Despite the increasing research importance of market orientation concept in the marketing literature, few comparative studies between Europe and U.S. have been conducted. Consequently, this void limits the understanding of marketing orientation strategy in global markets. The empirical study reported in this article investigates (a) the influence of competitive environments on the understanding and uses of market orientation in insurance flrms in Europe and U.S. and (b) the effects of market orientation on firms innovativeness. The results not only provide empirical support of the concept of market orientation as defmed in the literature, but also expands it
