Analysing the relevance of value creation in the interconnection amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to better understand the relevance of value creation in the interconnection amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation by reviewing the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a systematic review methodology using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol to analyse the literature in depth. The articles were selected from the Scopus database and dated from 1987 to 2021. An initial total of 1,158 articles was successively narrowed down to a final list of 123 papers matching the selection criteria. Moreover, content analysis on the sample was performed to explore and analyse whether value creation directly or indirectly appears as a goal or antecedent amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation.

Findings

The findings suggest that the literature does not clearly define the topic linkage, and with the authors' results, the authors provide a comprehensive mapping of the contributions to a theoretical framework that synthesises knowledge. Moreover, the authors highlight that the interconnection between marketing and entrepreneurship, i.e. entrepreneurial marketing, requires an innovative approach for satisfying customer needs and creating value. Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords also allowed to identify four clusters that were open to new research streams.

Originality/value

Entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation are recognised research topics in the business and management literature. However, prior research has not provided clear and comprehensive evidence about how these three research topics are linked to each other. This work analyses the hidden relationship amongst them.