Comparative assessment of traditional, digital, and hybrid marketing on firm performance in Vietnam

Purpose: As Vietnam continues to increase its digital transformation and deepen its global integration, businesses face growing pressure to adopt marketing strategies that improve effectiveness. Therefore, the current research seeks to examine the effects of traditional, digital, and hybrid marketing strategies on firm performance in the Vietnam economy with the aim of identifying the most effective method. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted for the purpose of confirming the validity and representativeness of the research data. A total of 247 strategic marketing managers, each representing a publicly listed company in Vietnam, participated in the research. The data were collected through an online questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were undertaken to evaluate the impact of each marketing strategy on firm performance, encompassing financial and non-financial indicators. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was performed to analyze the impact of different types of marketing strategies on firm performance, and AHP was applied to analyze the relative importance of marketing strategies to firm performance. Results: All the marketing strategies exert positive effects on firm performance. While both traditional and digital marketing strategies have significant effects, hybrid marketing strategies (integrating traditional and digital approaches) demonstrate the strongest overall influence on firm performance (HMS >DMS >TMS), clearly indicating their meaningful and synergistic approach to both financial and non-financial outcomes. Conclusions: Digital and traditional integration increases operational efficiency and fosters a sustainable competitive advantage for Vietnamese businesses. The research provides the managerial knowledge for managers on how to apply hybrid marketing strategies to improve firm performance in a fast developing business environment.