ABSTRACT
Image theory offers considerable potential for assisting marketing strategists and tacticians in developing, executing, and evaluating effective marketing plans. In this chapter, we briefly describe the marketing planning process, paying special attention to the role of marketing communications (i.e., promotion) in the consumer's decision making processes. The impact of various promotional tools is discussed in the context of image theory and its associated stages of decision making: framing, screening, choice, implementation. The chapter concludes with a brief examination of the relationship of image theory to the managerial development of the other strategic marketing variables: product, price, distribution.
