World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

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World Development Sustainability

A conceptual review on entrepreneurial marketing and business

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: This paper aims to review the current literature on entrepreneurial marketing and business sustainability while
Business sustainability explaining various scholars’ views on the relationships between these constructs. A comprehensive analysis of the
Entrepreneurial marketing previous literature on these concepts was conducted to gain better insights and in-depth knowledge regarding
Small and medium enterprises
the trends in the past studies related to the entrepreneurial marketing and Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SME)
business sustainability. It is often postulated in the literature that entrepreneurial marketing represents a key
strategy for driving and determining SMEs’ business sustainability. Therefore, some propositions were suggested
with reference to the examined literature as a basis for the future empirical investigation to examine effects of
entrepreneurial marketing dimensions on SME business sustainability. The study provides a key contribution
to current knowledge on the linkages among the entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, namely value creation,
proactiveness, customer intensity, resource leveraging, and innovativeness) and business sustainability with ref-
erence to SME’s context. This paper also addresses existing gaps in the literature on entrepreneurial marketing
and business sustainability and put forward directions for future empirical studies.

1. Introduction nomic aspects to ensure business development. Such aspects are largely
considered in the literature as the three main pillars of corporate sus-
The term ‘business sustainability’ has originated from the discussion tainability and called as the ‘triple bottom line’ [4,87]. Concerning the
on how a sustainability concept can be effectively applied to enterprises. environmental dimension, sustainability is attained by SMEs through in-
Some researchers have defined business sustainability as an enterprise’ formal approaches that aim to foster diverse development programs and
approach to achieve business competitiveness while using sustainable minimize waste [55,115]. Furthermore, the social approach emphasizes
strategies [10,41,110,112]. Thus, they have paid attention to the exis- on the involvement with communities and making significant contribu-
tence of sustainability in approaches that lead to innovation, integration, tions that can be valued by members in the society [53,110,113]. These
and collaboration in the business environment [68,112,116]. Pojasek enterprises also ensure their sustainability when they retain successful
[99] defined business sustainability as a composite means that are used economic relationships with diverse organizations because they focus
to address a company’s mission and vision. In attaining the mission of a on cooperation that would be beneficial for the business growth and
firm, entrepreneurs focus on available resources, techniques, and strate- prosperity [20,85].
gies [66]. They succeed in achieving the high-level competitiveness if Some researchers have suggested that an important predictor of
they choose a sustainable approach to utilize resources and strategies SMEs’ business sustainability is the development of the idea of en-
[60,98,99]. From this perspective, it is possible to define business sus- trepreneurship [1,27,46,95]. It is also possible to assume that the prin-
tainability as a strategic approach followed by entrepreneurs to increase ciples of entrepreneurial marketing can have a significant influence on
their competitive advantages in target markets. sustainability [7,31,75]. The rationale for this assumption lies in the fact
The continuous involvement in sustainable business practices en- that the aspects of entrepreneurial behaviors, such as resource leverag-
ables a firm to obtain a positive image in the eyes of customers who can ing, proactiveness, and innovativeness exert significant roles in predict-
maintain favorable attitudes and perceptions toward it [53,125]. There- ing corporate sustainability. From this point, if corporate leaders focus
fore, the sustainability concept emphasizes on implementing best prac- on adopting innovative approaches for the purpose of managing orga-
tices and approaches for dealing with social, environmental, and eco- nizational resources in an efficient way and invest in efforts to attract

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.R. Hanaysha).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wds.2022.100039
Received 17 May 2022; Received in revised form 12 December 2022; Accepted 18 December 2022
2772-655X/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

