UK Partner
Ilke Cicekli lecturer in Marketing School Faculty of Business and Law/ Strategy, Marketing and Innovation
Ukraine Partner
Name Oksana Yashkina
Co-Investigators
Iryna Zlatova
Oklander Mykhailo Anatoliyovych professor, docent Department of Marketing/Institute of Economics and Managemen
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Project objectives
Small business in Ukraine is one of the components of economic development. During the nine months of war, about 80 thousand individual entrepreneurs (IE) were registered in Ukraine. Given the current unemployment rate of 35% and the existing state programs for starting a business, the the number of entrepreneurs will only grow. The majority of entrepreneurs try to offer their products on the Internet and there are problems: entrepreneurs do not know how to start; they have a poor understanding of the efficiency of certain marketing tools on the Internet; there is no understanding of how to evaluate the effectiveness of their promotions in the Internet environment. The roadmap would greatly simplify efforts to promote the products of individual entrepreneurs in the online environment and would save time and money in this direction. It is planned to develop a guide for small businesses, which includes two components: the basics of Internet marketing and ways to effectively use Internet marketing tools for small businesses. We consider it necessary to pay special attention to the cheapest or even free marketing tools in Internet promotion, such as promotion in TikTok and Telegram channels, creation of business collaborations of different market players, because often during the war there is a lack of funds for traditional sources of advertising. Therefore, Ukrainian SMEs need to have a broad understanding of internet/digital marketing to create brand awareness as well as online purchases for their companies. There is a significant increase in CPA and CPC due to the growth of the currency exchange rate almost 2 times, so low-cost tools will be extremely useful.The project corresponds to clause 5 of the Topics of scientific research and scientific and technical(experimental) developments of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for 2022-2026 - “Socio-economic support for the development of human potential and reducing the level of social vulnerability of the population.”
Proposed Research
SMEs have an important role in the economy of Ukraine. It provides people with job opportunities, entrepreneurship and innovation. Even though it has a promising impact, this economic unit faces a lot of challenges due to the war. Recent survey (KPMG, 2022) shows that the war is causing a great deal of uncertainty in many companies, with 41 percent still unable to assess the impact on their business. As a result of the war in Ukraine, 46 percent expect a drop in sales and 47 percent a drop in earnings. In addition, 80 percent assume that the Ukraine war will negatively impact their company for longer than a year. Forty percent fear negative effects lasting longer than three years.
Internet marketing has become one of the key strategies for SMEs to promote their brands and increase their sales at a low cost. Due to the war in Ukraine, it is currently difficult for SMEs to use traditional marketing efforts. Ukrainian SMEs need to understand the implementation of internet marketing and how they can utilise these tools efficiently. We have the need and opportunity to explore the challenges and issues Ukrainian SMEs face with their use of internet marketing. The results of the study will be unique as firstly it will allow us to identify these issues, and secondly make recommendations for Ukrainian SMEs to help with their efficient use of internet marketing. There will be a website created in Ukraine, which will include guidelines for the implementation of internet marketing.
AIM:To explore the impact of war on the use of internet marketing in Ukrainian SMEs and to build recommendations in order to achieve efficient use of internet marketing during and after the war.
Project goals
RO1: Identify the impact of war on the use of internet marketing in Ukrainian SMEs
RO2: Identify the impact institutional factors on the adoption of internet marketing in Ukrainian SMEs
RO3: Make recommendations on the efficient use of internet marketing to SMEs in Ukraine
METHODOLOGY:
First phase of data collection will be semi-structured interviews with the SMEs in Ukraine. Some of the questions will include their use, application and efficiency of internet marketing, and social media marketing. These questions will help to identify the challenges that SMEs face during/after the war in Ukraine. Once these are identified, the second phase will be semi-structured interviews in the UK to explore the challenges SMEs face and their solutions to these challenges. This will allow researchers to make recommendations to Ukrainian SMEs on their use of internet marketing, and how they can use it effectively. This study can only be the starting point for further research as it will allow researchers to identify and explore the current use of internet marketing in Ukraine. Further research can look at whether these recommendations increased sales, profit and performance by collecting further data (questionnaires) from Ukrainian SMEs.
Role of each Partner
UK Lead
Introduction, Literature Review, Data Collection and Analysis
Ukraine Lead
Methodology, Analysis, Contributions. Conclusion, Practical Implementation, Summing up the research for the report. Have connections to SMEs in Ukraine, will be responsible for finding participants for the interviews. Research assistant will conduct the interviews
Timing
Project Start Date: March 2023
Project End Date: 31/08/2023
Expected results
1. Paper Presentation (EMAC Regional Conference in September 27-29 2023)
2.Paper Publication - International Small Business Journal
3. Paper Publication - International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research or Journal of Business Research
