The role of marketing in new ventures: How marketing activities should be organized in firms' infancy

Fürst A, Gabrielsson M, Gabrielsson P, Prigge JK (2023)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science SAGE Publications (UK and US) / Springer Verlag (Germany)

Pages Range: 966-989

Journal Issue: 51

DOI: 10.1007/s11747-022-00920-4

Abstract

Although marketing activities are vital for new ventures (NVs) to ensure growth and survival, previous research is silent on how to organize them in firms' infancy. The entrepreneurship literature focuses on which marketing activities to perform in NVs but not on how to organize these activities, whereas the marketing literature concentrates on how to organize marketing activities in established firms but not in NVs, which face specific opportunities and challenges in their early stage of development. This article aims to tackle this research gap by examining marketing's role within NVs' organization. Drawing on in-depth interviews with managers, we identify two key organizational dimensions: marketing's dispersion (related to the proliferation and, thus, wide anchoring of marketing responsibilities) and marketing's structuration (related to the manifestation and, thus, deep anchoring of marketing responsibilities). Through a field survey and archival data, we show that marketing's dispersion enhances NV profitability, while marketing's structuration decreases it, and that with increasing marketing influence (i.e., power of marketing actors) in NVs and NV maturity (i.e., age and size), this diametrical pattern of effects becomes less pronounced. Overall, the findings provide novel theoretical and practical insights into the organizational design of marketing in firms' infancy.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andreas Fürst Lehrstuhl für Betriebswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Marketing

Related research project(s)

Marketing in new firms Jan. 1, 2014 - Dec. 31, 2022

Involved external institutions

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg DE Germany (DE) University of Vaasa / Vaasan yliopisto FI Finland (FI) University of Eastern Finland FI Finland (FI)

How to cite

APA:

Fürst, A., Gabrielsson, M., Gabrielsson, P., & Prigge, J.-K. (2023). The role of marketing in new ventures: How marketing activities should be organized in firms' infancy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51, 966-989. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00920-4

MLA:

Fürst, Andreas, et al. "The role of marketing in new ventures: How marketing activities should be organized in firms' infancy." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 51 (2023): 966-989.

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