Marketing Performance Measurement Systems: Does Comprehensiveness Really Improve Performance?

Abstract

Comprehensive performance measurement systems such as the balanced scorecard have received considerable attention in marketing. However, whether and under which circumstances comprehensiveness as a performance measurement system property is desirable and contributes to firm performance is still a subject of debate in research and practice. To address this issue, the authors use dyadic field data from marketing managers and management accounting executives and extend prior work by developing and testing a more complex, contingency-based model. The empirical results confirm the developed framework. In particular, the results show that the relationship of comprehensiveness in a marketing performance measurement system to firm performance is conditional. Marketing alignment and market-based knowledge mediate this relationship, depending on marketing strategy, marketing complexity, and market dynamism. These insights explain mixed findings of previous research and provide important implications for research and managerial practice.