An Exploration of Entrepreneurial Marketing Dimensions and Competitive Advantage in Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

The prime focus of this article was on investigating whether the dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing have any effect on an enterprise’s competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs’) setting. It further aims to close existing theoretical gaps in the previous literature concerning the scarce empirical studies on entrepreneurial marketing in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In order to respond to this gap, a structured survey was designed for obtaining the required data from several owners as well as managers of diverse SMEs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After completing data collection, the software of SmartPLS4 was used for validating the hypotheses and drawing conclusions. Based on the analysis, the results exhibited that innovativeness, resource leveraging, and customer intensity positively impact competitive advantage. The analysis also supported that opportunity focus, customer proactiveness, as well as value creation all positively affect competitive advantage. However, risk-taking dimension was found to be an insignificant predictor of competitive advantage. By providing insights into SMEs in the UAE context, this article enhances the prevailing knowledge on the connection among the selected elements of entrepreneurial marketing and competitive advantage.