Reconceptualizing the elements of market orientation: A process-based view

•MIIP revealed a logical order of the MO variables and conceptualizes these measures as a linked process.•Conditional process modeling was used to investigate the temporally distinct process of MO.•The effects of moderators (centralization and international experience) vary on the degree of intelligence dissemination.

Market Orientation (MO) was originally introduced with a reflective second-order scale, but much recent research has conceptualized MO as a formative second-order construct. However, either the reflective or the formative approach to measuring MO may have issues that obscure relationships between both the individual dimensions and their relationships with other variables. Thus, the current research disaggregates the MO construct into three sub-constructs in an effort to explore relationships between the three dimensions of MO and its implementation process within the firm. The proposed Market Intelligence Implementation Process (MIIP) model suggests both a direct path from intelligence generation to responsiveness and an indirect path through a company-wide focus on dissemination. The process model suggests that firms may select two distinctly different paths to responsiveness when applying market intelligence. Explicating this dual process model allows us to understand how firm characteristics impact the process of MO through the individual elements. If the three sub-constructs do not vary in concert with each other, researchers cannot simply conclude that a firm characteristic (i.e., centralization or international experience) positively or negatively impacts MO's relationship to important marketing variables. The results indicate that for centralized and experienced firms, a high level of intelligence dissemination may actually hinder responsiveness. However, in decentralized and inexperienced firms, high levels of dissemination are linked to increased responsiveness. Using conditional process modeling, our study disaggregates the temporally distinct process of MO to reveal internal relationships among its dimensions. The current research also shows that the mediation of intelligence dissemination on the link between intelligence generation and responsiveness depends on the firm's levels of both centralization and international experience.