Effect of corporate social responsibility-moderated digital marketing on small and medium enterprises performance in the emerging market

Purpose With the wide adoption of information and communication technologies globally, digital marketing (DM) has emerged as an important and influential role in the growth and development of firms. However, it remains unclear how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets that normally have limited digital technology resources can gain benefits from DM. Thus, this research aims to investigate how DM benefits SMEs in emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the resource-based views (RBV) theory and a sample of 156,625 SMEs in Vietnam, this research uses statistical models and examines the performance of SMEs in terms of sales and productivity. Findings There is strong evidences that the sales and productivity performance of SMEs are positively affected by DM. Furthermore, there is evidence that corporate social responsibility plays an important role in moderating the influence of DM on SME performance. Originality/value This finding suggests that entrepreneurs should carefully consider using digital technologies to create DM strategies. This result also encourages local policymakers to invest more in digital technology and boost the growth of SMEs.