Examples of existing research on relationship marketing in emerging markets
| Marketing practice (Source) | Focus* | Method and data | Country | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power and coordination in supply chain management (Belaya and Hanf, 2010) | NM | In-depth interviews (40 respondents) | Russia | Relations in the supply chain are affected by a variety of problems: quality of supplies, Russian management style and mentality, opportunism and absence of trust, administrative barriers, transport, logistics and infrastructure problems. Coercive or reward efforts might affect coordination |
| Business adaptation in a crisis environment (Komissarova and Grein, 2011) | IM | Survey (500 companies) | Russia | In a crisis environment, companies tend to cut costs, with a simultaneous transition to advanced and more efficient marketing techniques. Existing relations are leveraged to maintain a competitive position, but it is a situational decision rather than strategic management |
| Specific marketing practices for emerging markets (Cortez and Johnston, 2018) | NM | Survey (229 respondents) | Ems* (including Russia) | B2B marketing practice is described by four relevant challenges: the development and management of customer relationships, the understanding of marketing channels and the industrial value chain, the development of new offerings and the administration of traditional marketing communications (e.g. advertising, trade shows) |
| Strategic and internal green marketing (Papadasa et al., 2019) | NM | Survey (62 respondents) | Greece | The application of a strategic approach for green marketing and its positive relationship with a competitive advantage |
| Customer orientation approach (Smirnova et al., 2018) | IM | Survey (339 respondents) | Russia | Customer-centric strategy and customer service delivery dimensions contribute to firms’ ability to serve their customers, adapt to their market environment, and optimise growth and profitability |
| Bridge marketing theory to practice (Foltean, 2019) | IM | Meta-analysis (42 papers) | Both DMs* and Ems | New insights into marketing theory and practice by advancing knowledge in four key areas: implementing marketing strategy, digital technologies in marketing, international branding and sustainable marketing |
| Sustainable marketing orientation (SMO) Ćorića et al. (2020) | IM | Interview (148 start-ups) | Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Albania, UK, Spain | Three dimensions were confirmed: strategic integration, societal engagement and ethical capabilities – within the context of start-ups' sustainable marketing orientation |
| General marketing practice in B2B (Pedersen et al., 2020) | NM | Review (116 papers) | Both DMs and EMs | Identified B2B topic practices and the generation of a combined method of using them |
| Operating services setting in B2B (Jong et al., 2021) | IM | Meta-analysis (60 papers) | Both DMs and EMs | Identify and discuss the impact of five important trends in which digitisation will fundamentally impact the future of B2B services as enablement services within channels: 1) gamification to engage and motivate, 2) personalisation to enrich interactions, 3) mixed realities (MR) to revolutionise offerings, 4) data visualisation to enhance decision-making and 5) privacy as an empowerment tool |
| Social networking site (SNS) marketing activities Wang et al. (2021) | NM | Survey (240) respondents) | China | SNS marketing activities perceived by customers in traditional markets, such as interaction, word of mouth, and information on an SNS platform, had a positive influence on customer perceptions of value, brand, and relationship, and this will help traditional markets improve future sales |
| Integrated marketing communications (IMC) Butkouskaya et al. (2021) | IM | Survey (540 respondents) | Spain, Belarus | The specific role of customer performance in IMC effectiveness companies of various sizes applying an inter-country context |
| Corporate marketing (Podnara and Balmer, 2021) | NM | Meta-analysis (over 100) | Both DMs and EMs | Corporate marketing has not yet been accorded high-profile status within marketing. In the past, reflections have been made in this regard in relation to the “fog” surrounding the broad territory and the fact that a disregard of corporate, and what is called “corporate marketing myopia,” can be prevalent amongst both scholars and practitioners |
| Marketing standardization/adaptation (Mandler et al., 2021) | IM | Meta-analysis (68 papers) | Both DMs and EMs (including Russia) | When marketing-mix standardisation is treated as a whole and not separated into its individual elements, it positively relates to overall international performance, economic/financial performance, and strategic performance |
| Multi-marketing performance performance (Buhalis and Volchek, 2021) | NM | Meta-analysis (164 academic and 31 industry sources) | Both DMs and EMs | The characteristics of marketing attribution as data-driven analytics for marketing performance assessment |
