Impact of Market Orientation and ICT on the Performance of Rural Smaller Service Enterprises*

Abstract

Market orientation (MO) is considered as a competitive strategy for the smaller service enterprises based in rural locations. A model is proposed and validated for the rural tourism sector that encompasses the effects of MO and of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) on business activity, taking into account the business's financial results, improvements to the rural location, and the more personal, intangible impact on the local entrepreneur.ICT is found to have a positive impact on MO and outcomes, whereas, similarly, the adoption of MO is found to have a positive effect on outcomes.

Interactive Effects of Network Capability, ICT Capability, and Financial Slack on Technology-Based Small Firm Innovation Performance

“…Expertise in this area drives radical and incremental innovation performance. Furthermore, technologically capable small firms can obtain abundant, valuable information about their markets and customers, bettering positioning them to understand customers' needs and tailor their products to those needs through improved internal processes (Polo Peña, Frías Jamilena, and Rodríguez Molina ; Ruiz‐Mercader, Merono‐Cerdan, and Sabater‐Sanchez ). Because our arguments suggest several benefits associated with these capabilities, we propose that they are important catalysts in transforming small firms' resources into creative or innovative performance.…”

Targeting Rural Tourists in the Internet: Comparing Travel Motivation and Activity-Based Segments

“…What are the differences between different customer groups in different marketing channels? ICT use is critical for the success of rural tourism businesses (Polo Peña, Jamilena, & Molina, 2011), and the results of this study are aimed at helping rural tourism businesses to design their online marketing strategy.…”

Market Orientation Adoption among Rural Tourism Enterprises: The Effect of the Location and Characteristics of the Firm

“…These results are in line with those of other studies (e.g. Polo‐Peña and Frías‐Jamilena, ; Polo‐Peña et al ., ; Hernández‐Maestro and González‐Benito, ).…”

“…Only a few recent studies cover the impact of using ICT in developing MO (e.g. Zhen Zhu, 2007;Polo-Peña et al, 2011). The adoption of ICT gives organizations a greater capacity to access market information, which in turn enables them to better identify and understand the customer (Elliott and Boshoff, 2005) and business competitors (Domke and Levsen, 2002), while implementing tactics and strategies geared to the market.…”