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This study aims to establish marketing practices which predict business performance of architecture firms within the Nigerian Construction Industry (NCI) to address the sustained poor business performance of firms, which affects allied professionals as many projects in the built environment depend on design proposals from architects.

Survey responses from 86 firms were used to model business performance measured as total revenue of the firms from 40 commonly deployed marketing practices in construction.

Two-thirds of the marketing practices most used by architectural firms were ineffective in predicting business performance. The model also explains up to half the variance in business performance (37.4–49.9%), supporting the view that marketing in the CI affects business performance. Researching client needs and competitors emerged as the only significant positive predictor of business performance (β = 0.827, p = 0.043). Using social media (β = −1.247, p = 0.004), regular participation in awards/competitions (β = −1.420, p = 0.013) and inclusion of political offers in bids (β = −1.050, p = 0.016) negatively predicted business performance.

Architecture and allied professional bodies in Nigeria need to rethink existing restrictions regarding marketing based on traditional code of ethics in light of present-day realities of digital and internet business environments. Principals and management of architecture firms require a paradigm shift in deploying the appropriate marketing practices, especially as it relates to research regarding changing client expectations and current competition within the NCI.

The study established marketing practices which model business performance and demonstrate their value in a framework for improving the financial sustainability of architecture firms within the NCI.

The paper aims to reveal the impact of relationship marketing (RM) practices adopted by companies in emerging markets on their market and financial performance (FP) over a long-term, 13-year perspective.

The research design combines primary empirical data from 229 Russian companies, based on the Contemporary Marketing Practices (CMP) survey, and objective FP data from official statistical databases for 2008–2020 to verify the impact of RM practices on market and FP in the long term.

The research underlines the significant impact of RM practices. It is important to notice that the effect of product development (PD) on marketing performance is mediated by competitor orientation. PD affects market and FP, whose roles vary with the return on assets (ROA).

Research design supplements the subjective survey data with the objective FP data on the ROA to avoid common method bias.

Implementation of RM practices by Russian companies can increase their effectiveness of performance in the long term.

This research shows the positive impact of RM practices on the FP of Russian firms over the past 13 years.

This paper aims to explore how music festival organisers negotiate diversity and inclusion in marketing and promotion practices through symbolic and social boundaries.

Based on semi-structured interviews with 18 festival organisers in Rotterdam and participant observation with six festival photographers I show that symbolic and social boundaries are employed in three areas: (1) boundaries in festival format (i.e. [partially] free or ticketed), (2) boundaries in distribution partners and technologies and (3) boundaries in promotional content.

Symbolic and social boundaries are intentionally used by festival organisers to build and delineate festival audiences. Implications are drawn on current understandings of the accessibility of music festival spaces, arguing that festival research should move beyond within-space dynamics to grasp the negotiation of diversity and inclusion at festivals more fully.

While music festivals are often marketed as celebratory spaces that are “welcoming to everyone”, few studies have investigated diversity and inclusion nor marketing and promotion practices at music festivals. This study shows how festival audiences are shaped through marketing and promotion practices.

This study aims to identify the causes of the academia-industry divide in hospitality marketing research in the form of the “Research Devaluation Map” and offers ideas for discussion points and suggestions for change.

The conceptualization of the Research Devaluation Map was developed at an invitational thought-leadership conference. The authors were asked to produce a forward looking, critical reflection of hospitality marketing scholarship. The authors generated a preliminary idea and developed a methodology for its implementation. They then proposed a framework that explicated the divide between hospitality marketing research and industry practice and a list of discussion points regarding possible solutions.

The issues currently challenging the hospitality research field are found to include the choice of research topics (the “what”), the methods used in research (the “how”) and the systemic factors that shape the academic culture (the “systemic”). These three factors lead to a mutual devaluation of the academic–industry relationship in hospitality marketing, causing a schism between research and industry practice.

The Research Devaluation Map serves as a springboard for future research studies, providing a framework for naming and operationalizing the antecedents and results of the divide between hospitality marketing research and practice.

This paper takes a holistic look at the gaps in current hospitality marketing research and puts forth a framework to explain the roots of these issues. While certain of these issues are known to both researchers and practitioners, the originality of this paper lies in the creation of the Research Devaluation Map that identifies the causes and results of the disconnect between research and practice.

