Issue #4 (Volume 16 2020)

SMEs are limited in their business development. This study is built on previous research conducted in four developing countries (Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and India). It is difficult to access a bank to get a loan, they have no understanding of how to produce quality products or services, and they have no awareness to get used to learning; these are the problems faced by SMEs.
The goal of this study is to find out market-oriented strategies to achieve performance in SMEs that are often ignored because they are too expensive. Review papers were used in order to get the stated aim.
This study found out that market orientation is not carried out by most SMEs. There are high investment costs for this. Market orientation cannot always guarantee the success of their business. Problem solving was chosen as a strategy in an effort to make market orientation roles more visible, like easy access to finance, awareness of the quality of products and services they produce, and the habit of continuing to learn. The government, along with SME owners and other interested parties, makes some appropriate formulations to strengthen the position of SMEs as a driving force of the economy. It was concluded that SMEs must obtain special policies regarding the ease of financing from banks, availability of training organized by the government to raise knowledge of quality and awareness to always learn, and enabling SMEs to compete with large companies.

Consumers’ post-purchase dissonance usually instigates after the purchase decisions are considered extremely important for marketers, resulting in severe consequences on consumer satisfaction and switching behavior. The current study aims to investigate the potential effect of consumer knowledge of electric vehicles (EVs), perceived risk, functional characteristics of EVs, attitude towards EVs on consumer post-purchase dissonance. The paper uses a quantitative approach by designing and distributing an online questionnaire to respondents. A total of 268 respondents participated and filled the online questionnaire. The data analysis revealed that functional characteristics emerge to be the leading factor per the consumer’s response, followed by perceived risk. The hypotheses testing results showed that functional characteristics, knowledge, and attitude have a statistically significant effect on post-purchase dissonance while concerning the perceived risk of EV. The results show that it has no statistically significant influence on post-purchase dissonance. Based on the results, it is critical to enhance consumer knowledge about the functional characteristics of electric vehicles to create a positive attitude that contributes to reducing post-purchase dissonance.

Given the limited quantity of studies within the literature, this study investigates the moderator role of hedonic shopping value and mood in the relationship between consumer mindfulness and impulse buying behavior. The study is quantitative and descriptive and using a convenient sampling method, 223 online questionnaires were obtained in Samsun, Trabzon, and İstanbul. The responses collected from a close-ended questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale was tested at Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through AMOS.
The findings of the study indicated that consumers with mindfulness exhibit negative impulse buying behavior. Although the study results reveal that hedonic shopping value has a moderator role in the relationship between consumers with low mindfulness and their impulse buying behavior, the moderator role of hedonic shopping value in the relationship between consumers with high mindfulness and impulse buying behavior is not proved. Besides, it is found that consumers’ positive and negative moods have not a moderator role in the relationship between mindfulness and impulse buying behavior. From this viewpoint, the study’s result will provide practitioners and academicians to understand the impulse buying behavior patterns of consumers with mindfulness.

In Lithuania, there is an intense competition happening between large retail chains for consumer loyalty. The research investigates the impact of retail chain brand factors and integrated marketing communication on retail brand loyalty. Two main brand outcomes are established for the study, i.e., retail brand factor and retail brand loyalty. For the retail brand factor five largest food and non-food retail chains in Lithuania: Maxima, Lidl, Rimi, Iki, and Norfa are selected. The relationships between integrated marketing communications (IMC), brand factors, and retail brand loyalty are examined. An online survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 272 consumers. For data analysis, statistical, mathematical methods such as correlation and regression analysis were applied. The research results revealed a statistically significant impact of retail brand identifiers and integrated marketing communication regarding consumers’ behavior to the retail brand chains’ choice. Regression is statistically significant and the coefficient of determination R2 is more than > 0.20, and the ANOVA p-value is less than 0.05, and a non-standardized coefficient of impact (non-standard β-coefficient) In terms of IMC tool impact on retail brand Maxima = 0.682, Lidl = 0.663, Rimi = 0.522, Iki = 0.469, Norfa = 0.540. The impact of the retail brand Maxima on customers’ retail brand loyalty is 0.961; Lidl is 0.882; Rimi is 0.824; Iki is 0.780; Norfa is 0.836, the impact of retail brand IMC tools on customers’ retail brand loyalty perceived values is Maxima = 0.721; Lidl = 0.558; Rimi = 0.737; Iki = 0.465; Norfa = 0.715.
The paper’s value is reflected by identifying factors affecting consumer loyalty to retail chain brands through IMC in the retail market in Lithuania. Retailers should consider these factors as they impact consumer decisions to stay in a long-term relationship with them.

