Even though some authors have already attempted to transfer marketing concepts (such as market strategy, product development, sales or consumer behaviour) to start-ups and young companies, a comprehensive scientific examination of the topic has so far been largely lacking. The reason for this could be that two seemingly different concepts such as marketing, which can be seen as a highly structured and formal approach, and entrepreneurship, which is seen as more informal, unstructured and intuitive, have little obvious common ground or overlap. It can be assumed that entrepreneurial activities such as the identification of new opportunities, the application of innovative techniques, the diffusion of products on the markets and the successful satisfaction of consumer wishes are not only important from the perspective of established companies, but also and especially for start-ups and young companies. There therefore appears to be a link between the two disciplines of marketing and entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the question arises as to whether marketing in start-ups and young companies is "entrepreneurial" in every case, or whether it is only a certain subgroup of these companies (e.g. those based on innovation and growth) that combines entrepreneurial and marketing aspects and is therefore more successful.

Research question:
The aim of the thesis is to take stock of marketing activities in the context of start-ups and young companies, to analyse these for differences to the common textbook approaches (developed for large companies), to make a theoretical distinction between "marketing in start-ups" and "entrepreneurial marketing" and to discuss the effectiveness of success.

Introductory literature:

• Collinson, E./Shaw, E. (2001): Entrepreneurial marketing - a historical perspective on development and practice, in: Management Decision. Vol. 39, No. 9, pp. 761-766.
• Gruber, M. (2004): Marketing in new ventures: Theory and empirical evidence, in: Schmalenbach Business Review. Vol. 56, April 2004, pp. 164-199.
• Grulms, M. (2000): Marketing in newly founded companies. Eul, Lohmar/Cologne.
• Hakansson, P.-O./Klandt, H. (2000): The marketing of young SMEs - An analysis from the customer's perspective, in: Meyer, J.-A. (Ed.). Jahrbuch der KMU-Forschung 2000: Marketing in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen. Vahlen, Munich, pp. 31-41.
• Hill, J./Wright, L.T. (2000): Defining the scope of entrepreneurial marketing: a qualitative approach, in: Journal of Enterprising Culture. Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 23-46.
• Morris, M.H., Schindehutte, M./LaForge, R.W. (2002): Entrepreneurial marketing: a construct for integrating emerging entrepreneurship and marketing perspectives, in: Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice. Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 1-19.
• Rößl, D. (2005): Marketing für Klein- und Mittelbetriebe - Spezifische Betrachtungslinien im Objektbereich; in: Holzmüller, H.H. / Schuh, A. (eds.): Innovations in sectoral marketing. Physica, Heidelberg, pp. 143-160.
• Stokes, D. (2000): Putting entrepreneurship into marketing: the process of entrepreneurial marketing, in: Journal of Research in Marketing & Entrepreneurship. Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1-16.

Contact: Dr Sascha Kraus