V. Trade Fair Participation
C. Exhibition Targets

Objectives for trade shows: Consumer and manufactured goods

The individual participation objectives depend on the different types of trade fairs, such as consumer goods fairs or investment (manufactured) goods fairs.
 

The main goal at a trade show for consumer goods is the placing of orders. The trade visitors order goods for the following season. They do not need an authorization for their purchasing decision and can negotiate the sale at the fair. It is therefore easier to monitor and measure the success attained.
 

At trade fairs for investment goods, immediate orders are comparatively unimportant. The negotiation-process takes much more time because technical issues must be resolved. There is a greater financial investment and a multilevel authorisation in the buying decision. Sometimes the investment decisions are made a long time after the trade fair closed. The order can’t be assigned directly to the event. A difficulty at trade fairs for investment goods is, that the success is not properly measurable, because the focus is on image building, increasing publicity, imparting information and consultancy.