Interaction of technological marketing and porter's five competitive forces on SME competitiveness in South Africa

Abstract

Principally, this study sought to investigate the influence of technological marketing on Porter's five competitive forces model of SMEs in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The research problem, herein, arises from a theoretical and pragmatic gap around the lack of consensus between the positive and negative impacts of technological marketing developments on industry structure. The study employed a quantitative method in data collection from a sample of 211 SME owners/managers in the retail and manufacturing sectors of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The sample data was analysed using SEM. The principal finding of this study reveals that technological marketing has no significant impact on Porter's five competitive forces. The findings have important implications for enhancing the adoption of new technologies in marketing SME products/services.