Consumer innovativeness is an important driver of economic progress and a country’s position in global competition. This study aims to examine the moderating effect of demographic factors of Indonesian consumers on the impact of consumer innovativeness on perceived risk and new product adoption. The type of research chosen is a causal comparative study by using online and offline survey methods. Data were obtained from a sample of 1,000 consumers from 31 provinces. The results showed that the demographic variable became a moderating variable for the impact of consumer innovativeness on new product adoption, but did not play a role in the influence of consumer innovativeness on credit-purchase risk perception. With regard to the influence of consumer innovativeness on credit-purchase risk perception, only social class has a significant effect as a moderating variable. As for the effect of consumer innovativeness on a new product adoption, the variables of marital status, occupation, income, and social class have significant effects. The social class variable consistently becomes a moderating one in both equations. The results of this study are useful for marketers to focus more specifically on their target markets, especially on the diffusion of new product innovations based on demographic characteristics.

Acknowledgment
PDUPT Research Grant by Ministry of Research and Technology of The Republic of Indonesia, 2019.

Organizations place great value on corporate social responsibility (CSR), as it has been found to influence customer attitudes and intentions. This study analyzed the impact of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions. The significance of this study arises from the fact that all progressive companies are increasing their expenditure on CSR activities. In this study, purchase intention was considered as a dependent variable, while trust, ethical, and legal CSR activities were the independent variables. Data for the study was collected from 210 randomly chosen respondents from amongst consumers of Delhi and National Capital Region of India. The data, analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling, found that trust, ethics, and legal CSR activities directly impacted consumer purchase intentions. These results indicate that legal factors do not significantly influence the corporate decision on spending on CSR activities. On the other hand, ethical factors and trust factors significantly influence the corporate decision on expenditure on CSR activities. The findings highlight companies’ requirements to be conscious of their social image. Probable limitations of the study could include sample size and the number of variables chosen.

Innovative marketing practices are essential for firms to increase sales and profitability. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of firms’ marketing innovation based on the employment of resource-based view and stakeholder theory. A probit regression model linking marketing innovation with proxies of firms’ resources and pressures from firms’ stakeholders was tested based on a dataset of 5,857 Vietnamese enterprises taken from a survey by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam in 2016. The findings indicate that firms’ size decreases the probability of marketing innovation by 1%, while internal knowledge gained from internal R&D causes the probability of marketing innovation to increase by 0.18%. Besides, the political connection and collaborations with competitors and private consultants drive the probability that firms implement the marketing innovation up by 0.09%, 0.12%, and 0.09%, respectively. On the other hand, export-oriented firms are more likely to implement marketing innovation by 0.03%, while foreign ownership reduces the chance of this decision by 0.05%. This research also reveals the essential role of the firm’s market pressures to enter into new markets or improve product quality in encouraging marketing innovation by 0.16% and 0.13%, respectively.

Acknowledgment
This research was supported by National Economics University, Grant Number: 343-QĐ-ĐHKTQD.