stakeholders to fulfill their desires, they can be considered effective in achieve further growth [30]. Institutional Theory provides useful guide-
shaping the sustainability path [14,23,101]. Thus, the leaders’ purpose lines for entrepreneurs to strengthen their competitive positions in to-
in this case is to address their responsibilities in societal and environ- day’s dynamic business environment and suggests that focusing on reg-
mental spheres [47,54,114]. ulatory aspects and legitimacy rules should be closely monitored. There-
Prior researches on entrepreneurial marketing linkages with SMEs’ fore, the theory improves our understandings with regards to the nec-
business sustainability can be categorized into three main groups: stud- essary requirements for operating within the legal settings and man-
ies on SMEs’ business sustainability (e.g. [51,62,71,139]), studies on aging business activities [32,74]. Moreover, the notions of the theory
entrepreneurial marketing (e.g. [43,135,142]; Whalen & Akaka, 2016; posit that legal institutions function as a set of operational rules which
[82]), and other researches on the association between business sustain- provide a direction for making effective decisions [37,97]. Accordingly,
ability and the elements of entrepreneurial marketing [1,90]. The last the assumptions of Institutional Theory indicate that organizations can
category is characterized by a scarce empirical research on the linkages safeguard their survival by emphasizing on the legitimacy concerns and
among entrepreneurial marketing dimensions and corporate sustainabil- complying with prevalent institutional rules and pressures in legal and
ity, particularly in SMEs context [35,52,89]. A number of researchers societal environments, and at the same time focusing on social, environ-
have indirectly highlighted that some elements of entrepreneurial mar- mental, and economic aspects of sustainability.
keting play a noteworthy role in determining the sustainability of SMEs In earlier research, Institutional Theory was used for explaining the
[7,31,75]. However, they have not focused on identifying the empirical framework of the study which was conducted by Delmas and Toffel
relationship between the variables to determine whether various en- [32] in the field of sustainability. The authors relied on Institutional
trepreneurial marketing components can influence the ability to foster Theory to describe the importance of environmental management in or-
business sustainability for SMEs [52,109]. ganizational growth. They concluded that numerous firms which have
Moreover, the recent literature reveals that the elements of en- to apply environmental policies could respond to the effect of institu-
trepreneurial marketing, for instance: resource leveraging, proactive- tional pressures in different ways. Thus, organizational success tends
ness, and innovativeness are positively interrelated with an enterprise’s to be contingent on the mechanisms selected by a company in pro-
business sustainability [27,61,68,70,90]. Particularly, several scholars moting its environmental sustainability [25,32,40,41]. Manolova et al.
emphasized on the role of entrepreneurs’ behaviors while selecting op- [78] also employed Institutional Theory to explain the influence of “reg-
portunities to develop their organizations and to the explicit means of ulatory, cognitive, and normative” institutions on the principles of en-
selecting innovative approaches to build and sustain a competitive ad- trepreneurship in evolving economies. The researchers found that, in
vantage. They also paid attention to the importance of resource leverag- most of the times, entrepreneurial practices can be influenced negatively
ing in effectively managing existing resources and detecting promising by institutional environment, because companies are expected to oper-
opportunities [24,46,65]. However, more empirical research is required ate within certain limitations, regulations, and government norms [78].
to examine whether the elements of entrepreneurial marketing have any Similarly, Institutional Theory was applied in the work of Bruton et al.
impact on corporate sustainability, particularly in SMEs. The limited em- [22] who demonstrated that every country has different set of rules and
pirical studies on the linkages between the stated concepts and the ab- requirements for investment. They added that the entrepreneurial ac-