This study aims to contribute to the field of customer portfolio management by proposing a novel approach rooted in dialectic critical realism (DCR). DCR, as an ontological theory, enables a fundamental reimagining of customer portfolio management as a dialectic process. The conceptualized dialectic portfolio management is motivated by the concept of “absence”, akin to Hegelian “antithesis”, which highlights limitations, problems and tensions in portfolio management. In essence, “absence” serves as a diagnostic tool that directs portfolio actions towards resolving problems by pursuing a more comprehensive “totality”, similar to the Hegelian notion of “synthesis”.

This conceptual paper theorizes DCR in business marketing and customer portfolio management.

DCR conceptualizes customer portfolios as relational structures characterized by omissions and tensions. These issues are addressed through a dialectic synthesis aimed at achieving a more comprehensive “totality”. Consequently, DCR guides portfolio management to continually re-think the connections and distinctions that define a portfolio within its network context. This dialectic process is facilitated by a novel vocabulary that enhances the understanding of network and portfolio relations, incorporating concepts such as “intrapermeations”, “existential constitutions”, “intra-connections” and “intensive” and “extensive” portfolio practices.

This study aims to foster a fresh and process-oriented perspective on portfolio management, drawing inspiration from the growing demand for enriched dialectic theorizing within the realm of business marketing. The adoption of a dialectic process orientation based on DCR revolutionizes the comprehension of portfolio management by fundamentally reimagining the underlying ontological assumptions that underpin the existing body of literature on customer portfolios. Moreover, DCR asserts that ethical considerations are inextricably linked to human experiences and associated practices, emphasizing ethics as an integral component of customer portfolio management.

This study aims to delve into the lived experiences, challenges and visions of women entrepreneurs in Jordan, placing a magnifying glass on those spearheading or co-pioneering start-ups. It aims to understand the myriad factors that influence their entrepreneurial journey, from motivation to the future of their niche.

Adopting a qualitative lens, this study is anchored in semi-structured interviews encompassing 20 Jordanian women entrepreneurs. Following this, thematic analysis was deployed to dissect and categorize the garnered insights into ten salient themes.

The study reveals that personal experiences and challenges are pivotal in directing these women towards niche markets, aligning with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Tools such as digital instruments, customer feedback and innovative strategies like storytelling and augmented reality are integral to their entrepreneurial success, resonating with the resource-based view (RBV). Additionally, challenges like cultural barriers and infrastructural limitations are navigated through adaptive strategies, reflecting the resilience inherent in these entrepreneurs. Networking, mentorship, embracing technological advancements and implementing sustainable practices are highlighted as crucial elements underpinned by the social identity theory (SIT).

Contrary to the extant body of research, this study provides new insights into the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Jordan, highlighting the practical relevance of theories like TPB, RBV and SIT for both policymakers and the start-up community in niche markets.

This study aims to explore what characteristics contribute to the definition of relevance in business-to-business (B2B) marketing research and how/why different strands of B2B marketing maintain or lose their relevance.

This study is conceptual. It adopts a performative-phenomenal standpoint for B2B marketing research and approaches relevance through the concept of episteme, which is considered pivotal for understanding this phenomenon.

This study proposes four axioms that define the characteristics of relevance in B2B marketing research and discusses their implications for scholars and practitioners. Consequently, an action plan for revitalizing B2B marketing research is developed, comprising learning and temporal dimensions, resulting in nine different relevance types.

The central argument put forward in this study is that different research strands of B2B marketing have deeply rooted epistemic underpinnings that influence their interpretation of relevance. Consequently, fostering dialogue between practitioners and scholars is considered necessary to sustain relevance in B2B marketing research. B2B scholars are urged to think beyond their subspecialized silos and acknowledge how the business environment and the various strands of B2B marketing congruently shape B2B marketing relevance, while also embracing research methods that bring them closer to business practice.

Marketing practitioners and academics continue to drift apart. This study puts forward three recommendations to bring marketing academics and practitioners closer together.

The study contributes to the B2B marketing literature by grappling with the theory-praxis gap and critically exploring what constitutes relevance in B2B marketing research.

