SME Characteristics and Formalised Information Use: A Canonical Correlation Analysis

This study aims to demonstrate a relationship between information use and

SME characteristics. Marketing intelligence affects SMEs’ marketing

decision making, while marketing decision making is affected by

information use. SMEs’ ability to acquire, analyse and utilise formalised

marketing information is critical to their competitive advantage because

SMEs that make better use of information have better chances of fostering

business growth. This is particularly important for policy makers whose aim

is to subsidise SMEs, which are important to national economies in order to

foster national growth. Empirical evidence supports the existence of

statistically significant relationships between information use and the SME

characteristics considered in this study. The approach to the study is

quantitative: the analysis was conducted using multivariate data analysis

techniques, specifically principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical

correlation analysis. The findings support the idea that characteristics such

as firm size, marketing strategy and resources allocation to marketing

intelligence in SMEs are factors affecting SMEs information use.