Details
Year: 2019
Published in: Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research
Cited as: Asgari Ghods, M. (2019). “Entrepreneurial marketing: the missing link in social enterprise studies.” Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research 9(1): 39.
Abstract
In spite of the recurrent emphasis on the importance of social enterprise (SEs) in the entrepreneurship literature, there has never been a research conducted on the marketing approaches for a social enterprise. The focus of this article is on the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) aspects in social enterprises by reviewing more than 170 articles that had to do with SEs and marketing including marketing for non-profits, SE management, financing SEs, social marketing, services marketing, relationship marketing, and entrepreneurial marketing. The analysis of the review revealed that a social enterprise can enjoy the elements of entrepreneurial marketing in four areas: first, in competing in the market; second, in its endeavors to attract finance to its structure; third, in employing volunteers; and fourth, in presenting its services or product to its target audience. The relative domains are finally proposed in a model of entrepreneurial marketing in social enterprises which shows that EM in SEs is not a single-dimension phenomena but is rather a multipurpose tool in service of any social enterprise to be enjoyed in the four aforementioned areas.
Recommendations from this resource
Social Entrepreneurs
1) When SEs embark on employing volunteers, they have to keep in mind the importance of promotion opportunities for the volunteers regarding their experience and expertise and also prepare an enjoyable work environment for them. 2) SEs also have to count big time on communication especially while interacting with their target audience. Since budgeting during the first period is mostlly conducted by donations and investments of donors, social enterprises have to augment their communication skills and also make the donors/investors sure about the SROI. Making and keeping networks are other tools that can help SEs perform better in this area.3) Managers are advised to mantain close relations and interactions to their customers; they are also advised to have a more creative and innovative approaches.
