الفهرس 
Research FrameworkOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Previous studies showed that in the early decades, firms believed that marketing efforts require huge budgets and massive resources (Anyasor, 2022). Therefore, big firms promote their products using traditional marketing techniques, spending enormous amounts of money, but sometimes the marketing messages were targeted to the wrong audience, and instead were ignored or misinterpreted by the potential customers (Tam & Khuong, 2015). On the other hand, the small and medium businesses commonly did not afford the cost of traditional marketing compared with huge firms, the small businesses mostly do not have enough funds to be wasted on ineffective or misleading marketing campaigns (Usani, 2022). Thus, the small enterprises seek maximum impact as well as positive word-of-mouth with smallest budget being spent (Dinh & Mai, 2015).
In recent years, the number of advertisements has increased considerably, with one person being exposed to hundreds or even thousands of limited-time messages every day (Singhal & Noida, 2021). As cited in Dhanda (2015), nowadays, as the aggressive competition faced by marketing enterprises increase, firms are forced to do conventional things unconventionally irrespective of the firm size, scale, and funds, to cut through the clutter that consumers are excessively exposed to (Nufer, 2021). Consumers have learnt how to ignore the excessive advertising; they walk right past the billboards or mute the commercials on televisions or radio. This required coming out with unconventional, creative, innovative campaigns, that directly target the right customers, rather than conveying an ambiguous message to ambiguous audiences. Because so many advertisements are ineffective and quickly forgotten, advertising has grown less successful (Dinh & Mai, 2015). Guerrilla marketing is one such novel and practical approach that has been applied to solve this issue (Konstantopoulou, et. al, 2018).
Accordingly, a new marketing concept was created named ’Guerrilla marketing’, this concept was born originally for the sake of small firms, to compete in the market with their limited funds to attract customer attention effectively (Nufer, 2021). However, today Guerrilla marketing has been adopted by major corporations too, as it is a powerful tool for old and big firms, to avoid any financial crisis by minimizing their advertising costs, interacting with their customers, and stimulating their response, giving a new perspective to their products and services with the minimal cost (Tam & Khuong, 2015).
To summarize, the unconventional Guerrilla marketing strategy immediately addresses the target market, making an exciting first impression that aids businesses in getting their goods or brands noticed, and attract attention in an economical way. Guerrilla marketing is built on the concept of having maximum impact with minimum budget and achieves competitive edge in a cost-effective way by using creative, unexpected, pioneering, unconventional, and amusing tactics. Thus, creativity is the core of the marketing campaign and not the budget (Anyasor, 2022).
2. Previous studies of Guerrilla Marketing
The following section sheds the light on the most important previous research findings regarding Guerrilla Marketing:
The study of Anyasor (2022) used ambient marketing, ambush marketing, buzz marketing, and viral marketing as the measuring frameworks to assess the impact of guerilla marketing strategies on consumer purchases of carbonated soft drinks in Anambra State. Against consumer purchases of carbonated soft drinks, guerilla marketing strategies such as ambient marketing, ambush marketing, buzz marketing, and viral marketing were deployed. The study concluded that consumers’ purchases of carbonated soft drinks are significantly influenced by guerrilla marketing strategies. The report made several recommendations, including that carbonated drink marketers maintain and create ambient, ambush, and viral techniques as well as re-engineer the buzz strategy material to retain their current and draw in new clients.
Shelly (2022) did research to determine whether guerilla marketing is advantageous for educational institutions. To determine whether unconventional marketing help to increase student enrolment, a causal study was carried out using a sample of students. According to the regression study, guerilla marketing helped Indian higher education institutions increase student enrollment. The higher education institutions benefit from increased enrollment according to the conceptual model that was examined in this study.
The study of Usani (2022) investigates the impact of guerrilla marketing on Calabar consumers’ purchases of noodles. This study’s main goal was to investigate the connection between guerilla marketing and consumer spending. According to the study, ambient and viral marketing significantly increased consumer spending. According to the results, guerrilla marketing enhances consumer patronage. Additionally, there is a good chance of increasing customer patronage if the available guerilla marketing proxies (viral and ambient marketing) are given prominence. The researchers advised distributors to concentrate on the usage of creative/unconventional advertising and to engage in viral commercials because they promote online word-of-mouth.
