Anatomy of competitive advantage: towards a contingency theory of entrepreneurial marketing

Entrepreneurial marketing (EM), born out of the practice of firms operating in conditions of uncertainty, is emerging as a powerful alternative to cope with the decreasing effectiveness associated with traditional marketing. In this article, the authors provide their collective position regarding the field of EM. A brief history and conceptual background of EM is presented and the contextual differences that have shaped its evolution are considered. Distinctions between traditional and EM are derived based on discussions of the concepts of size, speed, market, opportunity, risk, and uncertainty. The perspective of value co-creation in uncertainty is used to develop a contingency framework to serve as the foundation towards a general theory of EM. Operand and operant resources and environmental conditions are proposed to moderate the EM process from opportunity recognition to entrepreneurial organization, EM, and temporary competitive advantage. The theoretical facets are illustrated with seven propositions and directions for future research.     

Determinants of reverse marketing knowledge transfer potential from emerging market subsidiaries to multinational enterprises’ headquarters

Emerging markets (EM) are becoming increasingly important for multinational enterprises because of their high growth potential and future prospects. The unique circumstances in EM lead to increased pressure to offer creative marketing solutions that can be leveraged across the multinational network. Setting up subsidiaries to tap into these markets offers companies the opportunity to integrate in the local community and access its knowledge-base for local and global innovations. Literature, however, reveals that EM subsidiaries have been largely ignored concerning their potential for reverse knowledge transfer (RKT), and marketing initiatives are expected to be developed in mature, developed markets. Our paper fills this gap in research and contributes to extant literature by identifying factors at unit, relationship and knowledge levels influencing RKT potential specific to marketing knowledge from EM subsidiaries. The conceptual discussion leads to study propositions and conceptual framework.     

The Hotal and Catering Industry: Employment Prospects for the Eighties

Small business enterprises (SBEs) are considered to be the economic engine leading to worldwide economic development. They have attracted substantial consideration from researchers, academics and practitioners in the last three decades. Meanwhile, E-marketing (EM) has emerged as one of the key drivers in sustaining an organisation's competitive advantage. Yet, there is a lack of systematic empirical evidence regarding marketing activities that are affected by the use of EM in the (SBEs) context, and their consequent performance outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of EM use by SBEs on marketing success and to develop and test a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences of EM use by SBEs. The conceptual framework consists of the following constructs: EM budget, EM tools, pre-sales activities, after-sales activities, marketing performance and marketing effectiveness. Moreover, 12 hypotheses were developed and tested. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the validity of measures, while structural equation modelling was used in hypotheses testing. Data were collected from 114 SBEs who had used different EM tools. Findings reveal that the use of EM tools has a positive influence on SBEs pre-sales activities, after-sales activities, marketing performance and marketing effectiveness. The results of this study have major implications for the marketing domain, as they stress the central role of marketing people in the successful implementation of EM in SBEs.     

Entrepreneurial marketing: a comparative study

This paper uses a comparative study to explore entrepreneurial marketing orientation in small software technology firms, in relation to firm growth. Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM) acknowledges the interface between entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation and, pursuance of customer value. Researchers acknowledge that firms adopting other strategic orientations combined with a market orientation are more likely to outperform their competitors. Currently, there are few comparative studies of knowledge-intensive technology firms and no comparative cross-country studies, which consider firm growth and orientation from the EM perspective. This paper addresses these issues by using an entrepreneurial marketing orientation qualitative framework that consists of 15 dimensions, which allow investigation of entrepreneur and employee activities, attitudes and behaviors in such firms. Using a UK and US sample of firms, this research enables assessment of how and why entrepreneurial marketing orientation may lead to sustainable growth for firms in challenging markets and provides a comparison in two different country contexts.     

Relationship Use and Market Dynamism: A Model of Relationship Evolution

Evidence for the success of relationship marketing remains contradictory, with practitioners reporting that most relationship marketing efforts fail, and academic researchers suggesting that further exploration of the boundary conditions of relationship marketing are needed. A number of researchers have identified changes in the competitive environment as the basis for the adoption of relationship marketing, although recent research suggests a more complex, contingent view. Drawing upon longitudinal case studies from the New Zealand wine industry, this article names a number of contextual conditions that influence the development and evolution of relationship strategies. The findings identify changes in the form and intensity of relationships. The source of these changes is identified. Based on this analysis, four marketing 'gestalts' are identified. The evolution of each gestalt is then explained, with the approaches used by firms to navigate from one gestalt to another described.     

