Brand orientation and small and medium-sized enterprises performance in Bauchi metropolis

Abstract

The role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing a nation's economies has been fully acknowledged in extant literature. SMEs help strengthen economies, create a diversified source of national income and improve the country's competitiveness. However, especially in developing economies like Nigeria, SMEs face severe financing, management, marketing and technology challenges. Similarly, studies have yet to be conducted to ascertain SMEs' performance that is attributable to their brand management efforts. Therefore, this paper seeks to examine the impact of branding on SMEs' performance in an emerging economy like Nigeria. Furthermore, the paper empirically investigates the relationship among dimensions of brand orientation like brand value, brand norms, marketing culture and brandbuilding behaviour. Based on data collected from SMEs in Bauchi metropolis, hypotheses were tested using statistical package for social science (SPSS V23). The study found the relationship between brand value – SMEs brand performance, brand norms – SMEs brand performance, brand building behaviour – SMEs brand performance and marketing culture – SMEs brand performance were significant.