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Entrepreneurial marketing in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) is very different to marketing prescribed theoretically for large organisations. The purpose of this paper is to present research evidence on the impact of internet‐based technologies (IBTs) on the customer relationship management (CRM) activities (i.e. e‐CRM) of SMEs in Ireland.

A mixed methods approach incorporating an online questionnaire, qualitative in‐depth interviews and projective techniques was adopted. Factor analysis was carried out on 286 respondents, which led to communication with customers and the management of customer information being distilled as key areas within e‐CRM in SMEs.

To varying extents, SMEs are adopting relatively simple IBTs to improve customer communication and information management capabilities and to create competitive advantage through e‐CRM. SMEs find the communication aspect of e‐CRM easier, but struggle to integrate customer information into their decision making. In all, e‐CRM tends to be ad hoc rather than strategic in SMEs.

SMEs must use technologies to compete with larger organisations in today's global marketplace. These technologies may be relatively simple, but the focus must always be on how they can impact on the relationship with the customer making it more efficient without losing effectiveness.

This study, by reporting how SMEs innovate in marketing, sheds light on an important theoretical and practical area. Theoretically, the paper breaks down e‐CRM into key capabilities that may apply to larger organisations as well.

For several hundreds of years printing has been the only effective channel for spreading mass communication. During the 1900s several new media channels have been invented and, with the addition of the Internet, this has both changed the way media is consumed and has increased the competition between different channels. This qualitative case study of 37 firms reports on how relationships are used in the printing industry to relieve some of the impact of the competitive forces from new, and easily accessible, media as a means for marketing and, furthermore, on the impact on the printing industry as an industry. The results from the case study show that there are both internal and external effects of forming relationships and those vertical, as well as horizontal, relationships are of great importance to create a sustainable competitive situation for the printing industry. Relationships are used to increase both the strategic flexibility of the firm and the flexibility of the print media channel. Furthermore, the study illustrates that the printing industry, and print as a medium of communication, is drifting gradually away from the actual customer due to the new paradigm of value creation.

Social media has become an indispensable part of modern politics. Its rise in the political arena has coincided with the decline in trust toward mainstream media. Today, more than half of the population gets their political news and information through social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Social media offers a great marketing opportunity to politicians as they allow them to bypass traditional media and communicate directly with voters, engage citizens during campaign and noncampaign periods, and create a brand image. As social media's influence in politics grows, so has the research devoted to political marketing on social media. It is against this backdrop that this chapter is written, which provides readers with an overview of the academic domain and the current state of literature. The chapter highlights the various research areas that have been explored in the literature and the implications of social media for political marketing strategy, along with the domain's current limitations and possible avenues of further research.

The proliferation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has threatened the service industry, especially the restaurant sector, requiring innovative ways to help restaurants overcome this challenge. Thus, based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of customers' perception of a restaurant's innovativeness (CPRI) in brand evangelism by mediating customer engagement (CE). Additionally, this study examines the moderating role of customer openness to experience.

A Web-based survey collected the primary data from 483 Egyptian customers. The data were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling method based on WarpPLS.7 software.

According to the findings, CPRI, which acts as a stimulus in the SOR model, positively affects CE (organism) and brand evangelism (response). CE positively affects restaurant evangelism. Additionally, CE mediates the relationship between CPRI and evangelism. Openness to experience moderates the relationship between CPRI, engagement and brand evangelism.

This study addresses the gaps in understanding CE and brand evangelism within the context of restaurant innovation. This study assesses restaurant innovativeness scales of developing economies in multiple dimensions. Egyptian restaurant marketing managers should innovate products, services, experiences, and promotions to increase consumer engagement and feedback through technology.

This study investigates how Egyptian restaurants engage with and evangelise customers through innovation. This is one of the few studies that examine brand evangelism in a restaurant setting from the perspective of the SOR theory. Additionally, this study analyses CE as a mediator and openness to experience as a moderator.

Relationship marketing principles have seldom been applied to the small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME). The purpose of this paper is to develop what is a striking link by presenting empirical evidence on the role of internet technologies in the customer relationship management activities of Irish SMEs. More specifically, this is a comparative study investigating electronic‐customer relationship management (e‐CRM) in international and domestic firms. The nature and role of e‐CRM is assessed, the strategies behind e‐CRM delineated, and the ensuing benefits and challenges revealed.

The paper has an exploratory outlook and a quantitative approach to data collection is adopted to facilitate broad classification in an under researched area. A self‐completion questionnaire is distributed to a sample of 1,445 SMEs. A response rate of 20 per cent is obtained, providing 286 usable responses. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed using SPSS.

The findings of this paper confirm that SMEs are implementing fundamental e‐CRM practices. Those firms serving international markets tend to place greater emphasis on e‐CRM and are reaping greater benefits. Benefits range from enhanced customer service, reduced business cost, increased sales, and improved profitability. Challenges are few, but centre on a preference for face‐to‐face relationships and a lack of government support.

It is hoped that this exploratory research has laid the foundation for further examination of e‐CRM in the SME context. Future research will add explanation through in‐depth qualitative methods, while the potential exists to replicate the study in other countries. The authors conclude that e‐CRM can and must move on to a more strategic and integrated level if SMEs in Ireland are to compete both locally and globally.

This paper has shed light on the marginalised subject of e‐CRM in SMEs. For SMEs operating in a peripheral economy such as Ireland, the benefits to be gained from e‐CRM are lucrative. SMEs viewing their market beyond national borders are using e‐CRM to achieve a range of business benefits. The quantitative methodology adopted has provided an exploratory, yet solid, insight into an important area for academics and practitioners.

The U.S. airline industry provides an example of a mature industry in which firms can exercise specific kinds of strategic marketing options. This paper examines the relationships between specific options and particular competitor groups. A matrix of strategic marketing options and competitor groups is developed. The paper also discusses the implications of the matrix for considering future opportunities.

Extant research posits that mergers and acquisition (M&As) do not create value. Still many firms adopt expansion strategies such as alliances, joint ventures (JVs), and M&As to grow and enhance their performance. Through performing a meta-analysis on 204 papers that assess the relationship between the three most prevalent expansion strategies formed by firms, alliances, JVs, and M&As and their different substantive and symbolic performance effects, this study contributes in two ways. First, it becomes clear that alliances and M&As enhance a firm’s substantive performance, while no positive performance effect is observed for JVs. In turn, all three expansion strategies boost a firm’s symbolic performance in terms of its legitimacy and status. Second, a distinction between their effects on a firm’s substantive performance in terms of their market-based and accounting-based performance shows that alliances and M&As both positively contribute to a firm’s accounting-based performance, while only the former spurs a firm’s market-based returns. This indicates that M&As have more long-term accounting-based performance effects compared to alliances and JVs, which suggests that in the long-term firms do best by expanding through M&As.

Instagram is a social media platform that has quickly evolved from a photo-sharing application to a successful marketing tool. It holds various business opportunities, and its rapid growth helps showcase the business offerings. Its innovative use of adverts entices clients, and its visual nature complements the social media marketing strategy. Thus, looking at the dynamic nature and growth of the platform, this chapter outlines the past research trends in the literature of Instagram marketing as the primary objective. This structured review undertakes the study of 76 articles based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and analyzes the literature in different contexts. This chapter includes the hybrid review (narrative and framework-based), and findings from the literature highlight a significant influence of Instagram marketing on users. During the brief description of the literature in a different context, the numerous research gaps are outlined with future research directions based on the ADO framework. Lastly, it also presents a broader overview of the managerial and theoretical implications based on the literature of Instagram marketing.