Impact of Entrepreneurial Digital Marketing on Internationalizing SMEs in the health sector

Abstract

Academics have thoroughly researched INVs and Entrepreneurial Marketing but not much research has been done on these topics in conjugation. Given the resource constrained nature of health sector SMEs and lack of customers in Finland, it is essential for such companies to go international. With several entrepreneurial digital marketing channels available for marketing, the focus of this research was only on those channels and not traditional entrepreneurial marketing – another neglected field of study by academics. Therefore, the aim was to find out why and how such channels are being used by SMEs. Based on the previous theory available, the empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews with nine individuals representing four companies was analysed. The interviewed companies exhibited the seven entreprenuerial marketing dimensions that Yang and Gabrielsson (2017) identified. Also, compatibility and cost effectiveness were found to be influencing factors for the use of social media for marketing.