The methodological approach for assessing the formation of food demand in unforeseen situations using digital Internet-technologies and the assessment itself, is substantiated in the paper (in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020). Comparison and theoretical generalization, as well as statistical test-assessment of hypotheses and structural regularities based on the data of Google Trends Internet platform, is used to analyze consumer preferences and intensity of demand changes for meat, milk, sugar, bread, and flour during the pandemic and quarantine, both in developed and developing countries. It is discovered that the biggest changes can be observed in the developed countries: consumer preferences shifted from rather expensive food products (milk and meat) to much cheaper ones (flour and bread). It is asserted that a decrease in consumer demand for basic food products will have a negative impact on the global economy. In 2020, a considerable decrease in GDP is expected for the developed countries; in the developing countries, GDP decline will not be as large, but prices are expected to rise much more noticeably. The following anti-crisis measures are proposed: support of the most vulnerable population and increase of food accessibility; temporary reduction of the VAT and other taxes influencing the price of food; reduction of central banks’ lending rates, etc. With the correct measures applied, the stabilization of consumer demand for food and gradual growth of the global economy is expected by the end of 2021.

This study aims to determine the influence of in-store promotion in the form of price discount and price package on customer value and purchase intention. The research sample was 120 consumers purchasing the private label products in modern stores using a purposive sampling technique. The data were then analyzed using SEM PLS. The result revealed that all hypotheses were accepted and each variable studied showed a strong and significant influence on each other, especially in terms of its influence on the purchase intention. In-store promotion is a more influencing variable of purchase intention in private label products than customer value. The result also pointed out the three most dominant items forming in-store promotion, customer value, and purchase intention. Those items are the frequency of discount program, the products’ quality, and the reference group that helps the company promoting private label products, usually friends’ recommendation. These findings are expected to be used by decision-makers in retail businesses to formulate in-store promotional activities and create customer value following the target market to increase consumers’ willingness to buy private label products.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program of the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education for funding this research. The authors highly appreciate the assistance, suggestions, and inputs from both editors and reviewers of this article.

The effects of the economic recession and the COVID-19 crisis call for more active support for the tourism industry. To pursue a supranational tourism policy and create a favorable marketing environment at the national level, it is necessary to consider the objective differences between member states and their characteristics in the field of tourism. This study aims to highlight the main factors that characterize the asymmetry of the tourism industry in the EU countries, which allows ensuring the competitiveness of national tourism companies through the formation of an appropriate marketing strategy. The research methodology includes calculation of the asymmetry coefficient and cluster and classification analysis based on Eurostat data.
At the first stage, 27 indicators were selected that characterize the structural proportions of the tourism industry and the intensity of tourism in the EU countries. Based on the calculation of the asymmetry coefficient, a high level of heterogeneity of the tourism industry parameters in the EU countries for each of the indicators was demonstrated. At the second stage, clustering (algorithm – k-means, metric – Euclidean distance) of the EU countries was carried out according to the selected indicators. As a result, eight clusters were obtained, which showed asymmetry in developing national tourism sectors in the EU. At the third stage, as a result of classification (method – decision trees), seven combinations of indicators were identified, which completely distinguish the resulting clusters of the EU countries. The parameters included in these combinations are, in fact, the main factors of the asymmetry in the development of the EU tourism industry.
Based on the analysis of the asymmetric development of the tourism industry by country, it is possible to determine its growth points and competitiveness drivers in the EU internal market and identify marketing strategies.

The study aims to synthesize the challenges that retailers are facing during the COVID-19 emergency. The research is definitive, informative, and based on a single design of cross-sectional research. Quantitative data based on the research instrument were produced (a questionnaire). Five hundred responses were collected from employees of major retail stores in India. Retailer performance is considered a dependent variable, whereas employee well-being, customer and brand protection, use of technology, government policies, and supply chain are used as independent variables. The current study results indicated that employee well-being and government policies have a significant positive impact on retailer performance, while customer and brand protection, use of technology, and supply chain have a significant positive impact on retailers’ performance. This study will help retailers develop strategies for their employees to protect them and understand that technology is needed in the new normal times. This study highlights the need to be flexible in executing strategic strategies, but retailers need to develop comprehensive action plans, including selecting managers of initiative and defining goals and deadlines. Provided that retailers’ current reality is different from the old normal, no time is lost in taking audacious action.

