Business-to-business marketing practices in West Africa, Argentina and the United States

Purpose - This study aims to examine the nature of business-to-business marketing practices in two West African nations, Ghana and Ivory Coast, and compare them with marketing practices in another emerging market economy (Argentina) and a developed economy (the USA). Design/methodology/approach - Survey data were collected in both West African nations, Argentina and the USA, using a standard survey instrument used in previous contemporary marketing practice (CMP) studies. Descriptive statistics were used to determine cross-national differences in intensity of use of various CMP activities in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in comparison with Argentina and the USA. Then, cross-national differences in various combinations of marketing practices were identified using cluster analysis. Findings - Business-to-business marketing practices in West African nations conform with the CMP framework in that firms practise both transactional marketing and relationship marketing simultaneously. However, there are differences in the intensity and scope of business-to-business marketing practices in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in comparison with Argentina and the USA. While West African business-to-business firms emphasize traditional transactional marketing with some network marketing components, Argentine firms have a greater emphasis on pluralistic marketing and interaction marketing. By contrast, US firms practise pluralistic marketing (transactional, database, interaction, and networking) with some transactional marketing activities. In addition, West African business-to-business firms are similar to Argentine firms in that a proportion of firms practise marketing at a low level of intensity and rarely use database marketing. These differences are attributable to the nature of market conditions in West Africa. Research limitations/implications - The CMP results generalize to West African nations. However, a direct correspondence is unlikely because of the dominance of transactional marketing practice among West African firms. Further research needs to investigate a broader set of institutional environments in order to provide a clear link between CMP and environmental conditions in emerging African markets. Practical implications - Managers can determine the appropriateness of international benchmarks for West African market conditions. Originality/value - Linking CMP to market conditions in the paper provides an extension to the validity of the CMP framework.