Improving customer-focused marketing capabilities and firm financial performance via marketing exploration and exploitation

• Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 736 - 756
• Main Authors: Vorhies, Douglas W., Orr, Linda M., Bush, Victoria D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.10.2011; Springer Science + Business Media LLC; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alliances; Analysis; Beziehungsmarketing; Brand management; Business and Management; Business-to-business market; Competitive advantage; Correlation analysis; Customer relationship management; Exploitation; Financial performance; Investigations; Knowledge; Learning; Literature; Market strategy; Marketing; Marketingmanagement; Organizational learning; Original Empirical Research; Social Sciences; Studies; Unternehmenserfolg; United States; Firm performance; Exploration; Marketing capabilities; Complementarity; Exploitation
• ISSN: 0092-0703; 1552-7824
• DOI: 10.1007/s11747-010-0228-z

Evidence within the marketing literature has shown that marketing capabilities are important drivers of firm performance. However, very little is known about how firms improve their marketing capabilities via the embedding of new market knowledge. Organizational learning theory provides us with a theoretical lens through which we can examine how existing customer-focused marketing capabilities may be improved and new customer-focused marketing capabilities may be created via marketing exploitation and exploration capabilities. In addition, this study investigates whether ambidexterity in marketing exploration and exploitation exists and finds that firms cannot do both at high levels without risking a negative impact on customer-focused marketing capabilities. This study also presents findings demonstrating how improving the two customer-focused marketing capabilities in our study, brand management and customer relationship management, impacts objective financial performance.