Adaptive marketing capabilities, market orientation, and international performance: the moderation effect of competitive intensity

Abstract

Purpose It is well established in marketing literature that international performance is positively affected by marketing capabilities, whether static or dynamic. However, recent theoretical development proposed adaptive marketing capabilities (AMC) as a set of capabilities able to close the marketing gap. Given the relative newness of this construct, empirical studies are still scarce. Therefore, drawing from a resource-based view perspective, this study aims to analyse the relationships among market orientation (MO), AMC and firms’ international performance, as well as the moderating effects of competitive intensity. Design/methodology/approach The authors have used survey-based research with 335 internationalised Portuguese business-to-business small and medium sized enterprises (B2B SMEs) during June 2020. The authors analysed responses through structural equation modelling and path analysis. Findings Results revealed positive relationships between AMC and international performance and between MO and AMC. Furthermore, results were robust to the competitive environment. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to international marketing literature by analysing MO as an antecedent of AMC, which has never been done before. Furthermore, it analyses the simultaneous effects of MO and AMC on international performance, as well as the moderation of competitive intensity. Also, the study’s results inform managers and marketeers of internationalised firms about the advantages of adopting a market-oriented behaviour and the development of AMC, whether in more or less competitive environments.

The effect of environmental competitiveness, customer and competitor orientation on export performance

“…This result is supported by the study that showed market access conditions relative to those faced by competitors rather than CO per se significantly influence export performance (Chen et al , 2015; Fugazza and McLaren, 2014). However, other contradictory data indicate a negative or nonexistent relationship between competition orientation and performance (Al-Hakimi et al , 2022; Gaur et al , 2011; Reimann et al , 2022). As a result, for service firms, focusing on varying customer needs does not affect export performance because of standardization requirements and the improvement necessity of the employees and firm processes.…”

The importance of entrepreneurial leadership in fostering bank performance

“…According to Anning-Dorson (2018b) and Groza et al (2021), highly innovative firms normally adopt the latest technological advances to improve their operations and customer relationships. Previous studies have established that the focus of market orientation is to fulfil customer needs in customer-centric or market-driven strategies (Andreou et al, 2020;Anees-ur-Rehman and Johnston, 2019;Masa'deh et al, 2018;Reimann et al, 2023). These insights drive the theoretical basis for correlation among market orientation, brand orientation, bank innovativeness and bank performance.…”

“…Therefore, being market-oriented will help banks respond to customer needs and maintain relationships with customers to achieve superior bank performance (Nourallah et al, 2021). In addition, market development demonstrates that market orientation is associated with firm performance (Chahal et al, 2016;Nassani and Aldakhil, 2023;Prifti and Alimehmeti, 2017;Reimann et al, 2023). Taken together, the following hypotheses are formulated:…”

International dynamic marketing capabilities: developments and a research agenda

“…When reviewing the extant IMC articles, the most frequently used antecedents could be split into two categories: (1) marketing theory rooted concepts (e.g. market orientation (Reimann et al, 2022), segmentation and targeting (Cortez and Hidalgo, 2022)) and ( 2) international business related phenomena (e.g. international vision (Weerawardena et al, 2015), increased number of foreign markets (Ledesma-Chaves et al, 2020), firm's cultural intelligence (Hazzam and Wilkins, 2022)).…”