The primary aim of this study is to gain insight into the entrepreneurial marketing strategy (EMS) decisions made by microenterprises in the craft sector and draw comparisons between the marketing strategy formulation and implementation of conventional businesses and those of craft-based microenterprises with a specific focus on the context of emerging markets, particularly India.

This paper follows a qualitative interpretivist paradigm using a multiple-case methodology approach. It tracks craft-based microenterprises that make furniture or home décor products in India. The study participants were the founders, principal designers, studio managers or craftspersons.

This study’s findings reveal that craft-based microenterprises implement an EMS that adopts a hybrid form of market orientation strategy. In this approach, the product or creative concept is at the centre of the decision-making, and the customer needs are factored in at a later stage for customisation. These microenterprises prioritise product positioning over segmentation and targeting strategies.

This study tries to understand marketing strategy decision-making processes among craft-based microenterprises in India. Given that study participants came from only two-product-based craft businesses, this limits the generalisability of the findings to similar or related contexts. This study provides a framework and methodology for replication in other contexts and industries to formulate a nuanced understanding of micro, context-specific, craft-based businesses.

This study uses qualitative analysis to understand EMS in craft-based businesses in India. This study contributes to this fledgling stream of literature at the interface of marketing and entrepreneurship to understand entrepreneurial marketing. This study analyses the marketing strategy of craft-based businesses using the framework of Morgan et al. (2019).

The focus of this study is on how online-only retailers, known as pure-play e-retailers, leverage e-commerce platforms to identify and pursue market opportunities. Through the perspective of entrepreneurial marketing, this study aims to explore the influence of e-commerce technologies on the decision-making process of entrepreneurial marketing. This exploration is conducted via a case study of pure-play e-retailers based in China.

This study utilised a qualitative case study methodology to examine the complex processes of entrepreneurial marketing in an online environment. The study gathered detailed insights from both owner-managers and staff members of eight pure-play e-retail businesses. Additionally, the research involved a careful review of the firms' webpages and social media pages. This holistic approach facilitated a comprehensive understanding of their marketing strategies and practices.

The case study findings indicate that while many core aspects of entrepreneurial marketing remain important, there are distinct factors influencing the entrepreneurial marketing decision-making in the online marketplace. The online EM framework can be visualised as follows: (1) trend-orientated as well as innovative-orientated (2) data-orientated and entrepreneur-orientated (3) innovative-driven customer stimulation (4) orientated towards both platforms and proactiveness.

The paper provides an initial understanding of how digitalisation is enabling and transforming entrepreneurship in companies with high level digitalisation but low level digital development. Building on current entrepreneurial marketing literature, this paper develops an online entrepreneurial marketing framework to enhance understanding of the interaction between e-commerce technology and entrepreneurial marketing decision making.

This study aims to focus on a specific project marketing concept, i.e. “discontinuity,” and analyzes how this concept emerged in project marketing, becoming its key scholarly embodiment, how it became decoupled from the increasingly service-intensive project business practice and what the relevance of discontinuity is for project marketers moving forward.

This study is built on a systematic literature review of 31 years (1993–2023) of publishing data from major marketing and management journals.

This study provides three findings. First, the author reveals the risks related to marketing scholars and practitioners losing sight of each other as business practices evolve much faster than scholarly research can keep up. Second, the author highlights the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing conceptual innovations. Finally, the research elucidates the need for broader metatheoretical reflection to keep this research tradition on an upward trajectory.

The aim of this study is not to criticize project marketing, as many strands of business-to-business (B2B) marketing face the same challenge, but to elucidate a need for conceptual innovations, collaboration with practitioners and other disciplines and broader metatheoretical reflection to keep this research tradition on an upward trajectory.

This study makes several contributions to the project marketing research tradition. First, it reviews the emergence and dissipation of the concept of discontinuity, drawing on semantical, etymological and epistemological insights. It also reflects on recent disruptions in the marketplace and envisions future research trajectories for this elusive concept. In addition, the author develops a conceptual framework that combines project types with exchange elements in project and service businesses. This conceptual framework helps elucidate what part of the exchange is continuing and what is discontinuing in the resulting business relationships. Furthermore, the research contributes to B2B marketing more broadly by highlighting the fleeting correspondence between theory and the real world. It underscores the need for constant updates to maintain relevance.