Title: Entrepreneurial success and low-budget internet exposure: the case of online-retailing

Authors: Lambert T. Koch, Kati Schmengler

Addresses: Chair of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Bergische University of Wuppertal, Gaubstrasse 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany. ' Chair of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Bergische University of Wuppertal, Gaubstrasse 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany

Abstract: Online-retailing might be regarded as a solution to the challenge of becoming and remaining competitive in an evolutionary and dynamic economic environment, especially for entrepreneurs. Theoretical requirements concerning online-retailing that are discussed in the common literature are mostly not appropriate for newly founded enterprises. They are very extensive and to bring them to fruition often involves financial resources entrepreneurs cannot obtain. The aim of this paper is to fill the seeming research gap in literature on low-budget marketing, especially internet marketing. Regarding entrepreneurial companies and empirical literature, the central propositions of this paper maintain that, firstly, low-budget internet exposures of entrepreneurial firms are successful mainly in a market niche, and secondly, that they evolve corresponding to the company|s development. Theoretical approaches taken into consideration are the resource-based view to analyse the capability of development in the context of the life-cycle model.

Keywords: entrepreneurial companies; entrepreneurial lifecycle model; entrepreneurship dynamics; low-budget internet exposures; online retailing; e-tailing; resource-based view; RBV; new ventures low-budget marketing; internet marketing; e-entrepreneurship; electronic entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2006.009254

International Journal of Technology Management, 2006 Vol.33 No.4, pp.438 - 451

Published online: 13 Mar 2006 *

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