Marketing practices of African and Caribbean small businesses in London, UK

Abstract

Presents an assessment of the marketing practices among African and Caribbean small businesses in London. Findings reveal the patchy application of an adapted market orientation framework; also indicates “informal” marketing deliberations taking place and is consistent with Stokes and Blackburn’s assertion that marketing in the small business sector seems to be an informal and unplanned activity that relies on the intuition and energy of the owner‐manager. The study was undertaken in response to calls for marketing‐related research in this sector and the results provide valuable insights into the UK’s intercultural dynamics. The study reveals considerable degree of evenness between the ease or difficulty of securing bank loans. The paper concludes by drawing attention to managerial implications and future research directions.

Market Orientation Adoption and Development of the Stock Market in Developing Economies.

“…Thus, in order to attain to a high level of economic and non-economic performance, a firm must do everything possible to enhance its market orientation behaviour. The positive link between market orientation and organisational performance is consistent with the previous works by Blankson & Omar (2002); and Ismail (2009).…”

“…"Exact Language" refers to presenting the responses exactly as said by the respondent without paraphrasing or translating the meaning. The study preferred the narrative presentation of results to other methods because the former is popular and has been used in previous qualitative market orientation researches (Blankson & Omar, 2002;Zebal, 2003 From these statements, it is proposed that, the greater endowment of managerial talents, leads to the relatively high level of market orientation. Thus management antecedents contribute to relatively significant level of market orientation.…”

Marketing planning and digital customer loyalty data in small business

“…For smaller businesses these learning processes relate to their unique nature (e.g. limited resource base, simple organizational structure, informal business processes, networking, owner-manager dominance) (Blankson and Omar, 2002;McCarton-Quinn and Carson, 2003;Moriarty et al, 2008), being based upon a more informal, unstructured and experiential context (e.g. intuitive awareness of markets) (Blankson et al, 2006).…”

“…In so doing, their capacity for adjustment depends on this flexibility and responsiveness (e.g. limited resource base, simple organizational structure, informal business processes, networking, owner-manager dominance - Blankson and Omar, 2002;McCarton-Quinn and Carson, 2003;Moriarty et al, 2008;Baker and Sinkula, 2009;Nieto and Santamaria, 2010).…”

“…These learning processes relate to the unique nature of small businesses (e.g. limited resource base, simple organizational structure, informal business processes, networking, owner-manager dominance - Blankson and Omar, 2002;McCarton-Quinn and Carson, 2003;Moriarty et al, 2008). Larger firms have the resources to develop learning-based MO routines centered on marketing intelligence, in a planned and structured manner, which is beyond the means of most small businesses.…”