Abstract
The present study was conducted with the aim of developing and validating an entrepreneurial marketing model with a strategic approach to technological innovation in startup companies. In terms of purpose, it is an applicable-developmental research, and in terms of methodology, it is mixed with a sequential exploratory design implemented in two qualitative and quantitative parts. In the qualitative part, the population included marketing, entrepreneurship, and startup managers who were selected based on the purposive sampling method. In the nineteenth interview, the researcher encountered repetition of concepts and conducted two supplementary interviews to prevent false saturation; finally, 21 people participated in this stage. In the quantitative part, the statistical population included startup managers and experts, and the sample size was determined as 130 people using the Cohen power analysis method and simple random sampling was performed. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview and a researcher-made questionnaire. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using the Strauss and Corbin data-driven method in three coding stages, and the results were presented in the form of a paradigmatic model. The findings showed that causal conditions (founders’ opportunity-driven motivation, competitive pressure in the innovation ecosystem, inadequacies of traditional marketing models, and startup technological capacities) affect the pivotal phenomenon of entrepreneurial marketing. The pivotal phenomenon, contextual conditions (flexible organizational structure and innovative organizational culture), and intervening conditions (institutional and infrastructural barriers of the innovation ecosystem) affect strategies and actions (technological innovation strategy). Based on these results, an appropriate policymaking approach should focus on strengthening institutional infrastructure, targeted support for technological innovation, and creating facilitating mechanisms for the development of entrepreneurial marketing at the national level to enable the creation of sustainable competitive advantage and scalability of startups.
Introduction
As competitive environments become more complex, startups are forced to go beyond relying solely on technology or business model to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and require approaches that simultaneously cover market understanding, customer engagement, and strategic agility (Pangilinan et al., 2025; Hong et al., 2024). In this regard, recent management literature suggests the formation of convergence between entrepreneurial marketing, technological innovation, and a strategic approach in the process of organizational value creation (Crick et al., 2025). However, most studies have examined each of these concepts independently and a coherent framework has not been provided to explain their interaction in the context of startups. Entrepreneurial marketing, as an opportunity-oriented, innovative and proactive approach, elevates marketing from a mere promotional function to a process for discovering and exploiting market opportunities (Morris et al., 2024; Javid et al., 2025). In contrast, technological innovation, focusing on the development of new products, services and processes, is considered the main driver of growth and competitiveness of organizations (Mokhtari et al., 2023; Li & Zhang, 2024). The connection between the two will be effective when, in the form of a strategic approach, it guides the organization's long-term orientation in resource allocation and market-oriented decisions (Barney, 2024).
At the global and national levels, digital transformations and the expansion of the digital economy have made technological entrepreneurship one of the main engines of economic growth and innovation (Sun & Lee, 2025; Kumar et al., 2025). In Iran as well, despite the quantitative growth of the startup ecosystem and the improvement of its global position, the lack of integrated theoretical frameworks to explain the mechanisms of startup growth and sustainability is still evident (Heydarzadeh et al., 2021 Eghbal; Moghaddam et al., 2023). A review of the literature shows that entrepreneurial marketing, technological innovation, and strategic approach have often been examined at separate analytical levels, and their synergistic role in the formation of sustainable competitive advantage has received less attention (Ezanloo et al., 2022; Udekwe & Iwu, 2025). Accordingly, the present study answers the fundamental question: how does the entrepreneurial marketing model with the strategic approach of technological innovation work in startup companies and how valid is it?
Theoretical Framework
- Entrepreneurial Marketing
The concept of entrepreneurial marketing was first proposed in 1982 during a scientific conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with the support of the International Council of Small Business and the American Marketing Association, and is known as the starting point of the systematic link between entrepreneurship and marketing (Deku et al., 2023).
- Technological Innovation
Technological innovation, as one of the main drivers of economic development and the evolution of business models, has a central position in the literature on innovation management and technological entrepreneurship. This concept refers to the application of new or improved technologies in the development of products, processes, services or business models that lead to the creation of new value for the organization and customers (Akhlaghi et al., 2024).
