The effect of marketing innovations on competitive advantage at the food retail small and medium enterprises in Dubai and cost effectiveness as moderator

This study explores the impact of marketing innovations specifically green marketing,  digital marketing, and educative marketing on cost based competitive advantage in food  retail SMEs in Dubai, with cost effectiveness acting as a moderator. The main objective  is  to  examine  how  these  marketing  innovations  affect  competitive  advantage,  particularly cost advantage, and the role of cost effectiveness in enhancing this effect.  A quantitative research design was used, employing non-proportional cluster sampling  with  380  managers  from  food  retail  SMEs.  Data  were  collected  using  a  structured  questionnaire  and  analyzed  with  structural  equation  modeling  (SEM). The  findings  indicate that green marketing had no significant impact on cost advantage (β = -0.049,  p > 0.05), while both digital marketing (β = 0.182, p < 0.001) and educative marketing (β = 0.291, p < 0.001) had significant positive effects on cost advantage. Additionally,  cost-effectiveness  was  found  to  moderate  the  relationship  between  marketing  innovations  and  competitive  advantage,  strengthening  the  effect  of  digital  and  educative marketing. Food retail SMEs in Dubai should prioritize digital and educative  marketing  strategies  to  improve  their  cost  advantage. Cost  effective  marketing  strategies should be a key focus for SMEs in the food retail sector to ensure long term  sustainability and competitive success.