Building a Theoretical Model of Sustainable Marketing Strategies for MSMEs in West Muna, Indonesia: A Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

This study develops a holistic theoretical model of sustainable marketing strategy for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in archipelagic and remote regions, using West Muna Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, as its setting. A qualitative Grounded Theory Approach (GTA) was applied through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis with 42 informants across six stakeholder groups: MSME operators, local government, academics, business facilitators, consumers, and digital media managers. Data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding in NVivo. Four causal conditions were found to shape the core phenomenon of “MSME sustainable marketing strategy” marketing digitalization, green innovation, local cultural capital, and multi-stakeholder collaboration (the Hexa Helix model) with “MSME adaptive and innovation capabilities” emerging as the core category bridging them. From these findings, the study proposes five theoretical propositions underlying a “Resilient Digital-Green Marketing” model, showing that the four antecedent constructs affect marketing performance only through business owners’ adaptive capabilities. Marketing digitalization in West Muna remains minimally functional, dominated by WhatsApp and Facebook; green practices remain implicit and uncommunicated as marketing value; and local cultural capital, together with social relationships, plays a key role in building customer trust amid limited digital infrastructure. Theoretically, the study enriches the literature on dynamic managerial capabilities and the marketing mix from the perspective of micro MSMEs in rural-archipelagic regions; practically, it offers a basis for designing more contextual, phased MSME support policies and sustainability programs.