The Impact of Marketing Mix on the Employees' Performance in the commemorativeCrafts Industry: "an empirical study of Al-Ahsa-Saudi Arabia

The aim of the current study is to determine the impact of the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, place) on the performance of the handicraft workers in Saudi Arabia, more specifc in Al Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Region. In most cases, these workers are the owners of the project who inherited the craft from generations to generations. The workers in this field exceeds 21 thousand craftsmen and Alhasa governorate possesses 12% of the this industry. Questionnaires  (250) were obtained from handicraft workers and structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Smart-PLS 3 was the main data analysis method . The results of the study indicated a small number of women (15%) in the handicraft industry and an increase in the number of non-Saudi (foreigners) (40%), this means that the whole industry is exposed to danger. The data also show the low level of workers’ education and therefore it is advisable to open professional education courses to improve their skills and preserve their products from the risks of alternative foreign competitiors. The results obtained from the structural equation modeling using Smart PLS 3 show also that promotion and place (as two dimensions of marketing) have a positive but not  significant impact on the performance of the handicraft workers, while the product and pricing impact on the worker performance was positive and significant. These results give a strong indication that there are no efforts (or very weak) to finance individual promotions for handicraft owners, and also the Saudi media are not interested enough in this field. Additionally, craftsmen generally do not trust in  media and have no place to offer their product to customers, beside limited financial cababilities of the craftsement to open powerful and effective outlets. In a different context, the results show that handicrafts workers can still produce the product as inherited and that the original concrete artisan product is still being sought by buyers. Finally, it is still accepted by most consumers that craft products have a higher price compared to auto-manufactured ones.