The study of Serazio (2021) investigates the field through a critical examination of advertising industry discourse, which includes 28 in-depth interviews with brand journalism practitioners in the United States, as well as a decade of trade newspaper coverage. It traces the origins of brand journalism and contextualizes the media industry variables that drive participants’ interest in using it as a promotional tool. Using Guerrilla Marketing theory as a guide, this study shows how brand journalism demonstrates a basic commercial self-effacement at its core – by imitating journalistic style and substance – and thereby heralds a redefining of advertising as a visible form of mass communication.
The study of Farooqui (2021) investigated how customer purchasing behavior toward the textile business in Pakistan, is affected by viral, street, stealth, ambient, and ambush marketing. According to the findings, Guerilla marketing techniques, such as street marketing, stealth marketing, and ambush marketing, have a significant impact on how consumers in Pakistan choose to purchase clothing. Viral marketing and ambient marketing, on the other hand, were determined to have little influence on customers’ purchasing decisions regarding apparel. People react more favorably to out-of-the-ordinary forms of advertising, such as displaying ads where people read them, connecting with them in person, giving out samples, and wrapping advertising.
Additionally, the study of Roux (2020) aimed to provide an advertising media practitioner’s perspective on the problems and negative repercussions of Guerrilla Marketing. The findings, as well as advice for evaluating Guerrilla Marketing problems and potential negative repercussions to consider, provide some insight for organizations that use or are considering using this platform. Marketers must consider not just the positive aspects of Guerrilla Marketing, but also the negative consequences for consumers, the market, and society. Because Guerrilla activities are untraditional and take place outside of the house, ethical, legal, and social boundaries must be weighed with the potential for beneficial effects. This paper fills a gap in the literature by being one of the first to look at the potential negative effects and challenges of Guerrilla Marketing efforts.
Furthermore, Ahmed (2020) study objective is to look into Guerrilla marketing techniques for small and medium businesses (SMEs) and their impact on consumer purchasing decisions. Researchers also want to see how brand awareness and technology play a role as mediating and moderating elements in the Guerrilla marketing process. The findings show that Guerrilla Marketing strategies such as viral marketing, unusual occurrences, street graphics, and memorable events have a favorable and significant impact on purchase decisions. The results of the study also revealed that brand awareness is a powerful mediating variable that significantly increases the influence of purchase decision, and that technology played an important role as a moderator that has a strong impact on Guerrilla marketing techniques and consumer purchase decisions. As a result of the empirical testing, the importance of a modified Guerrilla Marketing model was proven, which will assist both marketing practitioners and future studies.
Likewise, the study of YUNIARTO (2020) intended to learn more about Covid-19’s Guerrilla health campaign marketing in Indonesia, which includes graffiti and murals. To identify the patterns that evolved from Covid-19-themed marketing strategies, a total of 69 graffiti pictures and murals were evaluated using secondary data. The findings show that the Covid-19 theme is primarily expressed through health advice, with community pessimism being the least prevalent. Results demonstrated that the color composition of graffiti and murals varies greatly depending on style (graffiti, idealism, and realist) and topic (appreciation, criticism, health advice, encouragement, and pessimism). We construct a conceptual framework for Guerrilla Marketing utilizing graffiti and murals to raise public awareness about Covid-19 prevention based on these findings. Apart from these themes, the study discovered that graffiti and murals also serve as a vehicle for hidden agendas, the maker’s identity and cohesion, and therapy for the makers dealing with the stress of managing with Covid-19. This study is unique in that it demonstrates how Guerrilla Marketing may be used to launch public-interest campaigns that benefit both stakeholders and artists.
Nevertheless, SPAHIC (2019) study determined why one mode of communication is superior to the other by the answers of 406 respondents to particular questions on the questionnaire. According to this study, Guerrilla Marketing communication is a creative challenge for many organizations, with a big number of companies opting for this kind of communication owing to the volatile market condition and the negative cost factor. Traditional marketing communication is associated with high expenses since it entails posters on billboards that are widely visible in the public and that do not produce good outcomes while also generating high expenditures.
