This study explores absorptive capacity on SMEs marketing performance through aggressive marketing strategy as a mediating variable. The study's novelty lies in developing an empirical model that proposes an aggressive marketing strategy to bridge the research gap between absorptive capability and SMEs marketing performance. This study involved 200 SMEs in East Sumba Regency, Indonesia. All hypotheses proposed were proven valid, indicating that absorptive capability, aggressive marketing strategy, proactive market orientation, and innovation capability have a significant influence on improving SMEs performance. This finding strengthens the logical relationship between variables and clarifies the theoretical framework used. In addition, this conceptual model is relevant in capturing business phenomena in the field, making it an essential reference for SMEs development. This study concludes that the synergy between absorptive capacity, proactive market orientation, innovation capability, and aggressive marketing strategy provides a strong framework for SMEs to achieve competitive advantage in a dynamic market.
Situmorang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.