Entrepreneurial marketing: conceptual exploration and link to performance

Purpose – Marketing and entrepreneurship have been recognized as having significant interrelations, and to get potentiated when jointly implemented. A whole branch of literature is attempting to specify the synergistic effects and to prove it useful for firms' performance. Most entrepreneurial marketing (EM) advantages are found in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and in turbulent environments, that is why, sometimes EM is applied in its constrained form; being the EM definition, a not‐resolved issue. Nevertheless, EM may be used by all sorts of firms in all kinds of contexts. The purpose of this paper is to extend this discussion and propose an integrated conceptual framework. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework arises from an exploration of the main definitions of EM to date, pointing out the conceptual backgrounds they stress, and extends on marketable entrepreneurship (ME), entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and entrepreneurial marketing orientation (EMO), conducting a revision on the existent literature. Findings – In total, three lines of interest are outlined; namely ME, EM and EMO. The first two refer to operative functions, such as those of new product development or marketing mix; while the latter describes a strategic extension that implies the intertwined effects of market and entrepreneurial orientation. Originality/value – Overall, this paper proposes an integrated conceptual framework for EM research and highlights the synergies between both marketing and entrepreneurship on performance through two distinct paths: improved marketing outcomes with entrepreneurial marketing; and improving entrepreneurship outcomes with marketable entrepreneurship.