A contingency theory approach to market orientation and related marketing strategy concepts: does fit relate to profit performance?

With a focus on the financial services industry, the current study takes a contingency theory approach to the relationships between market orientation and a variety of marketing strategy concepts, including profitability, a firm’s Miles and Snow strategy type, market growth, service growth, service focus, market coverage, the Porter strategy group, and strategic marketing initiative. Data for the study were gathered from a survey of chief executives from credit unions in the U.S. The results of the study are mixed. In particular, the findings suggest that despite the perceptions of management, it is the less aggressive and less costly approaches to market orientation and marketing strategy that actually pay off in terms of objectively measured ROA. The pattern that emerges seems to suggest that if the goal is overall firm profitability as measured by ROA, then the recommendation may be to focus on more conservative strategies combined with lower levels of market orientation. Additionally, the total number of strategic alignments is also relevant to profit performance. It was shown that companies with a higher number of recommended “fits” between market orientation and their marketing strategies achieved a larger ROA.contingency theory, market orientation, financial services, strategic fits.

A CONTINGENCY THEORY APPROACH TO MARKET ORIENTATION AND RELATED MARKETING STRATEGY CONCEPTS: DOES FIT RELATE TO PROFIT PERFORMANCE?

With a focus on the financial services industry, the current study takes a contingency theory approach to the relationships between market orientation and a variety of marketing strategy concepts, including profitability, a firm’s Miles and Snow strategy type, market growth, service growth, service focus, market coverage, the Porter strategy group, and strategic marketing initiative. Data for the study were gathered from a survey of chief executives from credit unions in the U.S. The results of the study are mixed. In particular, the findings suggest that despite the perceptions of management, it is the less aggressive and less costly approaches to market orientation and marketing strategy that actually pay off in terms of objectively measured ROA. The pattern that emerges seems to suggest that if the goal is overall firm profitability as measured by ROA, then the recommendation may be to focus on more conservative strategies combined with lower levels of market orientation. Additionally, the total number of strategic alignments is also relevant to profit performance. It was shown that companies with a higher number of recommended “fits” between market orientation and their marketing strategies achieved a larger ROA.contingency theory, financial services, market orientation, strategic fits.

AN EMPIRICAL VALIDATION OF THE METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING SELF-PERCEIVED AGE IN THE MIDDLE EASTERN MARKET

The authors present and validate a method for measuring cognitive age in the Middle Eastern market.  The proposed cognitive age measure appears to show internal consistency, reliability, and correlation with actual chronological age. Specifically, cognitive age is only slightly lower on average than actual chronological age among Middle Eastern consumers, and these differences are much less pronounced than has been found in previous cross-cultural studies. The cognitive age measure also demonstrates predictive validity regarding consumption behavior in the retail coffee industry.  The findings show that as both measures of age increase, buyers are satisfied with a greater percentage of retailers.  Nevertheless, as both forms of age increase, consumers visit fewer coffee shops per year.  Although they tend to make fewer visits, both cognitively and chronologically older consumers spend more money on each retail coffee shop visit.  In addition, total coffee consumption increases with increased cognitive and chronological age, presumably driven by greater consumption in non-retail venues.

An Investigation of Chronological Versus Cognitive Age Impact in the Kuwait Coffee Shop Market

Given the growing body of research dedicated to self-perceived age and the cognitive age construct, it is widely believed that one’s self-perceived age may actually be a better predictor of age-related psychological states or attitudes than mere chronological age. Extending the research on cognitive age, the current study examines the impact of both cognitive age and traditional chronological age on the behaviors of coffee shop users in Kuwait. The study finds that chronological age and cognitive age are highly correlated, both in age levels and in terms of consumer behavior. Nevertheless, a large portion of the sample perceived themselves to be younger than their chronological age. This is especially true of consumers aged 55 and over. The main findings that differentiate chronological age from cognitive age are that as Kuwaiti consumers become chronologically older, coffee drinks become more important to them. Also, as cognitive age increases, consumers are less likely to drink coffee with friends

A Contingency Theory Approach to Market Orientation and Related Marketing Strategy Concepts: Does Fit Relate to Profit Performance?

