The Influence of Differentiated Marketing Strategy on the Export Performance of SMEs

Abstract

This research aims to determine the impact of differentiated marketing strategies on the export performance of SMEs. Therefore, based on the previous scholars’ research on export performance, this study uses the 4P marketing mix model to further divide the differentiated export marketing strategies into the differentiation of product, differentiation of price, differentiation of place strategy, and differentiation of promotion and puts forward the research hypothesis of the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance.

Research design, data, and methodology; the researcher applied a quantitative method (n=272) at a confidence level of 90%, allowing an error of 5%, distributing questionnaires to foreign trade enterprises in China. The non-probability sampling includes judgmental sampling in selecting foreign trade enterprises in China then convenience sampling in collecting data and distributing it thru the online survey. Descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression) were used for data analysis. The results found that differentiation of product strategy negatively affects export performance; then, differentiation of price, place, and promotion strategy has a significant positive effect on export performance for export SMEs.