The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of entrepreneurial marketing (EM). First an historical perspective of the evolution of EM is offered and some central incidents are identified. Further, empirical indications of small and medium-sized firm marketing behavior are reported and analyzed. Some distinctive differences between EM and administrative focused marketing are identified. This paper provides future scholars with a summary of how EM has evolved into a potential new school of marketing thought and offers several issues that should stimulate future research in EM.
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.
Purpose -Entrepreneurial marketing (EM) is at the brink of becoming an established discipline. To advance the field further and to better guide research efforts in different sub categories, the purpose of this paper is to examine the field's intellectual structure with the help of citation and co-citation analysis. Design/methodology/approach -This paper is based on a two-stage research design. First a citation analysis is carried out through which thematic clusters are identified. In a second step a co-citation analysis is conducted to determine the intellectual structure of EM research. Findings -This study exposes the most influential authors and publications and emphasizes conjunctions among scholars and their findings. Results show three streams that are the foundation of EM research: theoretical foundations of management, entrepreneurship, and marketing; the research interface of marketing and entrepreneurship; SME and new venture marketing.Research limitations/implications -The results of a bibliometric analysis are limited by the publications that have been selected as a starting point. However, through the selection criteria chosen to identify the database for analysis, the authors are confident that the results illustrate the intellectual structure of EM research in its entirety. The authors recommend that future research should be conducted in one of the three sub-fields identified in this study. Practical implications -By laying out different research streams within EM it is hoped that future research will be guided in different directions. "Fine-tuning" of research efforts will benefit small, new, and entrepreneurial firms. Originality/value -The analyses conducted in this paper draw a picture of the field that is based on a quantitative approach and therefore sets itself apart from other literature reviews that have a qualitative core.
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