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Introduction
Researchers widely agree that marketing in small firms differ from that of their larger counterparts (e.g. [7] Fillis, 2002; [9] Gilmore et al. , 2001; [11] Hill, 2001a; [6] Coviello et al. , 2000.) Small firm marketing has been characterised as haphazard, informal, loose, unstructured, spontaneous, reactive, built on as well as conforming to industry norms ([9] Gilmore et al. , 2001). [24] Stokes (2000) adds that in small firms, marketing is used for the needs of the moment and only little attention is paid to plans, strategies and analysis. This is in contrast of marketing in large firms, which is seen as formal, planned and well structured.
One reason for this difference is that small firms have certain limitations. Compared to their larger counterparts, small enterprises have limited resources related, e.g. to finance, time and marketing knowledge ([9] Gilmore et al. , 2001). Consequently, complex theories and sophisticated processes seem to be inappropriate in small enterprises ([13] Hogarth-Scott et al. , 1996). Furthermore, it is argued that owner-managers of small firms tend to view marketing narrowly. The role and potential of marketing is regarded often from a narrow operative perspective that is close to sales management ([19] Möller and Anttila, 1987). It is even argued that SME marketers may consider marketing as a synonym of either selling or advertising ([18] Marcati et al. , 2008).
Despite the differences, it has been noted that the basic marketing concepts, such as segmentation, customer orientation, targeting, positioning and seeking for competitive advantage apply to small as well as to large enterprises ([13] Hogarth-Scott et al. , 1996). [6] Coviello et al. (2000) found empirical evidence that there are similarities in the intent of marketing decisions, the expected duration of customer relationship, the nature of customer contact and where firms invest marketing resources.
Marketing thought and practices have, then, been compared between large firms and SMEs. Much less attention has been given to examining the possible differences within SMEs. They can, by no means, be considered as a homogenous group. Consequently, it is most interesting to have a closer look at what kind of perceptions and practices of marketing could be found in different SMEs.
The aim of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of...