The main directions of customer orientation studying: antecedents, levels and effectiveness

Abstract

Customer orientation as one of the mainstream concepts of contemporary marketing has been actively developed since 1990s. The purpose of the article is to develop a conceptual model of customer orientation relationships in a company based on a systematic analysis of existing studies and their adaptation to practical use. As a result of the analysis, the approaches to determining customer orientation are systematized on the basis of two determinants: the level of customer orientation (personal, organizational) and the approach of customer orientation interpretation (value, process). To determine customer orientation, the author uses an integrated approach, which includes value and process characteristics of customer orientation, as it gives companies a more comprehensive understanding for the development of a customer-oriented approach. Within this approach, customer orientation is defined as activities of a company to collect information on existing and potential customers, disseminating this information in the company and developing actions to meet current and future customer needs by creating the highest value. The developed model reflects the relationship between customer orientation and various aspects of company's business and the prerequisites for its development. The data obtained show that customer orientation affects not only performance, but also employees, competitive advantage, customers and the choice of management strategies. The conceptual model allows to take an overall look at customer orientation in the company and devise a plan for its development.