The present thesis seeks to contribute to a relatively new area of research examining the interface between entrepreneurship and marketing, which is commonly referred to as entrepreneurial marketing (EM). The main aims of the study are twofold: (1) to explore and integrate the key dimensions of EM found in major EM literature in order to develop a new conceptual framework based on a resource-based view and the contingency theory in explaining the EM characteristics and behaviour of Thai hotels, and (2) to provide empirical evidence substantiating the interrelationships between the key dimensions of EM using exploratory and explanatory studies. To achieve these objectives, four major quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted, all of which complemented one another and contributed to the overall understanding of the proposed EM model. Through the use of cluster and regression analyses, the first two studies sought to explore the possible clusters of Thai hotels, based on key EM variables, and to test the interrelationships between the major variables governing cluster formations and selected EM variables. The third study explained and assessed the causal relationships and overall fit of the main EM model through structural equation modelling analysis. The last study was a qualitative study that sought to extend the explanations of marketing variables included in the model. It particularly aimed to explain the factors affecting managers' decisions to make changes to their marketing strategies, as well as the processes through which they make these changes. The data for the quantitative analyses were obtained through a mailed survey, with the final sample comprising 369 hotels across Thailand. Qualitative data were collected through semi- structured interviews with 40 hotel managers in five regions of the country. The overall findings supported the major claim of this thesis that organisations that are more entrepreneurially market- oriented tend to achieve better levels of organisational performance.

The field of SME marketing has been identified as an area of marketing research that is requiring attention. Much of the existing research is based on the assumption that SMEs are naturally disadvantaged in the area of marketing due to their size (McGrath, 2008, p15). However their less structured and informal approach to marketing can actually give SMEs a competitive edge (Gilmore & Carson, 1999, p.36) as they are often closer to their customers. This is particularly true for Biotechnology SMEs, because they often target a very small group of customers, enabling them to be closer to these group of customers. In recent years, various researchers have explored the use of marketing networks for SMEs to overcome some of the challenges the face (Carson, Gilmore & Rocks, 2004, p. 370; McGrath, 2008, p.48). This thesis has developed a model of marketing networks particularly tailored to Biotechnology SMEs in the UK using a mixed method approach combining case studies with a survey. The addition of a survey alongside seven case studies provides a stronger and more robust methodology. The research has an exploratory nature as no previous marketing research has been undertaken that is specific to the Biotechnology industry, 69 British Biotechnology SMEs were sampled and thus, this study has been able to secure a much larger sample than previous studies in this field. The findings from research and the model development suggest that Biotechnology SMEs in the UK already actively engage in marketing networks. They do so to achieve a number of strategic objectives such as business development, gaining access to R&D capabilities, marketing capabilities and funding. It was also established that marketing networks can contribute to the overall performance of Biotechnology SMEs. Market orientation of the SMEs also impacts performance and acts as a partial mediator between marketing network and performance.

