How important is customer orientation for firm performance? A fuzzy set analysis of orientations, strategies, and environments

Prior literature suggests that customer orientation interacts with other strategic factors, but yields mixed effects in terms of performance outcomes. In addition, capturing performance outcomes of complex systems of interdependencies using commonly employed methods, such as regression models, is often difficult. Thus, this study employs a configurational approach, using fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA), to analyze the constellations of different strategic orientations, strategy types, and market conditions that yield superior performance. The study finds no evidence of high-performing configurations without customer orientation and shows that highly performing firms configure themselves around their customer orientation in three different ways. The results have implications for market orientation theory as well as for configurational and (marketing) strategy research in general.