The aim of this study is to determine the marketing channels for Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) of palm oil plantations of farmers in Labuhanbatu Regency, which are carried out by traders, causing price fluctuations. The research method was based on library research, field research and qualitative analysis of primary data collected through interviews with a number of farmers, collector traders, and palm oil mills in Labuhanbatu and surrounding areas. The results of this study showed the real price fluctuations in the FFB trade in Labuhanbatu Regency, while the marketing function of farmers and the supply chain showed the same thing, even though they had different expenses for that function. Whereas the share margin found in the findings of this study was 62% with a marketing efficiency level of 30%. The study also found that FFB marketing channels in Labuhanbatu District had eight channel levels, but this research only confirmed one level, namely the third marketing channel. Thus, this study suggests that follow-up research will explore the remaining seven channels with similar and different topics and issues.

Financial decision-making through social media blogs and opinions is an area not much explored by the researchers. This study intends to understand the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst individuals and groups based on demographic similarities and social parameters. This paper aims to understand the perception of various subgroups in society within the large population sample. The paper applies Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests to examine the proposed research questions from a dataset of 201 individuals residing in two most populated states in Northern India. The analysis reveals the differences between different groups categorized based on generation, financially dependent, educational background, occupation, and geographical location. In terms of social media’s perceived utility in financial decision-making, results suggest that segregated groups based on cohort generation and occupation have significant variations relative to others. Based on the educational context, all other segments, number of financially dependent, geographical location, were found insignificant. The novelty of the paper lies in investigating the perceived usefulness of social media in financial decision-making amongst various homogenous groups based on demographics in a developing country. The study outcomes can be useful for the financial service providers and social media platforms in comprehending consumer behavior to devise an innovative marketing strategy for financial products targeting specific segments through enhanced coordination between them.

Acknowledgment
This paper was supported by Internal Grant Agency of FaME TBU No. IGA/FaME/2019/002.

This research aims to examine the factors influencing the Indonesian Muslim community’s actions in choosing halal items. This objective is accomplished by evaluating the factors of variable creation that affect halal product selection. 183 Muslim respondents in Indonesia collected data for the study by filling out questionnaires. There are nine variables in the questionnaire survey segment: personal social perception, halal certification, halal awareness, trust, subjective norms, satisfaction, attitude, religiosity, and interest. Data were obtained based on participants’ availability and willingness to participate in selecting the questionnaire. The approach used is quantitative descriptive, namely, factor analysis, to determine the factors that form variables. One of the most important results is that the nine variables were selected to create an element that significantly influences people’s behavior in choosing halal items. Next are satisfaction, personal social perception, subjective norms, attitude, halal certification, interest, trust, and halal awareness. The religiosity variable results give the most significant contribution of importance in shaping the variables.

Acknowledgment
Authors acknowledge the Covenant Faculty of Economics and Business of UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, who has supported this research.

Innovative marketing has given rise to practitioners’ and scholars’ attention in the 21st-century market. Given this, social media marketing has become the order of the day when accessing modern tools for marketing communication. However, the adoption of this innovation comes with its associated challenges, particularly, from a developing country perspective. Against this background, this study sought to examine the inhibitors characterized in the application of social media channels as an innovative tool for advertising and communication among SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Ghana. For study results to be achieved, a quantitative research approach with a questionnaire of 650 was distributed among managerial staff of the fashion industry in the central part of Ghana of which 512 respondents were duly received and correctly filled for data processing and analysis. Results from the partial least square structural equation method (PLS-SEM), showed that despite the importance of innovation, lack of managerial skills/marketing expertise, perceived cost, regular systems/links upgrade, and financial constraints are significant inhibiting factors affecting the application of social media as advertising and communication tools among SMEs in developing economy. Interestingly, the findings further showed that ’company’s size’ as well as ’availability of social media channel/tool’ significantly control for the outcome variable (internet/social media) as a marketing communication tool.

Acknowledgment
This work is supported by Tomas Bata University in Zlin through; IGA/FaME/2019/002: The role of the institutional environment in fostering entrepreneurship, and further supported by IGA/FaME/2020/002 and IGA/FaME/2019/008. The authors are thankful to Prof. Jaroslav Belás, Prof. Boris Popesko, and Prof. Miloslava Chovancová for their guidance towards developing this manuscript.