Marketing Strategies for Indonesian MSME’s Importing Products From China to Build Sustainable Online Brands and Enhance Market Performance

Dion Padmaputra Hartanujaya

Authors

Dion Padmaputra Hartanujaya School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China Author

Keywords:

Marketing Strategy, Import Capability, Online Branding, Market Performance, MSMEs, Indonesia-China Trade

Abstract

This study investigates the strategic drivers of market performance among Indonesian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that import products from China. Specifically, it examines the direct and indirect impacts of Marketing Strategy Use (MSU) and Import Capability (IC) on Market Performance (MP), with Online Branding (OB) as a mediating construct. Using an explanatory quantitative design, data were collected from 185 MSME owners and managers through an online survey and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Stata. The empirical results demonstrate that MSU (β=0.739,p<0.001) and IC (β=0.197,p=0.011) have statistically significant positive effects on Online Branding, supporting H1 and H2. However, Online Branding does not significantly influence Market Performance (β=0.040,p=0.558), resulting in the rejection of H3 and the mediation paths (H4 and H5). These findings suggest that for Indonesian MSMEs in price-sensitive digital marketplaces, marketing intensity and supply chain efficiency serve as direct drivers of commercial success, while branding remains a secondary developmental outcome.

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