of ROI and ROO

Careful and meaningful show selection
Balance of trade show costs
Maximize exhibit design
Select and train trade show staff
Take part in pre-show and post-show efforts

While all of these markers are important in increasing trade show

effectiveness, based on the literature reviewed, show selection, measurement of
ROI and ROO and pre-show efforts seem to have the most impact on trade show
effectiveness. The corporate exhibitors that focus on these particular aspects of
trade show planning will invariably increase their effectiveness at trade shows.
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Browning, John M. and Ronald J. A. (1988). Trade shows: an effective
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