Entrepreneurial Marketing and Social Networking in Small and Medium Service Enterprises: A Case Study into Business Dealings in Cameroon

Simon Pierre Sigué, Altante Désirée Biboum

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Articlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper investigates how owners/managers of service small and medium enterprises (SME) leverage on social networks to develop and implement successful marketing strategies. Adopting an entrepreneurial marketing perspective, in-depth interviews with owners/managers of SME in the city of Douala, Cameroon, are conducted and analyzed. We found that owners/managers of service SME use their social relationships to create and deliver customer value via market intelligence, access, and acquisition of new customers, and retention of current customers. Some specific mechanisms utilized include finding door openers to new customers, offering gifts to consolidate business and social bonds, and treating key customers like family members. Finally, the reliance on managerial relationships often can have adverse effects on some marketing activities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)338-354
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of African Business
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jul. 2020

Keywords

  • Cameroon
  • entrepreneurial marketing
  • marketing strategy
  • service SME
  • social networking

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