STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND MARKETING PERFORMANCE OF SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the effect of entrepreneurial orientation strategy on marketing performance of selected small business enterprises in Enugu State Nigeria. The study was quantitative in nature and adopted descriptive research design. The population of the study was owners/managers/ staff of small business enterprises in Enugu State, Nigeria. The sample size of the study was 384 owners/managers/staff of small business enterprisesin Enugu State selected using purposive sampling. The instrument of data collection was a structured questionnaire which was validated using expert opinion. Cronbach Alpha was used to test the reliability of the instrument whereupon all the variables surpassed the accepted and recommended 7.0. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS. version 26.0). The results showed that all the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation strategyunderstudy including: proactiveness, innovativeness, risk-taking, autonomy, and aggressiveness have significant effect on marketing performance of small business enterprises in Enugu State Nigeria. The implication of this is that management of small business enterprises in Enugu State Nigeria and beyond should effectively integrate all the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation strategy within their business operation for effective customer services delivery to meet changes in the market and to improve marketing performance.