Abstract:

In today’s market environment with uncertainty and unpredictable circumstances, entrepreneurial marketing has become an important element that can increase the chances of success for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those who are trying to survive with limited resources. The characteristics that managers possess directly affect the strategies of these enterprises in the determination and implementation stage. How ethical the managers behave when performing their duties has been a matter of many research. This situation makes it clear that in the extent that entrepreneurial marketing practices affect the performance of the business, managers’ ethical leadership characteristics have a moderator role. The study has studied the relationship between entrepreneurial marketing practices and business performance and the role of the managers’ leadership characteristics on this relationship. The research was applied to 290 managers working in production firms operating in Kayseri/Turkey. The data was collected by the survey method. In the analysis phase, correlation analysis was used in the study of the relationship between entrepreneurial marketing dimensions (proactivity, opportunity focus, risk management, innovation focus, customer intensity, resource use, value creation) and company performance. Regression analysis has been used in the study of the instrumental role of the characteristics of ethical leadership (human, fair, moderate) in this relationship. When research findings are studied, entrepreneurial marketing sizes find a meaningful relationship between opportunity focus, customer intensity, resource use and value creation and company performance. The relationship between these dimensions and the company’s performance has been determined by the ethical leadership characteristics as the moderator effect of human leadership, while the other leadership characteristics have not been influenced. However, the opportunity focus, the customer intensity, and the size of resource use have been determined to have a positive impact on the size of value creation while the negative moderator effect of human leadership is seen. Accordingly, in the extent of acting in accordance with ethical values, managers will emphasize human values, neglect business principles and lead to consequences that may conflict with business interests, which may negatively affect business performance. In contrast, it seems that human values can be applied to consumers in terms of creating value and developing relative strategies. Therefore, it is recommended that managers behave in the stage of implementation of entrepreneurial marketing strategies in a way that balances between social expectations and business interests. It will be possible to meet the expectations of all stakeholders.

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