Exploring sales advertising in the housing market in Jordan

Purpose - In the housing sector in Jordan, sales advertisings are rarely used, though they, potentially, increase profits and sales and expand development geographically. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of sales advertising in the emerging housing market in the city of Irbid, Jordan. The aim is to reveal the effect of the use of advertising on sales and production of housing, and the obstacles that developers may face when advertising. Design/methodology/approach - The study elicited data through long, face‐to‐face interviews using semi‐structured and open‐ended questionnaires with 25 private sector developers. The data collected included companies' profiles; housing annual production; geographical location; sales and prices; and marketing and advertising. Findings - The major finding of the study is that the use of sales advertising in the housing market in Irbid is low. The major advertising methods include public relations and word of mouth along with a limited use of newspaper and on‐site advertising. The obstacles developers face include lack of conviction, unawareness about advertising effect, lack of advertising professionals, lack of skills in advertisement designs and inability to afford it. Research limitations/implications - Future research is needed to undertake statistical references through a comprehensive survey of a large sample of developers from different geographical areas around Jordan. Practical implications - The study recommends finding means to encourage developers to use advertising and to introduce new media such as the internet. Originality/value - As the first of its kind, the research pinpoints to developers the value of sales advertising, as marketing concepts, to attract buyers, increase sales and profit and to expand geographically around Jordan.