Nature and antecedents of a marketing approach according to Italian SME entrepreneurs

Purpose The purpose of this research is to explore the conception of marketing held by entrepreneurs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in comparison with that proposed by researchers using different paradigms (i.e. the transactional, relationship, or inductional marketing). It then seeks to examine the determinants of the entrepreneurs' intention to adopt a marketing approach in their firms. Design/methodology/approach The research is articulated in a pilot and a main study, which were carried out on a stratified sample of more than 200 Italian entrepreneurs. It adopts exploratory research techniques to investigate the entrepreneurs' perceptions of the marketing concept and applies Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to quantitatively assess the psychological antecedents of their intention to adopt a “marketing approach” (i.e. what they mean by that). Findings Results clearly show that the “concept of marketing” as perceived by Italian SME entrepreneurs differs from that proposed by academic researchers and subjective norm (as an indicator of corporate culture) is the main determinant of the entrepreneurs' intention to adopt a marketing approach. Research limitations/implications The research stresses that a wide gap exists between academic researchers' and entrepreneurs' conceptions of marketing. The existence of a proper organizational culture can foster the diffusion of a marketing approach among firms. Originality/value The research contributes to the literature on contemporary marketing theory and practice, by showing the existence of a need “to market the marketing approach” at least among Italian SME entrepreneurs.