Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct an empirical investigation into the differences between the marketing practices of foreign and domestic manufacturing firms in Ghana. More specifically, an attempt was made, firstly, to determine the differences in the perceived importance of different elements of marketing practice and, secondly, to distinguish between the actual performance of these activities in the firms selected. Data were obtained from 75 firms representing domestic and foreign businesses in 8 foreign countries spread across Europe, North America and Asia. The analysis indicates that, on the whole, foreign firms perceive marketing practices as more important and tend to perform more marketing activities compared with their domestic counterparts. Managerial implications of the findings and the study's limitations are discussed alongside future research directions.