The Emergence of Entrepreneurial Marketing: Nature and Meaning

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the concept of entrepreneurial marketing. This term is used as an umbrella to capture conceptualizations of marketing as an innovative, risk-taking, proactive area of managerial responsibility. Such conceptualizations include guerrilla marketing, radical marketing, expeditionary marketing, subversive marketing and others. Six core dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing are identified and explored. The advantages of an entrepreneurial perspective on marketing are identified. Insights are synthesized from various literatures, including the work on corporate entrepreneurship, innovation and new product development, creative leadership, and change management. Linkages are established between entrepreneurial marketing and resource advantage theory. An integrative model is proposed that includes a number of key factors surrounding the phenomenon of entrepreneurial marketing. Conclusions are drawn regarding the intellectual substance or legitimacy of entrepreneurial marketing. Priorities are proposed for continuing research, and implications are drawn for theory development, teaching, and managerial practice.