International Marketing Ecosystem

An international ecosystem of marketing is a network of different actors whose success and survival depend on each other. This concept implies that organizations should not be considered as separate actors but as part of an ecosystem. The main objective of the current research is to design an international marketing ecosystem for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In fact, this study was designed to identify the main actors of the international marketing ecosystem for small and medium-sized enterprises. The methodology used in this research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The statistical population of this study is Tehran's small and medium-sized enterprises which have an experience in international markets. The statistical sample of this research is also experts and professors who are familiar with the topic of this research and managers with experince of small and medium-sized companies which were identified through snowball sampling technique. In the qualitative phase, the grounded theory method has been used. A total of 126 codes were identified in the form of sentences, pseudo-sentences, and words. The afforementioned codes are categorized into 24 concepts and 7 categories that include the following seven categories as major players in the international marketing ecosystem for small and medium enterprises: government, capital, market, nongovernmental organizations, infrastructures, culture, and educational institutions. In the quantitative part, for the confirmation of identified elements in the territory of the international marketing ecosystem, a researcher-made questionnaire, which was the result of the output of the qualitative research section, was distributed to 130 managers of the small and medium-sized enterprises in Tehran. Finally, the identified elements in the form of an international marketing ecosystem were designed by using expertise opinions.