This paper presents a systematic review of recent academic literature analysing the\ud role, organization and management of marketing activities in small and medium-sized\ud enterprises (SMEs).To this end, 310 articles published between 2006 and 2015 in 69 main\ud journals devoted to small firms/entrepreneurship and management/marketing fields\ud were analysed. This review shows that SMEs’ marketing has received great attention\ud in both management and marketing literature in recent years. Findings reveal, on\ud the one hand, the emerging role of networks and information and communication\ud technologies in marketing behaviour by SMEs, and on the other hand a research gap in\ud terms of specific marketing practices. Entrepreneurial marketing has been used as the\ud main conceptual framework in reviewed studies, even if findings overall still point out a\ud distance between the theoretical bases of reviewed contributions and the study of SMEs’\ud marketing behaviour and practices. Therefore, future research on the role of resources,\ud relationships and networks could benefit from the combination of theories developed\ud within the field of entrepreneurship with other approaches such as the resource-based\ud view, the dynamic capabilities theory and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing\ud (IMP) framework

Purpose Even though the crowdfunding (CF) literature is rapidly reaching its maturity phase, the topic of serial CF (i.e. the participation in more than one CF campaign) is as much promising as still largely under explored. This study thus aims to offer a thorough view of the dynamic and complex processes characterizing the participation of the start-ups to more than one campaign adopting a business network perspective. Design/methodology/approach In line with an explorative research aim, a multiple case study analysis is performed by taking into consideration four start-ups engaged in more than one CF campaigns with different combinations of equity and non-equity CF, adopting the actor–resource–activity (ARA) model as theoretical framework. Findings Multiple CF campaigns are embedded in the overall changing startup’s network and are affected by the concurrent and overlapping startup’s development processes. From this standpoint, the adoption of the ARA model suggests to reconsider the “serial” dimension of multiple CF campaigns. These processes can be more or less “linear” as they could be affected by the combination of CF schemes and by the degree of alignment of actors, activities and resources, whose “assembly” can be facilitated by learning processes and impaired by unexpected circumstances. Originality/value This paper explores in depth the startup’s serial CF journey, building on recent studies calling for stronger analyses of the directions and outcomes of innovative funding trajectories pursued and implemented by new business ventures. From this standpoint, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to consider a complete spectrum of combinations between CF schemes within serial CF, thus allowing for a better understanding of the role of such a factor within a dynamic and contextual view, that is, that offered by the business network perspective. This paper also contributes to the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing research on start-ups.

Web 2.0 influences the relationship between supply and demand even in the tourism sector, forcing those who manage destinations (DMOs) to review the ways in which they enhance a territory’s assets. As an exploratory contribution, this paper aims to answer two research questions: are the daily activities on social networks able to influence the marketing approach of DMOs and in what ways and to what extent can the daily activities on social networks enhance the brand equity of destinations?\ud We will achieve this goal by analysing the digital marketing activities of one of the top Italian destinations (case study method). \ud This paper shows that Web 2.0 offers many opportunities for value creation and promotion, but it also presents important challenges

Purpose This study aims to expand the existing body of knowledge on crowdfunding (CF) motivational patterns with special reference to intangible factors, which most scholars assume to be the most important ones, especially in non-investment-based CF. The purpose is to understand how the presence of an established brand in a CF campaign can affect backers’ funding choices and the reasons behind them. To this end, the authors combine principles from identification, brand relationship and self-determination theories. Design/methodology/approach The authors considered the (altruistic in nature) domain of CF for social causes as the most widespread type of branded CF and chose the relevant empirical setting of “research CF” run by universities which seem to be more and more interested in connecting branding and fundraising efforts through the active involvement of their “relational circles”. Accordingly, the authors surveyed an extensive sample of students as a primary stakeholder group of potentially engaged backers from one of the first Italian universities to launch a CF program and used structural equation modelling to test the research hypotheses. Findings The authors found that, despite the CF domain considered, the choices made by backers (counterintuitively, women, in particular) manifest themselves as mostly self-oriented. This is partly explained by brand identification, which fully mediates the effect of brand pride and partially mediates the effect of brand respect (BR) on funding intention. Moreover, BR also directly drives CF choices. Originality/value This study portrays a remarkably different CF playground compared with conventional campaigns for both project proponents and backers with several theoretical and managerial implications.

This study focuses on the concept of brand in the university context, evaluating the distinctive nature of design management in public institutions. The paper presents a main theoretical background, reviewing and discussing literature on branding in Higher Education, in particular addressing the concepts of brand identity, reputation, corporate image and visual identity, through the lens of marketing experience. The study shows how strategic marketing and institutional communication is gaining importance in Italian universities, moving beyond logos and names. In terms of practical implications, we describe how brand and design management are implemented as a strategic resource in a highly-revealing case study, within the perspective of action research. By stressing three issues-branding, visual identity and communication 2.0-from a situation of poor visibility and with a small investment, results can be achieved in terms of reputation and value, with an impact on the economic plan of the University.