Similarly, the purpose of the research of YILDIZ, S. (2017) is to see how Guerrilla marketing affects brand recognition and purchase intent. Gümüşhane University students were given a questionnaire, and 440 questionnaires were included in the sample. The impacts of Guerrilla marketing on purchase intent were studied. Humor has no influence on purchase intent, novelty, surprise, beauty, relevancy, clarity, and emotional arousal all have a favorable impact. All aspects, save surprise, have a favorable effect on brand awareness, according to the research. Brand awareness also has a beneficial impact on purchasing intent.
Moreover, Diaa (2017) study was conducted to look into the impact of Guerrilla Marketing on purchase intent, as well as the impact of certain demographic variables on purchase intent. In Egypt, a sample of 400 respondents was surveyed using a quantitative approach. Consumer purchase intention is positively influenced by commercial inventiveness, emotional arousal, clarity, comedy, and surprise, according to the findings. Females were found to have a greater impact on buying intent than males. Furthermore, the study found that age had little bearing on consumer buying intent.
Besides, the objective of the study of Tam & Khuong (2015) was to look into the effects of Guerrilla marketing on consumer behavior. The study evaluated consumer perceptions after they were exposed to 20 Guerrilla advertisements, based on previous literature on Guerrilla marketing and proposed model frameworks for advertising. The findings revealed that while comedy and surprise had no effect on purchase intention, creativity, emotion arousal, and message clarity did. Academics may have some insight into the application of Guerrilla marketing in Vietnam, and managers, particularly those in the advertising business, may use the findings to design effective marketing strategies to attract and persuade people to purchase their products.
As for Farouk (2012) study investigated Guerrilla Marketing as a useful, creative, inventive, and low-cost tool in the marketing process. It describes the Guerrilla marketing technique, including its definition, principles, benefits, and role in enhancing the brand’s aesthetic and functional qualities. In the current economic scenario in Egypt, the article feels that Guerrilla Marketing is one of the greatest marketing and advertising tactics for enriching the aesthetic and functional characteristics of a brand and creating a distinct competitive position. Furthermore, the researcher believes that the benefits of Guerrilla marketing methods will help to revitalize the advertising sector and commercial movement in the Egyptian market, thereby stimulating the Egyptian economy. The article outlines several proposed organic food ideas from the ISIS Company, which rely on Guerrilla marketing methods.
Some studies proved that today’s street Guerrilla marketers use viral marketing techniques to encourage electronic word of mouth and forwarding behavior (Breazeale 2009; Araujo, Neijens and Vliegenthart, 2016). Guerrilla marketing involves creating a campaign that is so shocking, funny, unique, clever, or creative that people can’t stop talking about it (WOM), resulting in brand reputation (Farouk, 2012). Moreover, Eelen and Seiler (2016) found that one of the most important factors in word-of-mouth spread is surprise. Other studies proved that today’s street Guerrilla marketers use viral marketing techniques to encourage electronic word of mouth and forwarding behavior positively (Breazeale 2009; Araujo, Neijens and Vliegenthart, 2016).
Besides, Ahmad et al. (2014) researched the impacts of Guerrilla marketing on customer purchase intention and discovered that Guerrilla marketing has a significant impact on consumer purchasing behavior. Moreover, Tam and Khuong (2015) investigated the impact of Guerrilla Marketing on the purchase intentions of Generation Y, they discovered that while humor and surprise had little influence on consumer purchase intention, clarity, emotion arousal, and inventiveness had a substantial impact. Likewise, Muscat (2016) investigated the impact of emotional appeal and creativity on purchase intent and found that both have a positive and significant impact. Also, Yildiz (2017) studied the effect of Guerrilla marketing on consumers’ purchase intention, he found that purchase intention is affected positively by Guerrilla marketing.
