Unleashing marketing performance: The role of entrepreneurial orientation, innovation, and competitive advantage

The study aims to examine the direct influence of entrepreneurial orientation on marketing performance and the indirect effect through innovation and competitive advantage among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. Employing a quantitative method, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to business actors of SMEs in Indonesia. The targeted populations were business actors in the culinary field based on local wisdom with a total of 233 SMEs. The sample was determined using simple random sampling of 150 respondents. The retrieved data from respondents were further analyzed using structural equation modeling through the IBM-SPSS-AMOS package. The study’s finding indicates that there is a robust relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, innovation, and competitive advantage. This study also found a direct effect between innovation, competitive advantage, and marketing performance among SMEs in Indonesia. This result also confirmed the role of innovation and competitive advantage in bridging the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and marketing performance. Hence, understanding this framework will enable policy scholars and the government to enlarge the competitiveness of SMEs in Indonesia and diminish socioeconomic issues. The government and policymakers can create an ecosystem that supports the development of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation among SMEs in Indonesia through training and mentoring programs that increase entrepreneurial capabilities.