sence of clear discussions regarding the significance of entrepreneurial tivities in some countries, such as Latin American and Asian states de-
marketing elements in the process of sustainable development indicate pend on specified institutional laws. Some of these instructional rules
that further research is needed to investigate and describe the presumed are in the best interests of the investors, while others limit their oppor-
association between both constructs [1,89,93]. Consequently, the cur- tunities for investment and profitability. Consequently, in certain coun-
rent paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature on sustainability tries, the institutional principles could be perceived as beneficial for the
and entrepreneurial marketing in SMEs’ context by reviewing the past entrepreneurs as they enable businesses to follow a standard pattern.
studies on entrepreneurial marketing dimensions and business sustain- But, in other regions, institutional principles normally represent as key
ability. It further aims to provide directions for future empirical studies limitations.
on these concepts in line with research gaps identified in the literature. Tolbert et al. [124] explored the link among Institutional Theory
The following section presents the literature review for this paper. and the entrepreneurial activity in their comparison of some data from
many studies in the field of entrepreneurship. It was found that prior re-
2. Literature review searches on entrepreneurship are repetitively built on the Institutional
Theory ideologies for describing how both entrepreneurship and the en-
2.1. Theoretical background trepreneurial marketing could be developed in diverse institutional set-
tings. The scholars declared that institutions play a noteworthy role in
Institutional Theory represents the foundations for this study. It is affecting entrepreneurial marketing, particularly in the context of SMEs
directed towards understanding enterprises that have identical institu- as they need an explicit method to manage small businesses in a definite
tional environment. The key foundations of Institutional Theory were ar- institutional environment [124]. Furthermore, previous studies verified
ticulated in the early 1980s by DiMaggio and Powell, and then, the the- that government institutions exert a significant impact on the decisions
ory has further been developed by Meyer and Scott in the same period. shaped by entrepreneurs of SMEs (Chen et al., 2020; Sadeghi et al., 2019;
DiMaggio and Powell [34] emphasized that governments, social institu- [124,143,144]). Overall, the researchers have concluded that it is vital
tions, and regulatory structures encourage organizations and urge them to put a close attention on the direct linkages between Institutional The-
to comply with the specified rules and regulations to ensure their contin- ory and entrepreneurship idea [141].
ual growth and prosperity. On the other hand, Meyer and Scott [81] em- Additionally, Starik and Kanashiro [121] focused on examining the
phasized that business organizations have to conform to governmental approaches to sustainability achievement while describing them in re-
pressures that aim to regulate business practices and ensure organiza- lation to Institutional Theory. They illustrated that the key to ensure
tional development while considering stakeholders’ interests. Accord- business sustainability appears through the ability of entrepreneurs to
ingly, Institutional Theory provides useful insights and details related follow institutional policies and codes which may restrict firms in their
to the motives for entrepreneurs to adopt particular practices to ensure undertakings, while directed towards establishing social responsibility
greater profits and economic revenues, and the same time act ethically [17,106,121]. Thus, the theory explains how organizations from differ-
in the eyes of the society and government institutions [21,136,137]. ent industries choose specific practices to maintain their profitability
According to Institutional Theory, firms have to design appropri- in fluctuating environments. It also posits that firms have to strive for
ate strategies for responding to institutional issues and complying with legitimacy by referring to institutional guidelines to deal with the is-
diverse rules and regulations in order to maintain their existence or sues that are allied with sustainable development [9,80]. Accordingly,

