What Is Market Orientation?
Market orientation is an approach to business that prioritizes identifying the needs and desires of consumers and creating products and services that satisfy them. Companies that have a market orientation consider the opinions and needs of their target market as a critical component of their 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:research and development (R&D) for new products.
It may sound obvious, but advocates of market orientation argue that the conventional approach to product development is the opposite. That is, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:marketing strategies focus on establishing key selling points to promote existing products rather than designing products that have the qualities consumers say they w🐭ant.
Key Takeaways
- Market orientation is a strategic focus on identifying consumer needs and desires in order to define new products to be developed.
- Established businesses like Amazon and Coca-Cola use market orientation principles to improve or expand their products or services.
- Even consumer demands that are impractical today can inform long-range decision-making.
How Market Orientation Works
Market orientation is a customer-centered approach to product design. It involves 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:market research aimed at determining what consumers view as their immediate needs, primary concerns, or personal preferences within a particular product category. Researchers use 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:activ𝔉ity, interest, and opinion (AIO) surveys along wit🍌h 𝓡demographic to gain insight into the target customer desires.
Companies may also employ additional data analysis to reveal trends and consumer desires that are not specifically expressed. A knowledge of these trends ideally can help 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:product developers meet or even anticipate consumer needs. They may even inspire improvements that the consumer was not aware of𝐆 as being an optio🌄n.
This allows a company to focus its product development efforts on the characteristics that are most in-demand. With an increasingly global economy and the proliferation of choices for consumers, companies that adapt to a market orientation may benefit from a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:competitive advantage over other companies.
Advantages of Market Orientation
Market orientation often includes improvements in customer service and product support geared to solving concerns raised by consumers. This helps ensure customer satisfaction remains high with the company as a whole and promotes 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth advertising.
To be successful, companies need to ensure that all departments adopt and promote the market orientation approach so that it becomes an integral part of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:corporate culture. When effective, market orientation can help a company increase customer retention and propel growth in new demo🌟graphics.
At times, market orientation may reveal customer desires that are simply not cost-effective or practical to implement. The business then must determine how to meet customer expectations in the best way 🥂possible.
At the very least, impractical ideas may inform long-term 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:development strategies. Options that are not cost effec꧃tive today may become quite possible down the line due to changes in technology, science, 💞regulation or other market conditions.
Market Orientation vs. Other Strategies
Development focused on market orientation puts consumers' desires first, creating the product around their expressed needs and wants. This contrasts with product orientation, a business philosophy that emphasizes getting the consumer to become aware of and like the features and benefits of a particular product.
澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Product differentiation often goes hand-in-hand with a product orientation approach. With this approach, the company employs an advertising strategy t﷽hat aims at clearly identifying the attributes that disting🤪uish a brand from its competitors.
Sales orientation focuses on persuading the consumer into immediate action through means such as online ads, social media, television commercials, in-store demonstrations, or 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:direct response marketing.
Any or all of these approaches may be required for a successful marketing strategy, but♉ most businesses focus on on𒅌e or a few as their primary focus.
Real World Examples of Market Orientation
Amazon
Amazon is an example of a market-oriented company. As it has grown and developed, it has consistently added processes and f🍷eatures that clearly address concerns and desires expressed by consumers.
For example, many consumers, especially city dwellers, worry about getting packages delivered when they're not at home. The company responded with Amazon Locker, a network of self-service pickup boxes.
Delivery charges, no matter how reasonable, are a chief irritant to consumers, and a reason to buy locally instead of ordering online. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Amazon Prime charges an annual fꦕee for 𝓡the free delivery of most of its products.
Coca-Cola
澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Coca-Cola is another company that is famous for its market orientation. Considerable research goes into identifying new flavors that consumers will actually like, such as wild strawberry and lime. But those new flavors won't help Coca-Cola address the increasing health consciousness of consumers. That's why the company acquired brands including Dasani, Honest Tea, ♉Smartwater, Simply Orang༺e, Minute Maid, and Vitaminwater.