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This study aims to enrich the field of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) by examining decision-making processes in the unique context of start-up ventures. To do so, it extends research on the distinct EM dimensions to the behavioral context by revealing how causation and effectuation principles shape entrepreneurs’ actions.

The study investigates EM behavior through 12 semi-structured interviews with 10 start-up founders and two founder associates in Germany. Use of established frameworks of the EM dimensions and causation/effectuation principles paves the way for an in-depth analysis. This methodology uncovers a distinct pattern of decision-making behaviors characterizing various activities within start-ups.

The findings show that causal logic prevails in start-ups’ EM, and effectual reasoning serves a complementary role. On the dimensional level, the findings reveal a predominant goal-driven focus on customer intensity and value-creation processes. Predictive logic guides opportunity focus, proactiveness and risk management, with nonpredictive behaviors providing adaptability. The principle of affordable loss is also evident in risk management. Finally, start-ups exhibit a blend of causal and effectual logic in innovativeness and resource-leveraging.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to illuminate the interplay of behavioral logics in start-up firms’ EM by exploring the nuanced principles underpinning the decision-making processes of entrepreneurs. In doing so, it advances understanding of the marketing–entrepreneurship interface and enriches decision-making literature.

The developing field of entrepreneurial marketing reflects input from both marketing and entrepreneurship. Since the early 1980s, it has evolved heterogeneously, without a coherent theory, leading to complex scholarly views. Therefore, this literature review aims to shed light on the recent developments, reveal various research perspectives related to entrepreneurial marketing and derive future research avenues.

To account for recent scientific contributions and establish a more transparent view of divergent insights, the systematic literature review reported herein covers 207 peer-reviewed journal articles published after the “Charleston Summit” over 12 years (2010–2021) and details their contributions based on descriptive and inductive thematic analysis.

First, a descriptive analysis illustrates recent scientific developments indicating that entrepreneurial marketing is a vibrant research field with a continuous increase in publications worldwide and a wide range of research methods applied. Second, the thematic analysis suggests a three-part classification into entrepreneur, business and market perspectives. The authors present the most frequent themes and subthemes within this literature domain, as well as offering a critical assessment of the field that reveals key directions for expanding existing research.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive review systematically examining entrepreneurial marketing literature while conducting an in-depth thematic analysis. It enhances current knowledge of the field by extending previous narrative and bibliographic reviews and discussing research directions. Aside from specific research questions, an alternative way to narrow down the multiple research objects is elaborated by critically debating the perspectives.

In 1969, Warren Nutter left the University of Virginia Department of Economics to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Nixon administration. During his time in the Defense Department, Nutter was deeply involved in laying the groundwork for a military coup against the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende. Although Nutter left the Pentagon several months before the successful 1973 coup, his role in Chile was far more direct than the better-known cases of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, James Buchanan, and Arnold Harberger. This chapter describes Nutter’s role in Chile policymaking in the Nixon administration. It shows how Nutter’s criticisms of Henry Kissinger are grounded in his economics, and compares and contrasts Nutter with other economists who have been connected to Pinochet’s dictatorship.