Marketing capabilities revisited: a resource-based study in the automotive industry

Abstract

The impact of marketing capabilities (MC) on firm performance has been a popular research field in the strategy literature. Much research has shown that MCs are strongly related to company performance, and many firms try to build, maintain, and leverage MCs. In this study, we aim to explore the performance effect of different sub-dimensions of MCs, i.e. new product development, pricing, channel management, marketing research, marketing communication, and marketing strategy and implementation in the Turkish automotive industry. To address the study's aim, quantitative data collected from 163 managers from 53 companies in the automotive industry were analyzed by the regression method. Our findings indicate that marketing capabilities have a significant direct impact on firm performance. However, while the effects of pricing, marketing research, strategy and implementation were strong, the impact of other MC sub-dimensions, i.e., new product development, marketing communication, and channel management, were relatively weak in explaining firm performance. These results are linked with the economic policies of the Turkish government and the competitive strategy choices of Turkish firms, which generally opt for strategies that prioritize the cost and price concerns of business markets. The findings are elaborated on, and some implications are offered.