The Impact of Digital Marketing Training on Increasing Sales Volume for Micro-Enterprises (A Case Study in the Culinary Sector)

Abstract

Digital marketing has become an essential strategy for improving the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). However, existing studies have predominantly examined digital marketing adoption as a general organizational capability, while limited empirical evidence is available regarding whether the intensity of digital marketing engagement is associated with sales performance among culinary micro-enterprises. This study addresses this gap by investigating the relationship between digital marketing intensity and sales volume using a quantitative explanatory design based on data from 4,546 culinary micro-enterprises. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, simple linear regression, independent-samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA were employed to evaluate the proposed relationships. The results reveal a significant positive association between digital marketing intensity and sales volume, with regression analysis indicating that higher digital marketing intensity significantly increases sales performance (b = 22.188, p < .001) and explains 27.8% of the observed variation. Consistent findings from the independent-samples t-test further demonstrate that enterprises with high digital marketing intensity achieve substantially greater sales than those with low intensity. In contrast, no significant differences in sales volume were identified across nano, micro, macro, and mega promotional-partner tiers, suggesting that the consistency of digital marketing engagement, rather than the scale of promotional partners, is more strongly associated with commercial performance. These findings contribute to the digital marketing and MSME literature by demonstrating that digital marketing intensity constitutes a distinct explanatory dimension beyond simple technology adoption. The study also provides practical implications for policymakers and training providers by emphasizing sustained digital engagement as a more effective strategy for enhancing the sales performance of culinary micro-enterprises.