Although the need for finding new and creative trends for reaching the customer has increased, not all enterprises are aware of or willing to apply the concept of Guerrilla marketing (Belch & Belch, 2004). This was proved by the study of Yuksekbilgili (2014), it investigated the use of Guerilla marketing in SMEs across a range of industries and discovered that, despite 82% of all SMEs being familiar with the idea, only 16% had used Guerrilla Marketing or intended to use it in the future. Even though other studies claimed that small businesses adopted Guerrilla marketing, this study reveals that the majority of Turkish SMEs have never employed or unwilling to use Guerrilla marketing in their current or future marketing strategies.
Guerrilla marketing is undeniably successful in practical applications, but it is still new, fresh, and less well researched academically than other marketing approaches (Farouk, 2012). Previous studies, particularly in the Middle East, did not properly study the influence of Guerrilla Marketing on purchase intention (Diaa, 2017). Besides, the relationship between product types and WOM impacts has received little consideration (Fang et. al., 2011).
3. Exploratory Study
The researcher implemented an exploratory study to address the main problem of the research and to assure the significance of researching Guerrilla marketing, as well as to decide which advertisements the research will apply the study, and finally to find out if the questionnaire will need to be modified.
3.1 selection of Street Guerrilla Marketing:
In order to evaluate the study’s fundamental problem and ensure its importance, the researcher followed Diaa (2017), and a pilot survey was conducted over 30 respondents. The pilot study was applied on certain advertisements that were perceived as street Guerrilla marketing from the researcher point of view. Whereas the researcher’s reasons behind choosing these advertisements were as follows: 1): advertisings were found in the streets, 2): advertisings were creative, 3): advertisings were surprising, and 4): researcher believed that these advertising were less costly compared with huge television campaigns. Afterward, the respondents received the survey through email, the concept and characteristics of Guerrilla Marketing were properly described to the respondents in simple language with examples.
The email contained images for seven different advertisements, taking into consideration that they are different in types of products (durable goods, non-durable goods & services). Besides, Respondents were asked to indicate whether each advertisement was classified as Guerrilla Marketing or not (Yes/No/Not Sure), based on the Guerrilla Marketing concept and dimensions (creativity, clarity, humor, emotional arousal, and surprise). The respondents were of various ages, genders, and occupations.
The names and pictures of the Seven street Guerrilla Marketing advertisements were listed in the survey, from the researcher point of view, Specifically, Mountain View, Hub Furniture, Juhayna (N&G), Nestle Pure life, British international collage of Cairo (BICC), Dunkin’ donuts and finally Redbull.
After conducting the pilot study on 30 respondents, the researcher discovered that only (2) respondents were aware of the Guerrilla marketing concept, which represented 6.6 %, while the other (28) respondents were not aware of the Guerrilla Marketing concept until they received the email and read the full explanation with examples.
Results showed that (14) respondents evaluated the Dunkin’ donuts street advertisement as Guerrilla marketing, (18) respondents evaluated the Nestle Pure life street advertisement as Guerrilla marketing, (23) respondents evaluated the Mountain View Street advertisement as a GM, (25) respondents evaluated the Hub Furniture street advertisement as a Guerrilla marketing, (26) respondents evaluated the Redbull street advertisement as a Guerrilla marketing, (27) respondents evaluated the Juhayna (N&G) street advertisement as a Guerrilla marketing, and finally (28) respondents evaluated the British international collage of Cairo (BICC) street advertisement as a Guerrilla marketing.
The results are summarized in the following table (1), showing the number of respondents who classified the advertising as a street Guerrilla Marketing from their point of view.
Table 1: Exploratory results
Number of respondents (30) %
Aware of Guerrilla Marketing concept 2 6.6%
Classified as street Guerrilla Marketing Number of respondents (30) %
Dunkin’ donuts 14 46.6%
Nestle pure life 18 60%
Mountain View 23 76.6%
Hub Furniture 25 83.3%
Redbull 26 86.6%
Juhayna (N&G) 27 90%
BICC 28 93.3%
Consequently, the researcher proceeded with the three advertisements that were mostly classified as street Guerrilla marketing in the final survey instrument: Juhayna (N&G) for non-durable goods, Hub Furniture for durable goods, and BICC for services.
