New approaches to heuristic processes and entrepreneurial cognition of the market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution that the study of heuristic processes can make to a better understanding of the gap between marketing theory and practice, particularly in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The term entrepreneurial marketing is used to refer to the marketing content of the entrepreneurial role. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review is supplemented with the results of an empirical research study conducted by the author over the last ten years on SMEs in the fashion industry. Findings – The paper investigates how entrepreneurs generate and share heuristics to produce and use knowledge about markets. Based on an in‐depth review of the literature, the paper develops the idea that this evolution of heuristics studies is of prime interest to an understanding of the specific features of the marketing content of the entrepreneurial role. Originality/value – The paper provides a conceptual perspective based on the study of heuristics with the aim to provide a new basis to the debate on bridging the gap between theory and practice of marketing.