Back Issues 11-20

A MARKETING STUDY ON TAIWAN POMELOS INDUSTRY: TAKE XIHU POMELOS AS AN EXAMPLE

Chien-Chin Su*, Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Taiwan

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology

*Corresponding Author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hsiang-Chen Hsu, Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Taiwan
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Shu-Ya Chang, Department of Industrial Management, I-Shou University, Taiwan This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

In Taiwan's consumption patterns, pomelo is inseparable from the festive needs of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Besides, this fruit is in round shape, which symbolizes reunion in Chinese tradition, so pomelo is also considered as the best occasional fruit for the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the legend goes, during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Taiwanese pomelos were regarded as a tribute, and praised by the Jiaqing Emperor. Not only the emperors of the Qing Dynasty liked pomelos from Taiwan, but also the emperors of Japan. In the era of Japanese Occupation Period in Taiwan, there was a type of pomelo named "Imperial Pomelo". In general, most of the well-known pomelos in Taiwan are Madou Pomelo, Douliu Pomelo and so on. Xihu pomelo is known for its unique honey aroma as well as its rich and delicate pulp. Additionally, the planting area of pomelos in Xihu ranks third in Taiwan, and Xihu enjoys the reputation of "Hometown of Pomelos". Even so, Xihu pomelos are not as famous as the previous cases, and it might be that the famers (mainly are Hakka people) are not versed at promotion and marketing. This is the reason why Xihu pomelos are little known among Taiwanese, but are widely loved by locales. Consequently, this study attempts to reveal the features of Xihu Pomelos, and gain in-depth insights into how relationship marketing and brand imagery strategies can be employed to raise the awareness of Xihu Pomelos. The study adopted SWOT and marketing 4Ps analysis to probe into relationship marketing and brand imagery strategies, identify the optimal business model for Xihu Pomelo promotion, and serve as a reference for the industry.

Keywords: Xihu pomelos, cause-related marketing, brand imagery, SWOT analysis, 4Ps of marketing