Market Orientation

Business philosophies and orientation tendencies change constantly along with the shifts in the economy and trends on the market. Yet, such business approaches as market orientation, sales orientation, product and production concepts, etc. are always in use.

Marketing Orientation Definition

Marketing orientation is a special business philosophy, an operational mode, which involves a business directing its goals, functioning, and the overall performance towards the consumer. This means that a market-oriented company would first learn about its customers’ requirements and needs and then develop a product in response to that demand instead of releasing the goods first and making them seem appealing to the customers afterwards.

Market orientation is a rather complex approach. It not only implies getting closer to clients and identifying what they really want. It also requires a business team to fully understand the market they are working in as well as be able to compare the market demand with the business’s actual capabilities and establish a relationship with the customers.

Production Orientation

Being one of the primary (and the oldest) business approaches, production orientation differs from the market one a lot and even falls behind it these days. When a business is production-oriented, all of its resources, actions, and processes are directed towards the manufacturing. Oftentimes, it concentrates on producing as much product quantity as possible and focuses more on the customer’s desire to obtain that product. When the production orientation approach is implemented, customers may benefit from low prices but (in the majority of cases) the product will not have the features they desire to see in it.

Product Orientation

This approach is closely linked to the market orientation but has quite a few different and distinct features. While market concept implies adjusting the product to the customers’ wishes and demands, product orientation is a business philosophy that involves directing all the activities more on the product improvement, development, and constant enhancement. In other words, when a company is product-oriented, its functions are focused on simply making the product better.

Unlike production orientation (when a business is more concerned with the product quantity), product orientation is tightly linked to the quality, not the efficiency and low costs of the manufacturing process.

Sales Orientation

Instead of taking the customers’ needs into consideration (like market-oriented businesses do), a sales-oriented business directs its resources and efforts towards selling as much of their product or service as possible. Oftentimes, the sales orientation approach involves a rather aggressive, pushy advertising and marketing techniques.

Sales orientation is prevalent for businesses that believe that their major problem is not selling enough of the goods they have already produced and have available. Therefore, sales orientation is closely linked to the belief that without a strong, persistent advertisement, customers will not be willing to make purchases from a business.

When to Use Marketing Orientation?

Just like any other business philosophy, market orientation has its own time and place where it can be implemented in the most effective manner. So, using market orientation will allow for the most notable results when:

  • You feel the need to comprehend what your customer actually wants.
  • You wish to satisfy that need, thus increasing the sales and the number of pleased customers.
  • You want to abide by the current trends.
  • Your goal is brand loyalty.
  • The regular, repeat purchases are what you are aiming for.

While being an extremely effective approach, market orientation may bring some difficulties and challenges with it:

  • It may be hard to sense what the customer needs.
  • It requires a thorough, extensive evaluation and research.
  • Some of the customers’ demands may be not cost-efficient.
  • It requires business teams to track all the possible information systems, which is quite time-consuming.

Is Market Orientation Worth a Try? Summing-Up

Being a complex approach that combines numerous processes, aspects, and peculiarities, market orientation offers a long list of advantages. It helps businesses establish a connection with the customer, get a stable income, develop and strengthen customer loyalty, convey the advertising messages more successfully, and establish a long-term profitableness, securing a business’s spot on the market.