Title: Innovative marketing in SMEs: an empirical study

Authors: Hamideh Zakerian; Seyed Ehsan Mokhtari; Mohammad Ali Jabbari Sabegh; Mohammad Hosseinpour Jomadi

Addresses: International Business School, Universtiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Semarak, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Business School, Universtiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Semarak, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' School of Management, QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia ' Department of Business Management, Faculty of Management, Sciences and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardebil, Iran

Abstract: As innovation in marketing plays a fundamental role in the success of SEMs in the current competitive market, it is crucial to understand the effects of various marketing activities on innovative marketing. This study investigates the impact of important variables on innovative marketing of SEMs. It was conducted on the employees of SEMs in Malaysia in which 300 survey questionnaires were distributed among them. The results of data analysis indicate that corporate and strategy fit, integrated marketing, modification, and customer focus significantly contribute to innovative marketing in SMEs. In other words, SMEs can improve their marketing innovation by appropriate adoption of corporate and strategy fit, proper integrated marketing activities, modification of marketing processes, and analysis of customers' preferences and taste.

Keywords: innovative marketing; small to medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; Malaysia; corporate fit; strategy fit; integrated marketing; modification; customer focus; marketing innovation; customer preferences; customer taste.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2017.10002767

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2017 Vol.12 No.3, pp.315 - 336

Received: 18 Oct 2014
Accepted: 17 Dec 2014
Published online: 07 Feb 2017 *

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