What do customers demand? Inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial Marketing

Abstract

There is a lack of research that links start-ups' entrepreneurial marketing with the increased customers' demand for inclusivity and sustainability. This paper proposes and substantiates a new conceptual model – Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurial Marketing. This model includes the context and resources as the base for value creation; objectives and entrepreneurial will for developing a business model, followed by planned and unplanned actions, and inclusivity and societal sustainability as the significant impacts. The empirical substantiation of the model followed a design-science approach and was done through 55 interviews with entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs do not consider societal sustainability and inclusivity as primary objectives. However, these goals present an increased prevalence among the customers' current requirements. This paper contributes to the theoretical and empirical development of entrepreneurial marketing studies.