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Customer‐led and market‐oriented: let's not confuse the two

Customer‐led and market‐oriented: let's not confuse the two Christensen and Bower (1996) report the results of a study of how customer power contributes to the failure of leading firms during a period of industry discontinuity. They conclude that developing a customer orientation appears not to be wise advice under these conditions. However, this conclusion is contradicted by long‐standing theory and recent research in marketing. In this commentary we distinguish between two forms of ‘customer orientation’ that are frequently confused. The first, a customer‐led philosophy, is primarily concerned with satisfying customers' expressed needs, and is typically short term in focus and reactive in nature. The second, a market‐oriented philosophy, goes beyond satisfying expressed needs to understanding and satisfying customers' latent needs and, thus, is longer term in focus and proactive in nature. Based on theory and substantial evidence, the advice to become market‐oriented appears sound regardless of the market conditions a business faces. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Strategic Management Journal Wiley

Customer‐led and market‐oriented: let's not confuse the two

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References (29)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN
0143-2095
eISSN
1097-0266
DOI
10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199810)19:10<1001::AID-SMJ996>3.0.CO;2-4
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Christensen and Bower (1996) report the results of a study of how customer power contributes to the failure of leading firms during a period of industry discontinuity. They conclude that developing a customer orientation appears not to be wise advice under these conditions. However, this conclusion is contradicted by long‐standing theory and recent research in marketing. In this commentary we distinguish between two forms of ‘customer orientation’ that are frequently confused. The first, a customer‐led philosophy, is primarily concerned with satisfying customers' expressed needs, and is typically short term in focus and reactive in nature. The second, a market‐oriented philosophy, goes beyond satisfying expressed needs to understanding and satisfying customers' latent needs and, thus, is longer term in focus and proactive in nature. Based on theory and substantial evidence, the advice to become market‐oriented appears sound regardless of the market conditions a business faces. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Journal

Strategic Management Journal – Wiley

Published: Oct 1, 1998

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