Consumers and society are becoming increasingly sensitised to corporate scandals and rejective of brands and products that suggest unethical business and marketing practice. To prevent corporate image loss and financial damage, academic marketing ethics research is concerned with the development of predominantly generic moral standards and prescriptive ethics codes to avoid moral conflict between stakeholder interests. However, these codes have yet found little application in marketing practice. The thesis focuses on this perceived gap between marketing theory and practice by arguing for an academic deficit of knowledge in marketing thought. Marketing thought is how marketers' make sense of their professional reality and negotiate moral conflict. For that matter, the thesis is based on the premise that an improved understanding of marketing thought provides the foundation for developing applied marketing ethics that generate a positive image for the profession as well as the corporations that marketing serves. To that effect, its investigation is believed to be mutually beneficial for marketing ethics academia and practice. Divergent from most conventional marketing ethics research, the thesis' empirical investigation is a qualitative, interactive and in-depth exploration of the individual marketing professional. Interviews provide insight into how actual marketing thought is manifested in the way individual marketers narrate and explain their daily professional decision making and negotiation of potential moral conflict. For credibility and viability, the analysis of interview data is informed by concepts of cognitive moral neutralisation theory that originate from criminological literature. In lieu of their great potential for the research of human's self-understanding and explanations of behaviour, as yet, they have not found previous empirical application in academic research of marketing ethics and the marketing-self. The key contribution of the thesis to existing marketing knowledge is the conceptualisation of the Professionals' Dyadic Self-Defence Strategy framework. The framework demonstrates that professionals' denial of experiencing moral conflict is based on a complex dyadic, as extrinsic and intrinsic self-defence strategy. Activated, the defence manifests in marketers' contextual constructs of effective ideologies to explain and justify one's professional behaviour to others and the self. The investigation's identification of ideologies show marketers' propensity to negotiate their responsibility for rather than the morality of their professional actions' outcome. The extended on knowledge of marketing thought is discussed by providing specific long-term and short-term vistas for development in academic as well as applied marketing ethics.

The fairtrade market in the UI< has witnessed significant growth over the past decade but there is limited understanding about the factors driving such substantial retail sales growth. The fairtrade movement and some fairtrade researchers claim the growth is as a result of increased fairtrade awareness and a growing concern for commodity producers in developing countries. But the trends beneath the fairtrade headline figures do not support this point of view. Meanwhile, the range and distribution of fairtrade products have increased significantly and many established brands have adopted the fairtrade label as a result of mainstreaming of fairtrade products into supermarkets. It is important to understand the interplay of factors influencing fairtrade market growth because such insight is critical for the development of the fairtrade market and the long-term sustainability of the industry. The FairtradeMark is a certification label that informs shoppers that their fairtrade purchases at a premium price ensures that commodity producers receive a fair and guaranteed price for their produce and ultimately promote their livelihoods and environmental sustainability. Thus, the claim that more shoppers are buying more fairtrade products because of increased fairtrade awareness and growing poverty aversion implies greater and increasing importance of ethics in fairtrade purchasing decisions. However, it is possible (if not likely) that mainstreaming fairtrade products into supermarkets has attracted new shopper segments with diverse values, who buy fairtrade products for different reasons from those who were responsible for the early development of the fairtrade market. If these new shoppers have different values, then their needs may differ and their treatment by manufacturers, retailers and marketers of fairtrade produce should differ too. This thesis seeks to question the claimed increase in fairtrade ethical consumerism by providing a comprehensive and objective understanding of the characteristics of the fairtrade shopper, the marketing drivers of fairtrade retail sales growth and the role that personal values play in the purchasing behaviour of fairtrade food products in the mainstream environment of supermarkets.

This research investigates the impact of formalised marketing information on SME growth. It is recognised that SM Es present peculiar characteristics that make their marketing distinctive from larger companies. The lack of resources in SMEs is a barrier to effective marketing. Furthermore, marketing plays an important role in fostering a sustainable relationship with consumers, enabling SME growth. However, SMEs marketing decision-making is affected by whether the SME manages to acquire, analyse and utilise formalised marketing information. For the purpose of this research, marketing information is defined as it follows: 'structured data usable within a marketing context'. In this research it is also hypothesised that the type and source of information acquired, as well as the frequency of use, present a positive relationship with growth. It is also hypothesised that in order to have a significant effect of the use of information on growth, the main explanatory variables have to interact with some moderating variables. The methodology is hypothetico-deductive; using a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques, the main analysis has been conducted using multivariate data analysis (more specifically peA and binary logistic regression) on a sample of approximately 300 food and drink SMEs. The results showed the use of formalised marketing information is critical to business growth. However this is true under specific conditions and when the use of formalised marketing information does interact with specific moderators. The implications of this research contribute academically to providing better understanding of the relationship between the use of formalised marketing information and business growth. This research contributes to practitioners by pointing out the importance of training in brder to develop their marketing skills. It also contributes to policy makers by addressing the issues of sustainability related to the subsidised access to formalised marketing information through tax payers' money.