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M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

Institutional Theory represents a valuable framework for deliberating is “a process with an entrepreneurial spirit (marketing by founder-
the significance of entrepreneurial marketing elements in determining entrepreneur)” [44]: 266. On the other hand, Simba and Ndlovu
SMEs’ business sustainability. Moreover, it can be used for describing [117,116] viewed entrepreneurial marketing as a concept that focuses
how the dynamics in societal values and environments, in addition to on describing “the marketing processes adopted by firms which pursue
the changes in social regulations, could impact the sustainable business opportunities in chaotic and unstructured market conditions such as
practices [33,38,49,132]. those offered by the life science sector.” It is important to note that
entrepreneurial marketing plays a significant role in developing SMEs
while contributing to their competitiveness [36]; Sadiku- Dushi et al.,
2.2. Business sustainability
2019; [50].
Nevertheless, the most popular conceptualization of entrepreneurial
Business sustainability can be conceptualized as the ability to
marketing was expressed by Morris et al. [86]. The authors referred
manage and coordinate economic, social, and environmental prac-
entrepreneurial marketing to “the proactive identification and exploita-
tices and concerns to safeguard organizational growth and survival
tion of opportunities for acquiring and retaining profitable customers
[13,15,118,122,145]; Khan et al. 2015). Organizations can achieve sus-
through innovative approaches to risk management, resource leveraging
tainability objectives when they align their goals with the advances in
and value creation” [86]: 5. This definition comprises the facets which
the internal and external business environments while reaching at a
refer to the domain of entrepreneurship through proactive approaches
dynamic balance [139,146]; Moore & Manring 2008; [99]. Certain re-
and to the marketing domain through customer orientation. Therefore,
searchers documented that corporate sustainability is allied with value
for the current study, entrepreneurial marketing is described as a proac-
creation for a business with a key emphasis on exploiting promising
tive exploitation of existing opportunities to attract larger number of
opportunities and minimizing corporate risks [72,146]; Moore & Man-
customers through adopting the best innovative practices and means
ring 2008). Overall, achieving corporate sustainability requires busi-
while capitalizing on the available resources to deliver greater customer
ness practitioners to put sufficient emphasis on the accepted practices
value.
which can be recognized as socially and environmentally acceptable
It has been found with reference to the literature review that most
[129,139,147]; Rezaee, 2016; [112].
of the scholars used five dimensions to assess entrepreneurial market-
In spite of the significant number of studies on SMEs’ business sus-
ing. The dimensions include innovativeness, resource leveraging, cus-
tainability and various sustainability dimensions which have been con-
tomer intensity, proactiveness, and value creation. Proactiveness exists
ducted by different scholars, most of them have been qualitative in na-
when an enterprise acts in advance to make significant changes before
ture [79]. Olawumi and Chan [92] stated that there are limited stud-
others. It is highly adopted by entrepreneurs as an approach to distin-
ies which attempted to map the international research on business sus-
guish themselves from their rivals by providing new or novels products
tainability. Thus, there is a scarce empirical research on social, eco-
and services before them [36,45,67,90]. Proactive entrepreneurs tend
nomic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability [5,42,95,103].
to benefit from marketing research to get better understanding about
More scientific evidence is necessary to demonstrate how sustainability
customers and existing practices of competitors and come up with in-
proliferates a firm’s value and performance while considering its key as-
novative product or service offerings [96]. The proactiveness dimen-
pects. Recent literature indicated that there is an inadequate empirical
sion is mainly cantered towards identifying promising opportunities and
research which tested SMEs’ business sustainability as a general phe-
exploiting them to gain the greatest financial benefits. It was also de-
nomenon ([26]; Abdelaziz et al., 2018). That is, the majority of previous
fined by Morris et al. [86] as the ability of an entrepreneur to make
studies on business sustainability have mainly focused on large multi-
significant projections through deliberate understanding of market en-
national enterprises with key focus on social and environmental per-
vironment and dynamics in the institutional forces. Craig et al. (2014)
spectives. Still, there is a scarce research on the commitment of SMES
[149] found that proactiveness is positively associated with innovation
towards sustainability actions and on how these enterprises function to
in family firms.
fulfill social and environmental needs [42].
Innovativeness has also been widely recognized as a main element of
By looking at the earlier studies on this topic, it can be observed that
entrepreneurial marketing. Innovativeness exists when a firm involves
there are limited information on the linkages among the practices of sus-
in searching for unique, creative, and new product or service ideas to
tainability, stakeholders’ interaction, and innovation [9,108,119,134].
fulfill the needs of customers [28,105]. It represents a powerful strategy
Even though some researchers highlighted about innovation as well as
for entrepreneurs in SMEs because it emphasizes on improving existing
proactiveness while deliberating sustainability, they did not explain the
products or services via the introduction of new features. SMEs can gen-
influence of these dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing on sustain-
erate these novel ideas and understand about customers’ needs in more
ability [6,52,76]. Moreover, the majority of the prior researches were
details by collaborating with various business stakeholders and collect-
centralized on SMEs in the Western cultures, and there is minimal em-
ing the desired data through marketing research [12,46,120]. Previous
phasis on other countries’ experiences [2,9,29]. Therefore, the current
researches considered innovativeness as a significant strategy for driv-
paper is intended to review the systematic literature on SMEs’ business
ing the competitiveness of SMEs [3,56,88]. Accordingly, innovative en-
sustainability. Table 1 presents the main findings related to the above-
terprises focus on adopting advanced technologies and regularly collect
mentioned works in date order.
necessary data about target markets to improve their products, services
and operational processes [11,46]. Balka et al. [8] added that innova-
2.3. Entrepreneurial marketing tiveness leads to value creation and enhance a firms’ ability to respond
to emerging challenges from business rivals.
Previous studies have reported several definitions for en- Similarly, value creation has received momentous attention from
trepreneurial marketing. However, currently, there is no universal marketers because it directs them towards understanding customers’
conception for entrepreneurial marketing, because this concept is needs and providing superior value. Value creation can be realized
constantly evolving, and its meaning is determined by the viewpoint through combining unique resources to build brand image and generate
from which scholars elucidate the idea. According to the principal high profit margins [19,36]. It can also be defined as the ability of mar-
views, entrepreneurial marketing encompasses the aspects of both keters to detect and exploit business opportunities and act upon them
entrepreneurship and marketing [59]. A more contemporary definition through creating a product or service with distinctive features to satisfy
was suggested by Franco et al. [44] after summarizing the opinions existing needs [111]. The notion of value creation in entrepreneurial
of different scholars. They proposed that entrepreneurial marketing marketing setting was initially emerged from the traditional marketing

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M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

Table 1
Past studies on SMEs’ business sustainability.