- Startup companies
Innovative startup companies are new and agile enterprises that rely on innovation to create value, respond quickly to market changes, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage (Mahmoudi Niloo et al., 2023). These companies are usually formed based on a new idea and a technology-based business model and have a flexible structure, multi-skilled teams and a risk-taking culture. Their high ability to generate, absorb, and apply new ideas, especially in areas such as digital product development, technology-based platforms, customer experience innovation, and new ways of interacting with the market, is one of the distinctive features of these firms (Kahrai & Shivaei, 2025(.
Research Methodology
This research is of an applicable-developmental and non-experimental type with a survey-cross-sectional design, conducted with a mixed exploratory approach. The qualitative part was conducted with the participation of theoretical and empirical experts and 21 interviews were conducted until theoretical saturation was reached. In the quantitative part, the statistical population included managers and owners of startup businesses, and the sample size was estimated to be 130 people using Cohen's power analysis and G*Power software. The qualitative part of the research was conducted with qualitative data analysis and validation of the paradigm model using the partial least squares method in SmartPLS software.
Research findings
The paradigmatic model of the research shows that causal conditions, by shaping the central phenomenon, create an explanatory chain that leads to strategies in interaction with contextual and intervening conditions. In this framework, opportunity-based motivation, competitive pressure, traditional marketing inadequacy, and technological capacities strengthen startups’ tendency toward entrepreneurial marketing. The realization of this phenomenon leads to a technological innovation strategy in the presence of a flexible structure and innovative culture, although institutional barriers can weaken this path. Accordingly, the policy orientation emphasizes reducing interventionist constraints and strengthening institutional infrastructures with the aim of supporting technological innovation and developing entrepreneurial marketing to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and scalability of startups.
Discussion and Conclusion
In the dimension of causal conditions, the findings show that entrepreneurial marketing in startup companies is formed by the simultaneous presence of four main components: opportunity-based motivation of founders, competitive pressure of the innovation ecosystem, inefficiency of traditional marketing models, and available technological capacities. This result, in contrast to studies such as Pangilinan et al. (2025) that have addressed the role of environmental pressures or entrepreneurial mindsets in isolation, suggests that the activation of entrepreneurial marketing is the result of the simultaneous interaction of individual, technological, and institutional forces, rather than the influence of an independent factor.
The central phenomenon of the research, namely entrepreneurial marketing, was explained as an institutional phenomenon and the dominant logic of action in startups. This phenomenon is formed in a dynamic interaction with the organizational structure and institutional environment and goes beyond a set of marketing tactics or market-oriented behaviors. This explanation covers the gap in studies such as Samara & Galdolage (2024), whose main focus is on performance outcomes and has paid less attention to the institutional and contextual layers of the formation of this phenomenon.
In the context dimension, flexible organizational structure and innovative organizational culture were identified as the main components. The findings show that these factors play an “active enabler” role in startups and pave the way for the transformation of technological ideas into market-oriented solutions. This perception, compared to studies such as Bafghi et al. (2024) and Mokhtari et al. (2023) that have analyzed structure and culture mainly as organizational constraints, indicates a redefinition of the role of these components in the context of start-ups.
In contrast, intervening conditions, including institutional and infrastructural barriers of the innovation ecosystem, play a decisive role in the intensity and direction of the impact of the pivotal phenomenon on strategies. The results show that the lack of institutional support, weak technological infrastructure, and policy incoherence can undermine the process of transforming entrepreneurial marketing into effective strategies, even in the presence of high motivation and technological capacity. This finding, in comparison to studies such as Sun & Lee (2025) and Khan et al. (2025) that have marginalized these factors, highlights the importance of the institutional context as a central component of the model's explanatory logic and has clear local implications for the Iranian startup ecosystem.
The strategies and actions identified in the study are explained in the form of a technological innovation strategy that is the result of the convergence of the central phenomenon with causal, contextual, and intervening conditions. This result has deeper theoretical coherence compared to studies such as Payandeh & Ansari Moghadam (2024) that have analyzed innovation and marketing in two relatively separate paths.
In terms of consequences, the results show that the causal-strategic chain of the model leads to the creation of sustainable competitive advantage and the possibility of scalability. These consequences go beyond short-term performance improvements and are directly aligned with the logic of startup survival and growth in uncertain environments. This finding provides a broader analytical horizon compared to studies such as Giti Nejad & Hassan Pour ghroghchi (2024) that have limited the consequences of entrepreneurial marketing mainly to financial or behavioral indicators.