Enhancing export performance: Betting on customer orientation, behavioral commitment, and communication

•We investigate how customer orientation relates to performance in an export context.•Performance is viewed as satisfaction with the margins, capability of payment, and level of complaints.•Customer orientation affects the capability of payment through communication and behavioral commitment.•Communication mediates the effect of customer orientation on the level of customer complaints.•The exporter is pleased with the margins and the level of complaints in predictable and stable environments.

This study examines the extent to which behavioral commitment and communication mediate the effect of customer orientation on export performance such as satisfaction with the percentage margin, capability of payment, and level of complaints. The research was carried out in the Norwegian seafood industry with a sample of 105 exporters. Length of the relationship, firm size, and environmental uncertainties are considered as covariates. The results show that behavioral commitment and communication fully mediate the relationship between exporter's customer orientation and customer's payment capability. Furthermore, communication mediates the relationship between customer orientation and the level of customer complaints. The results do not support the view that behavioral commitment and/or communication are key mechanisms promoting exporter's satisfaction with the margins. The more predictable and stable the environment is in the export market, the more likely it is that the exporter is pleased with the level of complaints and the percentage margin.