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Hie recent rise of the internet as a commercial trading channel has left retail marketers facing several challenges. As in any marketplace, customer intelligence is the lifeblood of organisational success online, yet no thoroughly tested and validated model exists to reliably capture customer service requirements. Traditional service quality models are an insufficient and inflexible means to capture the unique nature of the internet medium while those emergent models of online behaviour developed thus far have typically been of limited scope, sample size, sample breadth and not validated in continued practice. Beyond the problem of identifying customer demands, there remains a problem of how to group together customers for segmentation purposes. In the contemporary marketplace as a whole there is growing fragmentation and individuality with demographics no longer precise enough to be useful beyond describing broad definitions of product class users. E-businesses also face a pressing challenge in addressing customer alignment in the Value creating* marketing and operations departments. There is a need to move beyond the limiting scope of only corisklering marketing in relation to customer focus and to incorporate a wider consideration of organisational focus with true measures of customer requirements. Within this thesis each of these issues is addressed. With the support and collaboration of four internet companies, one of the largest surveys of online customers undertaken to date has been completed (n-3403). This has allowed for the construction of a new model of online customer service demands, validated with confirmatory factor analysis, generating a nine factor solution that comprehensively describes customers service demands. Secondly, a wide range of situational factors have been analysed for their suitability as a means of segmenting the marketplace. Structural equation modelling has provided a strong finding that finreripral measures account for far greater variance in customer demands than demographics, confirming the limited usefulness of demographics online and providing a superior replacement. An analysis of marketing and operations personnel in the four supporting companies also provided evidence that marketers were better at understanding customer requirements than their operations colleagues and that in all companies a generally good understanding of customers had resulted in high levels of customer satisfaction. Overall, this body of work stands apart in terms of holism of analysis (customer service quality, segmentation and organisational understanding), depth of analysis (extensive literature review and generation}, depth of research (sample size of n-3403) and rigour of analysis (iterative statistical process) making contributions to the academic body of knowledge and nature of managerial practice in the areas of online retail customer service, market segmentation and organisational analysis.

The study explores consumers' adoption of Internet shopping in the context of UK travel services. The key objective is to identify the profile of Internet shoppers and the antecedents of Internet shopping adoption for travel services. The study proposes a model for the prediction of Internet shopping adoption, drawing upon Davis' (1989) Technology Acceptance Model with the inclusion of individual characteristics, perceived risk and trust. The model identifies the structural relationships among the eight constructs (i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, innovativeness, involvement, opinion leadership, perceived risk, trust and adoption), which were examined through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with AMOS. The study employs a multi-methodology approach, which involves focus group discussions at the exploratory stage and a questionnaire survey in the data collection stage. The final survey was of a screened sample of 500 respondents who had purchased travel services online. A total of 299 qualified respondents from all over the UK completed the online survey. The descriptive results present a profile of travel e-shoppers in terms of demographic, geodemographic and buying patterns. The SEM tested the hypothesised relationships among the constructs, as postulated in the model. Nine of the hypothesised links were supported and six were rejected. Eventually, a robust model that has statistical and explanatory power was confirmed. The results explicitly clarified several key contributions to marketing theory and for the travel and tourism industry. For example, it was demonstrated that perceived usefulness is the key determinant of Internet shopping adoption decisions. Also, consumer innovativeness is the key influence on Internet shopping adoption at the personal level, followed by consumer involvement in the shopping process. The study also reveals three new relationships, between opinion leadership and perceived ease-of-use, consumer involvement and ease-of-use and consumer innovativeness and trust, which have not been examined empirically by previous research. By identifying the primary drivers of Internet shopping adoption for travel services, the study contributes to and extends the understanding of the Internet as a medium for commercial use in the B2C arena as well as expanding the literature on new technology adoption.