3.2 Pre-Testing Scale Questions:
Moreover, an additional pilot study was conducted to determine if there will be any concerns with the questionnaire that will be distributed later (to guarantee the questionnaire’s structure, wording, as well as the length and time required to complete it). To reduce any redundancy in pre-testing the scale questions, the researcher avoided using one of the 3 selected advertisements that will be used in the final survey. Thus, this pilot study was applied on Red-bull car which has a well-known design; a mini car with a huge ’Red-bull can’ located on the top of the car with an eye-catchy design, wandering the streets and distributing free samples.
The researcher targeted 15 respondents in Egypt that were convenient samples for the researcher. The respondents saw real pictures of a Red-bull car distributing free samples nearby a private university in Egypt. Respondents had to indicate their response on a five-point Likert scale, where 1 means strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree. The questionnaire included questions related to measuring Guerrilla marketing, word of mouth, and purchase intention.
After conducting the pilot study on 15 respondents. The researcher found that: concerning the Guerrilla marketing scale, 13 respondents (86.6%) believed that the advertisement was creative, 12 respondents (80%) believed that the message was clear, 10 respondents (66.6%) said that the advertisement was humor, 11 respondents (73%) admitted that the advertisement arouse their emotions and finally 13 respondents (86.6%) said that they were surprised. While, concerning the word-of-mouth scale, the researcher found that (82%) would recommend and tell others about the product. As for the purchase intention scale, the researcher found that (73%) would have the intention to buy the product. Finally, the researcher discovered that the respondents had some linguistic concerns regarding the emotion arousal scale; consequently, the researcher replaced the unclear wordings used in the pilot study with clear ones used in the final questionnaire.
To summarize, after reviewing the results of the pilot study, the researcher was encouraged to derive the main research problem and to study the effect of street Guerrilla marketing on consumers’ word of mouth and purchase intention in Egypt.
4. Research Problem
The research problem is derived based on some previous studies and the result of the current research pilot study:
Occasionally the wrong audiences were chosen to receive the advertising messages, and occasionally the intended audience ignored or misunderstood them. Additionally, if businesses use the same type of marketing initiatives to target customers frequently, a wear-out effect could result. As a result, consumers begin to ignore advertising, which causes traditional marketing strategies to lose their ability to draw in customers. Thus, it appears that using unconventional marketing strategies is the best course of action (Ahmed, 2020). Earlier, only small enterprises used to apply unconventional marketing approaches due to their limited budget. However, today organizations, irrespective of their size and budgets, are facing huge challenges due to globalization and cutthroat harsh bloody competition between large enterprises. Thus, small, and big firms have to maximize their customer satisfaction, and at the same time keep prices low.
Nevertheless, Guerrilla marketing still a grey area, as it could reveal a negative consequence, because some studies concluded that Guerrilla marketing might have three effects –positive, neutral, and negative (Roux, 2020). The study supposed that it is possible to have a negative or a neutral effect when there is a probability of backlash, or it falls deaf on consumers’ ears (Roux, 2020). Besides, the Guerrilla campaign’s viral effect is uncontrollable; therefore, if the virus becomes viral, it can spread in any direction, which is also undesirable. If the target demographic reacts erratically or does not comprehend, the campaign may cause a backlash, resulting in a loss of image and sales. However, the Guerrilla marketing concept is booming worldwide, there is a gap in the literature of this study because it was not given an adequate concentration, as it is limited to a few publications (Gökerik, et. al, 2018) up to the best knowledge of the researcher. Although, the need for finding new and creative trends for reaching the customer has increased, not all enterprises are aware of or willing to apply the concept of Guerrilla marketing, besides, when compared to developed countries like Europe and the United States, guerrilla marketing is a relatively recent concept in developing countries (Gupta & Singh, 2020).
To recapitulate, traditional marketing initiatives are losing their effectiveness in attracting new customers. Additionally, both small and large businesses must optimize customer satisfaction while maintaining affordable prices. Furthermore, Guerrilla marketing remains a grey area, as it may have unexpected consequences. On the other hand, after performing a pilot study with 30 respondents, the researcher revealed that only (2) respondents were aware of the Guerrilla marketing idea. In addition, most respondents said that they would suggest the product to others and that they intended to buy it.