Along with personal selling (considered later), trade shows and fairs play a major role in business-to-business and industrial marketing, often the only means of marketing communication for the brand. It has been estimated that industrial marketers spend between 20% and 25% of their communication budget on trade shows and fairs (Gopalakrishna and Williams, 1992). But almost every product category or industry has trade shows. ■
Because of the opportunity for personal interaction, trade shows and fairs offer a brand the chance to demonstrate use which may be difficult or impossible to do in more traditional media. It also provides a brand with the opportunity to be in touch with nearly all its current or potential trade outlets. While most managers define effectiveness for trade shows as lead generation that results in sales, there are many ‘non-sales’ aspects valued by managers as well (Shipley et ah, 1993).