Author(s) Year Variables Methodology Findings

Atkinson 2000 Corporate sustainability, measures Qualitative Sustainability can be evaluated with a focus on its aspects.
Newby et al. 2003 Effectiveness, response rates, data quality Quantitative The success of SME’s nested on business tendencies.
Bansal and Clelland 2004 Environmental legitimacy Qualitative Environmental sustainability depends on legitimacy and
stakeholders’ expectations.
Sull and Escobari 2004 Business growth Value Qualitative Businesses use sustainability practices to create value.
Lawrence et al. 2006 Sustainability practices Qualitative Sustainability causes long-term business progress.
Avram and Kuhne 2008 SMEs’ Social responsibilities Conceptual Analysis The social environment affects SMEs’ business sustainability
and competitive advantage.
Berns et al. 2009 Aspects of sustainability Quantitative Companies’ sustainability depends on managerial strategies.
Moore and Manring 2009 Sustainability practices Qualitative Concentrate on how SME’s sustainability foster to further value
creation.
Unsupportive local environment, Global Qualitative The sustainability of marketing depends on external pressures.
Nkamnebe 2009 market pressure, sustainable marketing,
poverty incidence
Dobni 2010 Innovation aspects Qualitative Concentrate on the stimulation of innovation on sustainable
development.
Loucks et al. 2010 Sustainability aspects Qualitative A focus on sustainability influences SMEs’ competitive
advantage.
Parrish 2010 Sustainability principles Qualitative Entrepreneurship is proficient when it is following sustainable
development.
Guido et al. 2011 Entrepreneur perceptions, marketing Quantitative Entrepreneurs’ judgments regarding SMEs’ sustainability relies
approach on their views of sustainability in the industry.
Kraus and 2012 Sustainability management Qualitative The path of sustainability makes for advancement toward the
Britzelmaier sustainable corporation.
Starik and Kanashiro 2013 Sustainability management Conceptual Analysis management of sustainability improves the profitable progress
of a firm.
Arend 2014 Sustainability practices Qualitative SME’s motivation is affected by their sustainability practices.
Müller and Pfleger 2014 Sustainability, business growth Qualitative Businesses oriented toward sustainability achieve better results.
Shields and 2015 Sustainability, business practices and Qualitative SMEs can achieve sustainability by applying a sustainability
Shelleman growth strategy or a model.

Langwell and Heaton 2016 Human resource activities, sustainability Qualitative Some human resource activities can be used to implement
sustainability in SMEs.

Camilleri 2017 Corporate social performance, financial Qualitative Sustainability can be built through responsible business
performance practices.

Cantele and Zardini 2018 Sustainability practices Quantitative Formal, economic, and social elements of sustainability
positively affect competitive advantage.

Chang and Cheng 2019 Sustainability aspects Qualitative SME must devote to ecological concerns to enhance their
sustainability.

Yussof et al. 2019 Green intellectual capital, business Quantitative Business sustainability can be achieved through green
sustainability intellectual capital

Li et al. 2020 Green innovation, business sustainability Quantitative Green innovation had a positive impact on business
sustainability

Orobia et al. 2020 Entrepreneurial framework conditions Quantitative Entrepreneurial framework conditions are essential
antecedents of corporate sustainability among both of women
and youth entrepreneurs
Belas et al. 2021 Corporate social responsibility, SME Quantitative CSR activities are positively associated with SME sustainability
sustainability

Hanaysha, et al. 2022 Innovation capabilities, business Quantitative Innovation capabilities are positively associated with business
sustainability sustainbility
Source: Compiled by the authors.

conception. Nevertheless, Morris et al. [86] illustrated that the tradi- tion to safeguard profit margins and ensure the firm’s survival. Accord-
tional view towards value creation is not suitable for unique and fluc- ingly, effective resource leveraging appears through recognizing the op-
tuating environments. Hence, the best innovative approaches to value timal use of resources to satisfy corporate goals [68,86,105]. Carnes
creation should be determined by the firms through relevant marketing et al. [24] also reported that resource leveraging enables organizations
research. to improve their innovativeness by serving social needs with limited
Resource leveraging is another key component of entrepreneurial resources.
marketing which is based on the idea of doing more using less re- Finally, customer intensity is an element that explains the efforts of
sources [36]. Successful entrepreneurs embrace this element by utiliz- entrepreneurs in attracting and maintaining customers. It also refers to
ing existing resources to cultivate a market base optimally. SMEs pros- the focus on customers as the key stakeholders in the exchange process
per and grow when they focus on resource leveraging as they tend [39,86,105,109]. This aspect is important because researchers link the
to be characterized by limited capabilities and resources [46,91,105]. image of the firm to customer orientation; however, an extreme empha-
Such limitations in organizational resources requires a proactive ac- sis on customers may jeopardize the advancement in innovation and im-

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M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

Table 2
Past studies on entrepreneurial marketing.

