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The purpose of the paper is to advance knowledge of small firm performance by explicating how networking helps small firms carry out marketing and perform better.

An online survey of small firm owner-managers in a regional economy of the UK was executed. Hypotheses were tested including the proposition that networking proactiveness moderates the relationship between market orientation (MO) and performance.

It was found that networking is undertaken by all small firms across a spectrum of business types. Networking is seen as applicable, it results in valuable outcomes and these outcomes contribute to marketing. The contribution increases with firm size and is valued more in small firms with a dedicated marketing function. Proactive networking creates greater value than reactive networking, but proactive networking in and of itself does not lead to greater performance. Rather, networking proactiveness moderates the relationship between MO and performance.

It is argued that networking should not be dismissed as “not quite proper” marketing and should be harnessed as a way of compensating for marketing activities that are outside the reach of the small firm. Small firms are advised to adopt a proactive approach to their networking activities, as without a reasonable level of proactiveness, there is likely to be no benefit in being market oriented.

There has been little research that has examined the specific ways in which networking contributes to marketing and none that probes if and to what extent this contribution makes a difference to overall firm performance. This paper addresses this gap.

While technology continues to make a dramatic and profound impact in service industries and radically shapes how services are delivered relatively little is understood about the impact of advancing technology on customers; their expectations, perceptions and behaviours. As banking enters an increasingly digitised world this study reports on the views of 667 e-banking customers with respect to the perceived potential of social media to add value in retail banking relationships. The purpose of this paper is to propose that in order to realise this opportunity requires the case bank to embrace the second-order level changes required within socio-technical theory (STT) in order that such value can be co-created between the relational parties.

Using the lens of STT to interpret the findings drawn from the case bank’s e-banking customer base (n=5,500), it is argued that social media has the potential to fundamentally change customer-bank relationships and to add value to the way in which the parties interact with each other into the future. A survey methodology was adopted.

The findings presented indicate a wide spectrum of customers actively using transactional e-banking solutions in the case bank. The findings showed that those in the 15-30 age group saw “real-time/up-to-date information” as the main gain of their bank being on Facebook while their older colleagues in the 31-60 age group had a desire for different returns (“competitions, events”). That the analysis showed that age was the only significant determinant of Facebook appropriateness for the case bank, and in the context of the age-related preferences outlined above, the issue of segmentation is strongly highlighted.

This study contributes to the academic domain through a rare application of STT in a service context, offers implications for practice and highlights important areas for future research, inter alia; the role for new media in banking relationships, the impacts of new media on bank staff roles, where value now accrues in bank-customer communication, where social media fits in the promotional mix and relational strategies of banks and what are the issues emerging at the social-technical interface between both customers and staff and new technology and media.

The paper uses a questionnaire and a theoretical model of bank‐customer interaction preferences as the basis for examining the perceptions of retail bank customers regarding the use of remote delivery channels and the extent to which they still value traditional branch‐based face‐to‐face interactions. The empirical evidence suggests that despite the increase in remote banking, retail bank customers still place significantly greater emphasis on face‐to‐face contact. The implications of this finding are that if banks want to encourage widespread customer adoption of remote banking they must better understand customer attitudes towards alternative delivery channels and use this information to educate their customers on the tangible service benefits which emanate from remote delivery.

Technological advances have made a significant impact on the banking sector in recent years, with a key development being the introduction of technological and remote channels of interaction. While some research has been undertaken to establish the level of acceptance by customers of these channels, most of this research has examined retail banking customers’ attitudes to, and adoption of, remote interaction channels. This paper reports the findings of a study which has investigated channel preferences amongst corporate customers of a leading retail and corporate bank in the UK. Specifically, it seeks to differentiate between smaller business customers and larger customers. The key findings are that all customers prefer personalised interaction and that smaller customers, who are generally less profitable for banks than large clients, show relatively less willingness to embrace technological means of communication and to insist on personal interaction with their bank.

It is acknowledged that while there is a paucity of marketing research focusing on small firms relative to larger firms, a significant contribution to this field has been made in recent years. However, while such research has proved useful, it remains quite disparate, and gleaning a current understanding of how small firms market their goods and services, is difficult. This paper aims to produce an empirically validated framework of small firm marketing activities.

A qualitative cross‐sectoral study of small firm marketing was undertaken. Semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 30 small firm owner‐managers. A literature derived, conceptual framework provided the basis for the interview guide.

The study confirmed that the nine key themes highlighted by a critical review of the literature represented the marketing practices in small firms. It offered some refinement to specific characteristics and activities within the themes and so offered an empirically supported model of small firm marketing.

It is hoped that future research can use the framework as a means of demonstrating how various factors contribute to small firm marketing activities and indeed, offer further refinement and embellishment of the overall framework. This framework represents a baseline against which the effects of newly emerging phenomena can be assessed.

While much research has been undertaken in the field of small firm marketing, few attempts have been made to address the question: what are the key marketing activities in which small firms engage? This paper addresses this question and offers a flexible, cross‐sectoral representation of marketing practices in small firms.