Creating a competitive marketing strategy for B2C businesses through market research: analysis of the chocolate market in Macedonia

The consumer market in Macedonia and the chocolate market in particular, is overtaken from many foreign brands. The domestic companies are loosing market share to the competitors with stronger strategies. This paper shows the weaknesses in the current strategies of the domestic companies through case study of the 2 largest confectionery producers in Macedonia and discovers the consumer behavior and preferences toward FMCG and chocolate, analyzing a purposive statistical sample of 300 consumers (October 2009). The applied research technique was questionnaires. The analysis indicates that with the adequate market research a competitive and successful marketing strategy can be created