Author(s) Year Variables Methodology Findings

Morris et al. 2002 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Qualitative The dimensions of EM create a framework for integration and
sustainable development.
Beverland et al. 2007 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Qualitative The focus on proactiveness guarantees business effectiveness.
Becherer et al. 2008 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Qualitative Modern business persons pay more attention to leveraging
[150] resources.
Mitra et al. 2008 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Qualitative Pro-activeness leads to improving competitive advantage.
Jones and Rowley 2009 Entrepreneurial marketing aspects Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing sets the framework for the SMEs’
progress.
Mitchelmore and 2010 Entrepreneurial competence, business Qualitative Entrepreneurial competence causes business growth and
Rowley performance, business growth development.
Gilmore 2011 Entrepreneurial and SMEs marketing Qualitative The SMEs’ growth depends on using revised EM approaches.
aspects
Harrigan et al. 2011 Entrepreneurial marketing aspects Qualitative EM influences effective customer communication.
Hills and Hultman 2011 Entrepreneurial marketing aspects Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing affects the sustainable development
of businesses and their concentration on innovativeness.
Kurgun et al. 2011 Marketing components Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing enhances the ability to choose
effective strategies.
Morrish 2011 Entrepreneurial marketing aspects Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing depends on entrepreneurs and
customers to co-create value.
Webb et al. 2011 Entrepreneurial marketing aspects Qualitative An emphasis on entrepreneurship enhances business
innovation.
Bettiol et al. 2012 Marketing dimensions in SMEs Qualitative EM dimensions influence SMEs’ business progress.
Mort et al. 2012 Entrepreneurial marketing processes Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing depends on four prominent strategic
processes.
Rezvani and Khazaei 2013 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions influence business
growth.
Karimi et al. 2015 Entrepreneurial marketing, SMEs’ Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing influences the SMEs’ potential for
performance innovative performance.
Renton et al. 2015 Entrepreneurial marketing process Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing contributes to improving SMEs’
brand management and focuses on innovation.

Kajalo and Lindblom 2015 Entrepreneurial orientation, market Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation had a
orientation positive impact on SME performance

Ahmadi and O’Cass 2016 Entrepreneurial orientation, market Qualitative Entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation have a
orientation positive effect on exploratory and exploitative innovation
activities

Kilenthong et al. 2016 Entrepreneurial marketing, firm size, Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing behaviours have a systematic
founder status relationship with the age of the firms, but not with the status of
the founder

Kocak et al. 2017 Entrepreneurial orientation, market Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation influence
orientation, innovation SME performance through incremental and radical innovation

Fard and Amiri 2018 Entrepreneurial marketing, SME Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing positively influences the market and
performance innovative performances of SMEs

Sadiku-Dushi et al. 2019 Entrepreneurial marketing, SME Quantitative Opportunity focus, resource leveraging, and value creation
[148] performance affect SME performance

Rezvani and 2020 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions have a positive effect on
Fathollahzadeh innovative performance innovative performance

Alqahtani and Uslay, 2020 Entrepreneurial marketing, firm Qualitative Entrepreneurial marketing positively affects firm performance
performance
Polas and Raju 2021 Entrepreneurial opportunity, Quantitative Entrepreneurial opportunity positively affects entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial marketing decisions marketing decisions

Deku et al. 2022 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions positively affect SME
SME performance production and financial performance
Source: Compiled by the authors.

pedes a firm’s competitiveness [12]. Meanwhile, marketers can change egy to accentuate the role of customer intensity for this specific type of
customers’ attitudes and focus on managing dynamic relationships with marketing. Table 2 presents the main findings of the above-mentioned
them because they are regarded as valuable assets to achieve success works in date order.
in the market environment [12,46,90,105]. Therefore, the idea of cus-
tomer intensity stems from relationship marketing sphere which reveals 2.4. Entrepreneurial marketing and business sustainability
that building successful customer relationships represent the main strat-
egy for improving brand performance. Feng et al. [39] also showed that The topic of entrepreneurial marketing has been covered by several
customer intensity represents the foundation for value creation. This di- researchers. Still, they have only added to the literature review on this
mension is essential for firms that adopt entrepreneurial marketing strat- concept without examining its empirical association with sustainabil-

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M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

Table 3
Previous studies have explored the relationship among entrepreneurial marketing and sustainability in SMEs.

Author(s) Year Variables Methodology Findings

Kickul and Gundry 2002 Entrepreneurship aspects Qualitative Entrepreneurship requires a creative approach to business
that contributes to gain sustainability.
Gawel 2012 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions Qualitative Sustainability depends on entrepreneurs’ orientation to
entrepreneurial marketing dimensions.
Hacioglu et al. 2012 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, such as
sustainability aspects innovativeness and proactiveness, cause business
sustainability.
Sarma et al. 2013 Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions, Quantitative SMEs that use entrepreneurial marketing dimensions have
sustainability aspects a more developed business and can achieve sustainability.
Franco et al. 2014 Marketing dimensions in SMEs Qualitative SMEs’ development depends on using innovative strategies
of entrepreneurial marketing.

