Marketing for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are recognized as the lifeblood of economies worldwide, and their significance cannot be understated. They play a crucial role in modern economies, serving as catalysts for innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Given the pervasive impact of entrepreneurs, understanding their behavior, decision-making processes, and strategic actions can offer invaluable insights for both theory and practice. My dissertation contributes to the literature on Marketing to Entrepreneurs by investigating entrepreneurs decision-making in diverse settings. The first essay explores the impact of promotions on entrepreneurs in a retail setting. The second and third essay focuses on content creators as entrepreneurs in a live streaming space. The first essay explores strategic marketing by investigating the influence of monetary and non-monetary promotions on entrepreneurs’ decisions. Promotions have always been a pivotal part of marketing strategies as they not only attract potential consumers but also retain existing ones. By examining promotions given by an industrial equipment and tools retailer to entrepreneurs, I find considerable heterogeneity among entrepreneurs, such that various entrepreneurs respond positively to different types of promotions.The second essay investigates the dynamics of rebranding in the context of digital platforms. Rebranding is a critical strategy for firms looking to reinvent their brand identities, enhance service offerings, and optimize user experiences. I find that the rebranding of Twitch Prime to Prime Gaming has a diverse impact, with some streamers benefitting while others experiencing decreased viewership. Specifically, results suggest that more successful content creators are able to reduce their airtime while still gaining viewers while less successful ones increase their airtime to capture a larger market share.In essay 3, I investigate the impact of content creators' strategic content choices on their engagement and revenue. I find that gaming content leads to more instant returns in terms of higher tips and chat engagement while non-gaming content helps build a community as indicated by higher subscriptions. However, for top content creators that are already established focusing on gaming content leads to not just higher tips and chat messages but also subscribers.