The dynamics and evolution of the service marketing literature: 1993–2003

This article analyzes service research published in marketing journals between 1993 and 2003. Two levels of analysis of the dynamics and evolution of the service marketing literature are distinguished: first, the dynamics of specific themes of the service marketing literature, and second, the structural evolution of these themes. Through a content analysis, we study the dynamics of individual themes in the service marketing literature as well as the relationships between these themes. Multiple correspondence analysis provides maps of themes and of the most frequent contributors, and a framework to track the structural dynamics and structural evolution of this literature over time. An evaluation of past predictions about the dynamics and evolution of service research is also provided with a discussion of its future.     

Anatomy of entrepreneurial marketing

The motivation for this special issue came from the growing attention and debate on what constitutes Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM). Research in EM was first pursued collectively by the Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association about three decades ago. Recently, there is widespread recognition of the significance of entrepreneurship and innovation to marketing, and indeed the importance of marketing in successful entrepreneurship. Whereas many scholars view that EM is more suitable for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there is also now a growing recognition of the important role of entrepreneurs in any marketing activities including at the corporate, community and social level. In light of this, it is not surprising that the government, industry and academics are recognising the contribution of EM to explain a range of issues. Although entrepreneurship and marketing are individually acknowledged as a major element in improving firm performance, their dynamics are still an area with limited theory and empirical work being undertaken. These issues have been highlighted in many international marketing and entrepreneurship conferences in the last 10 years. Indeed this special issue was proposed after EM special sessions held at the 2013 AMS WMC (Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress) in Melbourne and ANZMAC 2013 (Australia and New Zealand Marketing Association Conference) in Auckland, New Zealand. The collection of papers presented in this Special Edition of Journal of Strategic Marketing was selected from the papers submitted at the close of the call for papers and following double blind review process. From the review process, authors of five submissions were selected and compiled into this [special issue on the Anatomy of Entrepreneurial Marketing]. It is our intention that this special issue becomes a valuable resource for both scholars and practitioners alike.     

从营销组合策略的理论演进看市场营销的发展趋势

自从市场营销组合策略理论被提出以来,营销理论界一直都在努力充实、完善它,提出了许多反映时代特征的新的营销组合理论,市场营销组合理论的演进历程集中反映了市场营销的发展变化过程,并预示着市场营销未来的发展趋势。     

International Franchising: Evolution of Theory and Practice

This paper reviews the evolution of the theory of international franchising over the past two decades, from its humble beginnings in the early 1990s. The theories are grouped into three time phases. Ten theory papers are considered. It is clear that apart from a basic decision-making model explaining whether to internationalize or not, the theory of international franchising has “borrowed” theory from mainstream marketing. In particular, international franchising theory has evolved by incorporating capabilities theory, relationship theory, stakeholder theory, and governance mode theory. The biggest opportunity for future international franchising research is to add a branding theory perspective. Four sub-topics are put forward as promising areas for future research.     

The Future Scope of Netnography and Social Network Analysis in the Field of Marketing

The marketing landscape has evolved to a great extent with the advent of Internet strategy integration, refined Internet marketing metrics, increase in wireless networking, rising consumer ownership of computers, the era of big data and e-commerce, influencer marketing, and the evolution of the Internet. To tap this virtual environment, newer methods of Internet research are required. This article studies the usage of two Internet research methodologies—Netnography and Social Network Analysis—and explores their potential toward the domain of marketing. An exhaustive literature review was conducted and after analyzing the previously published literature in this domain, it is seen that a clear link between these methodologies and the field of marketing has not been established. With a detailed analysis of previously published research work, using these two methodologies the authors are able to derive correlations with marketing concepts and are able to establish the future potential of the two methodologies of Netnography and Social Network Analysis as marketing research methodologies.     

The role of entrepreneurial marketing in new technology ventures first product commercialisation

This paper sheds light on the importance of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) in the context of new technology ventures (NTVs) first product commercialisation. This study explores the role of EM expressed as the degree of complementarity between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) in driving firms’ innovation activities including competence exploration and exploitation in achieving first product performance (FPP). The results of a survey drawn from Indian NTVs identify a significant effect for the complementarity of EO–MO on exploratory and exploitative innovation activities. Furthermore, the findings indicate a positive effect of both exploratory and exploitative activities in enhancing FPP and the contingency role of marketing capabilities (MCs) in enhancing the impact of competence exploration and exploitation in first product commercialisation.     

The International Marketing Literature

ABSTRACT

This study examines the international marketing literature published during the period 1987-1993. Twenty journals, which publish international marketing articles on a variety of topics, were reviewed, yielding 1,645 articles with an international marketing perspective. Classification of the articles on the basis of subject content yielded twenty-four distinct topic categories. Topical trends and frequent contributors in the international marketing literature are identified and implications for future research are discussed.     

Is marketing agility important for emerging market firms in advanced markets?