Green et al. 2015 Market orientation, environmental sustainability Quantitative Market orientation affects environmental sustainability
positively

Martins 2016 Entrepreneurial orientation, SME growth Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation is an essential driver of SMEs
growth

DiVito and Bohnsack 2017 Entrepreneurial orientation Mixed method Entrepreneurial orientation affects sustainability
orientation
Kisha and Awadhi 2017 Entrepreneurial orientation Qualitative The implementation of entrepreneurial activities enables
SMEs to grow and sustain their businesses.
Mullens 2018 Entrepreneurial orientation, SME sustainability Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to the
investment in sustainability initiatives

de Guimarães et al. 2018 Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and
and knowledge management orientation, knowledge management orientation are associated with a
sustainable competitive advantage sustainable competitive advantage

Youssef et al. 2018 Entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainable Quantitative Entrepreneurship is positively and strongly associated with
development sustainable development in the presence of innovation

Pratono et al. 2019 Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation lead to
sustainable competitive advantage sustainable competitive advantage

de Sousa Jabbour 2020 Innovation, entrepreneurial orientation, social Quantitative Innovation and entrepreneurial orientation are important
et al. sustainability, and environmental sustainability drivers of SMEs’ social and environmental sustainability

Nwankwo and 2020 Entrepreneurial Marketing aspects Qualitative Applying entrepreneurial marketing dimensions to SMEs
Kanyangale can increase their performance, success, and survival
Sarma et al. 2022 Entrepreneurial marketing and Business Quantitative Entrepreneurial marketing affects business development
competitiveness and business sustainability.
Source: Compiled by the authors.

ity [83,88,93,100,105]. In this paper, the past studies which focus on sustainability, and on the association among various entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial marketing and business sustainability in SMEs’ context marketing dimensions. It is also possible to declare about an obvious
are reviewed. It has been suggested that entrepreneurial marketing en- gap in this field of research. The current paper is designed to provide
ables business practitioners to apply effective strategies and methods to greater insights on sustainability topic and the association between en-
improve the value of their firms by focusing on attracting customers, trepreneurial marketing and SMEs’ sustainability. Thus, the focus is on
value creation, and innovativeness [1,59]. It has also been argued that creating an appropriate conceptual model to reflect the possible rela-
entrepreneurial marketing can contribute to improving SMEs’ innova- tionship among the stated constructs.
tive performance, as noted by Karimi et al. [63]. Furthermore, it can
contribute to improved business management and satisfaction among 3. Conceptual model
customers as discussed by Renton et al. [104]. Conversely, there is in-
sufficient literature on the empirical linkages among entrepreneurship At this stage, it is important to create a conceptual model to demon-
and sustainable development and on the association amongst EM and strate how entrepreneurial marketing dimensions can relate to SMEs’
sustainability. In addition, understanding the association between the business sustainability with particular reference to the recent research
environment and dynamics in the entrepreneurship tactics is deemed in the field. It has been postulated by several scholars that SMEs can
important [9,57,77]. maintain and improve their businesses through innovativeness, oppor-
By reviewing the existing literature on this topic, it can be seen that tunity focus, Proactiveness, and leveraging resources [36,150]; Becherer
there is only an indirect discussion on the linkages between the ele- et al., 2012. However, it is rare to come across empirical researches that
ments of EM and business sustainability, particularly in SMEs’ context explored the impact of the stated EM elements on corporate sustain-
[16,27,73,90]. Thus, in the current study’s, it is imperative to say that ability [44,65]. Various past studies indicate that these entrepreneurial
present studies on the key dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing and marketing dimensions have a role to play in SMEs’ business sustain-
the interrelationships among them are very limited [48,86]. Table 3 il- ability. These factors are indirectly discussed in some qualitative stud-
lustrates some of the previous researches on the association between EM ies as predictors of a company’s sustainable development [76,85]. Still,
and business sustainability with reference to SMEs sector. researchers are inclined to associate entrepreneurship and sustainabil-
On whole, it is possible to state that there is insufficient research on ity [133,138,140]. Therefore, the current study is important because
the empirical linkage among EM dimensions, elements of SMEs’ business it seeks to articulate assumptions with regards to the influence of EM

6
M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

Fig. 1. Entrepreneurial marketing dimensions to SMEs’ business sustainability.

