Entrepreneurial marketing in start-up businesses: the case of Çukurova Teknokent

Today, global developments in industry have led to significant changes in the social sphere. As a result of these changes, the use of technology and the internet has become widespread in all areas. One of these areas, entrepreneurship, has led to the emergence of new business ideas and the establishment of start-ups. However, the number of these newly established companies that are able to continue their activities and grow is quite low. Research shows that these companies face challenges such as market size, tough competition and limited resources. Entrepreneurial marketing practices play an important role in addressing these challenges and increasing their success. This study aims to explore the impact of seven dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing, namely proactiveness, opportunity orientation, calculated risk taking, innovation, efficient use of resources, customer orientation and value creation, on the performance of start-ups. The population of the study consists of start-ups operating in Adana province and located within Çukurova Technopolis. Accordingly, 13 start-ups voluntarily participated in the study. The data obtained after the interviews were analyzed with the MaxQDA 2024 qualitative data analysis program. While the research findings indicate that the dimensions of proactivity, opportunity orientation, innovation, effective use of resources, customer orientation and value creation have a positive impact on start-up performance, it has been analyzed that the calculated risk-taking dimension does not have a positive or negative effect on the performance of start-ups.