Marketing agility has recently gained the attention of international marketing managers and scholars. However, scholars have not examined how this capability directly and indirectly influences firm performance and how the effects change under the complex market conditions facing emerging market (EM) firms in advanced economy (AE) markets. Hence, underpinned by the dynamic capability and complexity theories, this study investigates the direct effect of marketing agility—a dynamic meta-capability involving market sensing, speed, flexibility and responsiveness—on firm performance and its indirect effect via marketing program adaptation. Moreover, it explores changes in these direct and indirect relationships under varying market complexity levels. EM firms are often disadvantaged owing to AE market complexity, such as the presence of low-cost advantage of local AE firms. Hence, investigating this framework in this context is valuable. Using data on Pakistani firms exporting to AE markets, the study finds that marketing agility influences firm performance, and the influence is stronger under high market complexity. When market complexity is low, the influence is mediated by the firms’ ability to adapt their marketing program to meet AE market requirements. Supporting theoretical and managerial implications are offered.     

营销组合的一个理论综述

回顾营销组合理论发展的历史轨迹,呈现出不同的营销组合理论适用于不同的营销经济环境,不同的营销组合理论反映了不同的营销观念,营销组合战略性增强而操作性减弱等特点。今后营销组合的发展趋势将是营销组合的具体内容更具灵活性,在营销观念上战略营销将成为主导,在营销策略构建上整合营销将成为主流。     

Relationship marketing in an international context: a literature review

This study identifies and examines the extant literature in international relationship marketing. Twenty-four empirical studies that address various aspects of relationship marketing are identified. However, only eight studies were found to explore marketing relationships across national boundaries. The remainder combine multi-country data or examine relationship marketing in non-US settings. In this review, we report the nature and the findings of these studies and discuss their implications for future research and marketing practice. It is apparent from this review that, despite the increasing importance of international marketing, insufficient attention is being paid to exploring and theorizing relationship marketing in international contexts. Furthermore, limited effort in validating domestic findings in international settings circumscribes the universal applicability and managerial relevance of relationship marketing studies.     

市场营销演进及营销管理变革综述

通过对国际300余篇权威学术文献的研究,根据企业、产品、客户三者内在逻辑关系的理论分析,透视和阐述了市场营销及营销管理随社会需求发展而演进的规律和21世纪变革的趋势,将市场营销和营销管理的演变过程概括为大众营销、目标营销和定制营销三个时代,同时总结和阐述了各时代营销管理的基本特征。     

Some Insights into the Background and Training of Marketing Executives in the UK

A paper of interest to both marketing practitioners and marketing educators, it reports some of the findings of a recent survey undertaken for the Institute of Marketing on the background and training of marketing executives in the UK. Selected findings and their implications are discussed, specifically the respondents’ educational qualifications, level and marketing content; participation in training courses, their attitudes towards future training and career development. The final section of the paper looks at the respondents’ expressed needs for further marketing training to better equip them for both their current jobs and their future career.     

Marketing Culture in an Australian Public Sector Service Organisation

ABSTRACT

This paper measured the marketing culture of an Australian public sector organisation using the instrument developed by Webster (1990). The perceptions of 1,400 employees working in the Western Australian operations of this organisation were sought. Respondents indicated their ideal marketing culture and their perceptions of the actual marketing culture of the organisation across 34 variables. Organisational performance was rated highest for items pertaining to service quality and innovativeness. The six dimensions of marketing culture identified by Webster (1990) were found to be reliable within this context and the gap between perceptions of ideal culture and actual organisational culture was computed for each of the dimensions. The organisation was found to have room for improvement in all six dimensions with particular areas for future attention being interpersonal relationships, internal communications and selling task. Recommendations for future initiatives were made.     

A New Frontier in the Battle Against Smoking: An Exploratory Investigation of Low-Income Adult Smokers

ABSTRACT

This paper fills an important gap in the marketing literature by examining the drivers of risky behaviors such as smoking among the economically disadvantaged. Smoking rates and smoking-related illnesses are on the rise in this group and previous research has not adequately considered the efforts of smoking cessation marketing campaigns and anti-smoking policy directives. Data were gathered from 729 ethnically diverse, low-income consumers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that depression, gender, race, and age are significant predictors of risky behavior (smoking) in this group. The implications of the findings for demarketing campaigns and public policy programs are discussed and future research directions are identified.     

Transfer of marketing knowledge: The teaching company experience

The Teaching Company Scheme, which brings Higher Education and manufacturing industry together in the UK, has as one of its principal objectives graduate training. Some 65 Teaching Company Programmes have been identified which have a marketing component and details of these are presented. The evolution of the scheme is discussed and personal experience of Lancaster University Programmes is presented and reflected upon using ideas from general systems theory and experiential learning. Operational issues in running a Teaching Company Programme are considered and factors associated with programme success identified.