components on corporate sustainability in SMEs’ context (Raposo et al., of sustainability [44]. Furthermore, customer intensity exists through
2019; [46,112,151]). This approach accentuates a link between en- developing products and services that can address customer’s expecta-
trepreneurship and sustainability. tions and influence the economic pillar of sustainability [127]. Finally,
Proactiveness is viewed as an activity to pursue greater profits that researchers found an indirect relationship between value creation and
causes leaders to make effective decisions and choose efficient business sustainability [46]. Consistent with Morris et al. [86], value creation is
processes and practices [69,102,131]. In their work, Mitra et al. [84] ap- observed when firms provide customers with new opportunities, and dif-
plied Institutional Theory to describe the role of proactiveness in real- ferent value-creating processes and strategies often lead to developing
izing business sustainability by using proactive methods and reducing the background for sustainability in a firm. In line with earlier literature,
costs [94,107,123]. Furthermore, according to Gawel [46], proactive- institutional theory serves as the basis for linking customer intensity, re-
ness can be related to sustainability while influencing efficiency and source leveraging and value creation to the pillar of corporate sustain-
equality of firms’ activities in economic, social, and environmental con- ability as firms which focus on these dimensions tend to be foster better
texts. However, the number of studies that refer to the relationship be- values to the society [58]. Based on the analysis of the recent literature
tween proactiveness and sustainability directly or indirectly is limited. in the field, the following propositions that can serve as a ground for
Therefore, the subsequent proposition is suggested: future empirical testing are formulated (see Fig. 1):

Proposition 1. Proactiveness is likely to have a positive effect on Small Proposition 3. Resource leveraging is likely to have a positive effect
and Medium Enterprises’ business sustainability. on Small and Medium Enterprises’ business sustainability.

Innovativeness in SMEs is associated with the leaders’ focus Proposition 4. Customer intensity is likely to have a positive effect on
on using innovative methods to become competitive and successful Small and Medium Enterprises’ business sustainability.
[18,102,120,152]. According to Gilmore (2011), many innovative pro- Proposition 5. Value creation is likely to have a positive effect on Small
cesses are necessary to achieve sustainability and provide customers and Medium Enterprises’ business sustainability.
with the latest methods, efficient approaches, and effective tools in
doing a business. Following Vanormelingen and Cassiman [126], in- 4. Conclusion and future research
novation and innovativeness are related to sustainability because they
become a basis for the survival of a firm in today’s competitive mar- Sustainability has been associated with the corporate vision and
ket. As a result, it is possible to expect the economic and strategic mission of several businesses. This term is relatively new, particularly
growth. From this point, innovativeness is an important factor to war- among SMEs. Prior literature suggested that EM represents a key driver
rant not only competitive advantage, but also sustainability. Vron- and determinant of business sustainability in SMEs. Nowadays, SMEs
tis et al. [128] stated that, focusing on innovativeness enables en- have been regarded as a key pillar for driving economic growth via
trepreneurs to address the needs of the society to make processes more the application of entrepreneurship principles to ensure their contin-
sustainable. Moreover, institutional theory posits that firms should be ual development. The economic policies of SMEs have been associated
innovative in order to introduce new products order services provide in past studies with entrepreneurial marketing and its elements. The
social value for the communities where they serve. Therefore, the sub- rationale for this correlation lies in the fact that SMEs’ growth can be
sequent proposition is suggested: nurtured through entrepreneurial marketing practices, for instance via
Proposition 2. Innovativeness is likely to have a positive effect on innovativeness and proactiveness. Entrepreneurial marketing represents
Small and Medium Enterprises’ business sustainability. an important strategy for dealing with emerging challenges that are as-
sociated with business sustainability of SMEs. However, more research
According to Gawel [46], sustainability is based on all dimensions of is still required to further test and verify the impact of entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial marketing, including resource leveraging. The positive marketing on SMEs’ performance and sustainability.
correlation between these phenomena was also discussed by Wallnofer In conclusion, the review of past studies indicates that there is a sig-
and Hacklin [130]. Rezvani and Khazaei [105] have further stated that nificant gap in the empirical research on entrepreneurial marketing and
resource leveraging and sustainability are positively correlated because business sustainability. The current researches are rather not compre-
knowledge, human resources, and funds are necessary for the survival hensive. They are mainly centralized either on corporate sustainability
of businesses. Customer intensity is also necessary to influence sustain- and SME growth or on the components of EM and their impact on orga-
ability of a firm, because this aspect assures that the audience’s needs nizational performance. It is hard to find integrated studies which tested
and interests will be met (Lee et al., 2021; [64,86,153]). As a result, the role of EM components in affecting business sustainability of SMEs.
there is a connection between customer intensity and the social pillar Additionally, additional research is required to clarify the significance of

7
M.E. Al-Shaikh and J.R. Hanaysha World Development Sustainability 2 (2023) 100039

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