Call for papers: Entrepreneurial Marketing - The Interface between Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Call for papers: Entrepreneurial Marketing - The Interface between Marketing and Entrepreneurship

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Entrepreneurial marketing is a term which is receiving increasing use. It essentially encompasses two very distinct areas of management: marketing and entrepreneurship. Several overlaps between these two disciplines have recently become obvious. Empirical evidence suggests that a significant relationship exists between an enterprise’s marketing and entrepreneurial orientations exists, both widely being responsible for corporate success.

A notable amount of academic work towards this topic has been on the role of marketing in SMEs, although some scholars have also addressed the application of entrepreneurial thinking towards the marketing side of an enterprise, regardless of whether it is a large, established, new or young venture. In these cases, attempts have been made to transfer entrepreneurial concepts to marketing concepts, such as marketing strategy, product development, sales, or buyer behaviour. On the other hand, many researchers have tried to apply marketing ideas to new ventures. In addition, many entrepreneurial activities, like the identification of new opportunities, the application of innovative techniques, the conveyance of products to the marketplace, and successfully meeting customer needs in the chosen target market, are also elementary aspects of marketing theory.

Without doubt, marketing plays a crucial role not only in developing, producing, and selling products or services, but also in guiding recruiting efforts and raising capital. However, it can be stated that successful entrepreneurs undertake marketing in unconventional ways. They rely on interactive marketing methods often communicated through word-of-mouth rather than a more traditional marketing mix. They monitor the marketplace through informal networks rather than formalised market research, and generally adopt more entrepreneurial approaches to marketing activities. However, depending on the business model, a sophisticated and formalised initial market research can be crucial for a successful market entry.

Research findings on the interrelation between marketing and entrepreneurship are extremely fragmented so far, and there is no integrated analysis or comprehensive theory yet. This special issue therefore aims at contributing to the theory building of entrepreneurial marketing. Truly innovative research is appreciated. Papers can be purely theoretical or theory-driven empirical work (quantitative or qualitative).

Potential topic areas suitable for review articles include but are not limited to:

• Similarities, differences and interfaces of marketing and entrepreneurship
• Novel, innovative, risk-taking and proactive ways of marketing in new or established enterprises (such as buzz marketing, guerrilla marketing, viral marketing, internet marketing, public relations etc.)
• Marketing for start-ups and new ventures
• Strategic marketing (strategy, planning etc.) in start-ups and new ventures
• Entrepreneurial pricing
• Entrepreneurial advertising
• Entrepreneurial marketing for hiring and retaining employees
• Entrepreneurial marketing for raising financial resources
• Dealing with uncertainties in new and growing ventures
• Initial market research
• Opportunity evaluation by market research
• Pre-market entry marketing
• Relationship marketing
• Leveraging limited marketing recourses
• Identifying and evaluating marketing opportunities
• Optimizing marketing/sales tools for an entrepreneurial setting

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 14 January 2008