Impact of Strategic Marketing Management : on the Performance of Firms in the Downstream Sector of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry

Oil and gas marketing companies have comparative advantages in adopting various marketing strategies using different technologies. Oil and gas marketing companies appeared to specialize in the use of traditional methods of marketing, which is based on "soft" information culled from close contacts by marketing and sales department rather than the use of the specialized strategic marketing methods that are based on "hard" quantitative information. Most of the findings of the research are consistent with previous normative and empirical works.For instance, the companies face a less diverse, less competitive, more volatile and high opportunity environment, and a less mobility of market. They are however, constrained by interrelationships with other organizations to a greater extent. This study has provided empirical evidence pertaining to the perception of oil and gas marketing strategies, and the industry environmental factors on such strategies. It also indicates that strategic marketing practices have a significant impact on performance variables and that they interact with the different components to facilitate performance.