Essays Investigating Marketing Capabilities

Abstract

In this thesis, I present the current state of research on marketing capabilities and firm performance link, extract marketing capabilities from freely available text data using text analysis, and investigate the marketing capabilities of micro, small, and medium enterprise. newlineExisting research studies on marketing capabilities and firm performance link use primary and secondary data to measure marketing capabilities. Primary data collection is done using surveys for a specific purpose, and this data is proprietary (Mooi and Sarstedt, 2011). However, certain drawbacks are associated with surveys, such as common method bias, low response rate, and difficulty collecting longitudinal data. It is challenging to collect survey data from the top management since they need more time to complete surveys. Secondary data, in the marketing capabilities context, focuses on proxy variables (such as advertising newlineexpenditure to measure marketing communications capability) available in databases such as COMPUSTAT. Proxy variables provide greater sample size and quick access (Mooi and newlineSarstedt, 2011). newlineI address this research gap as part of my thesis. There is a paucity of research literature investigating the marketing capabilities of MSMEs, which I address as a part of my thesis. newlineThus, my thesis consists of three essays: (1) a systematic literature review providing newlinean in-depth understanding of the existing literature related to marketing capabilities and firm performance link, (2) a quantitative study on extracting marketing capabilities from text data, and (3) a qualitative study to investigate presence and use of marketing capabilities in MSMEs. newlineArchitectural marketing capabilities, such as market information management, positively moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation. newlineSpecialised marketing capabilities, such as marketing communication, positively moderate the relationship between innovation and firm performance. Researchers widely use primary and secondary data and focus on large firms in