With a focus on the financial services industry, the current study takes a contingency theory approach to the relationships between market orientation and a variety of marketing strategy concepts, including profitability, a firm’s Miles and Snow strategy type, market growth, service growth, service focus, market coverage, the Porter strategy group, and strategic marketing initiative. Data for the study were gathered from a survey of chief executives from credit unions in the U.S. The results of the study are mixed. In particular, the findings suggest that despite the perceptions of management, it is the less aggressive and less costly approaches to market orientation and marketing strategy that actually pay off in terms of objectively measured ROA. The pattern that emerges seems to suggest that if the goal is overall firm profitability as measured by ROA, then the recommendation may be to focus on more conservative strategies combined with lower levels of market orientation. Additionally, the total number of strategic alignments is also relevant to profit performance. It was shown that companies with a higher number of recommended “fits” between market orientation and their marketing strategies achieved a larger ROA

The Market Share Impact of the Fit between Market Leadership Efforts and Overall Strategic Aggressiveness

The current study takes a contingency theory approach to the relationship between market leadership and a variety of marketing strategy concepts making up a firm’s strategic profile, including a firm’s Miles and Snow strategy type, market growth, service growth, service focus, market coverage, the Porter strategy group, and market orientation. The results of the study support this approach, showing that at least six of the seven strategic contingency combinations exhibit a significant relationship to market share. Utilizing a sample drawn from the financial services industry, it is found that firms possessing a recommended “fit”, as when market leader firms exhibit a more aggressive marketing strategy profile, tend to have higher levels of market share. The results of the study also reveal that a firm’s market share performance is related to the total number of strategic “fits” between the firm’s market leadership position and the various components of the firm’s strategic profile

Analyzing True Loyalty in the Middle Eastern Market: Brand Preference and Brand Insistence

The purpose of this study was to investigate loyalty profiles in among consumers of western-style coffee shops within the emerging market of Kuwait. The loyalty profiles were developed based on the typology presented by Dick & Basu (1994), where buyers can be truly loyal, spuriously loyal, latently loyal, or not loyal to a specific brand. Added to these four loyalty types are the inclusion of two specific true loyalty categories, preferent true loyalty and insistent true loyalty. The study presents evidence that a large proportion of customers fall into the true loyalty category. However, only about five percent of the market exhibits insistent true loyalty, where they are loyal to only one brand at the exclusion of all others. Instead, the vast majority of respondents exhibited the brand preferent form of loyalty, choosing to periodically switch their purchases between a small number of retailers

Chemical modification of extracellular matrix by cold atmospheric plasma-generated reactive species affects chondrogenesis and bone formation.

The goal of this study was to investigate whether cold plasma generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) modifies extracellular matrices (ECM) to influence chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. Replacement of cartilage by bone during endochondral ossification is essential in fetal skeletal development, bone growth and fracture healing. Regulation of this process by the ECM occurs through matrix remodelling, involving a variety of cell attachment molecules and growth factors, which influence cell morphology and protein expression. The commercially available ECM, Matrigel, was treated with microsecond or nanosecond pulsed (μsp or nsp, respectively) DBD frequencies conditions at the equivalent frequencies (1 kHz) or power (~1 W). Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 was added and the mixture subcutaneously injected into mice to simulate ectopic endochondral ossification. Two weeks later, the masses were extracted and analysed by microcomputed tomography. A significant increase in bone formation was observed in Matrigel treated with μsp DBD compared with control, while a significant decrease in bone formation was observed for both nsp treatments. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis showed Matrigel treated with μsp plasma increased the number of invading cells, the amount of vascular endothelial growth factor and chondrogenesis while the opposite was true for Matrigel treated with nsp plasma. In support of the in vivo Matrigel study, 10 T1/2 cells cultured in vitro on μsp DBD-treated type I collagen showed increased expression of adhesion proteins and activation of survival pathways, which decreased with nsp plasma treatments. These results indicate DBD modification of ECM can influence cellular behaviours to accelerate or inhibit chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd