Marketing Planning in the Public and Non‐profit Sectors

Most studies of marketing planning focus on the private sector. A study of marketing planning in 79 organisations in the UK public sector and non‐profit sectors, part of a larger study of marketing planning in the UK, is reported on. Trading public sector organisations were significantly more likely to produce an annual marketing plan than companies in the private sector, while organisations in the non‐profit sector were about as likely to do so as companies in the commercial sector. The public sector plans were broadly similar to those of private sector firms while the non‐profit plans showed a different orientation. Despite these differences, the main overall finding is that in neither the private sector nor in the public or non‐profit sectors are comprehensive plans the norm.