Abstract
Decreases in membership for a local chamber of commerce led the authors to conduct research to assist them in determining why they have been experiencing difficulty with business organization memberships within the last few years. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study that examined perceptual gaps on a series of factors that the authors believe when identified, may lead to improved marketing efficacy. Chamber management, chamber member contacts, and a proxy sample of chamber member employees for a local chamber of commerce completed surveys to assess the level of consistency among their perceptions of value added benefits of chamber membership. The authors believe the results of this study may be useful for other chambers of commerce and organizations when their long-term survival is dependent on active memberships.