| Marketing practice (Source) | Focus* | Method and data | Country | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power and coordination in supply chain management ( | NM | In-depth interviews (40 respondents) | Russia | Relations in the supply chain are affected by a variety of problems: quality of supplies, Russian management style and mentality, opportunism and absence of trust, administrative barriers, transport, logistics and infrastructure problems. Coercive or reward efforts might affect coordination |
| Business adaptation in a crisis environment ( | IM | Survey (500 companies) | Russia | In a crisis environment, companies tend to cut costs, with a simultaneous transition to advanced and more efficient marketing techniques. Existing relations are leveraged to maintain a competitive position, but it is a situational decision rather than strategic management |
| Specific marketing practices for emerging markets ( | NM | Survey (229 respondents) | Ems* (including Russia) | B2B marketing practice is described by four relevant challenges: the development and management of customer relationships, the understanding of marketing channels and the industrial value chain, the development of new offerings and the administration of traditional marketing communications (e.g. advertising, trade shows) |
| Strategic and internal green marketing ( | NM | Survey (62 respondents) | Greece | The application of a strategic approach for green marketing and its positive relationship with a competitive advantage |
| Customer orientation approach ( | IM | Survey (339 respondents) | Russia | Customer-centric strategy and customer service delivery dimensions contribute to firms’ ability to serve their customers, adapt to their market environment, and optimise growth and profitability |
| Bridge marketing theory to practice ( | IM | Meta-analysis (42 papers) | Both DMs* and Ems | New insights into marketing theory and practice by advancing knowledge in four key areas: implementing marketing strategy, digital technologies in marketing, international branding and sustainable marketing |
| Sustainable marketing orientation (SMO) | IM | Interview (148 start-ups) | Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Albania, UK, Spain | Three dimensions were confirmed: strategic integration, societal engagement and ethical capabilities – within the context of start-ups' sustainable marketing orientation |
| General marketing practice in B2B ( | NM | Review (116 papers) | Both DMs and EMs | Identified B2B topic practices and the generation of a combined method of using them |
| Operating services setting in B2B ( | IM | Meta-analysis (60 papers) | Both DMs and EMs | Identify and discuss the impact of five important trends in which digitisation will fundamentally impact the future of B2B services as enablement services within channels: 1) gamification to engage and motivate, 2) personalisation to enrich interactions, 3) mixed realities (MR) to revolutionise offerings, 4) data visualisation to enhance decision-making and 5) privacy as an empowerment tool |
| Social networking site (SNS) marketing activities | NM | Survey (240) respondents) | China | SNS marketing activities perceived by customers in traditional markets, such as interaction, word of mouth, and information on an SNS platform, had a positive influence on customer perceptions of value, brand, and relationship, and this will help traditional markets improve future sales |
| Integrated marketing communications (IMC) | IM | Survey (540 respondents) | Spain, Belarus | The specific role of customer performance in IMC effectiveness companies of various sizes applying an inter-country context |
| Corporate marketing ( | NM | Meta-analysis (over 100) | Both DMs and EMs | Corporate marketing has not yet been accorded high-profile status within marketing. In the past, reflections have been made in this regard in relation to the “fog” surrounding the broad territory and the fact that a disregard of corporate, and what is called “corporate marketing myopia,” can be prevalent amongst both scholars and practitioners |
| Marketing standardization/adaptation ( | IM | Meta-analysis (68 papers) | Both DMs and EMs (including Russia) | When marketing-mix standardisation is treated as a whole and not separated into its individual elements, it positively relates to overall international performance, economic/financial performance, and strategic performance |
| Multi-marketing performance performance ( | NM | Meta-analysis (164 academic and 31 industry sources) | Both DMs and EMs | The characteristics of marketing attribution as data-driven analytics for marketing performance assessment |
Note(s): NM = network marketing, IM = interaction development, DMs = developed markets and EMs = emerging markets
Source(s): Authors’ own elaboration
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