How does marketing capability impact abnormal stock returns? The mediating role of growth

Building on the frameworks of the resource-based view and value relevance, this study contributes to how the firms' marketing capabilities affect firm performance. More specifically, this research examines growth as a potential mechanism to explain how marketing capabilities impact stock returns. This study estimates empirical models using a merged data set comprising firms' marketing and financial information. Results indicate that asset growth mediates the relationship between marketing capability and abnormal stock returns. Marketing capabilities in general and marketing capabilities of retail firms specifically show direct significant effects on abnormal stock returns. This study contributes to resource-based view theory in marketing by demonstrating that it is not only the intangible characteristic of marketing capabilities, but also the growth potential that marketing capabilities exhibit that help explain higher stock returns. This study points to the need to account for mechanisms and mediating variables when building theoretical frameworks of the impact of marketing capabilities on firm performance.