Measuring market orientation in several populations : a structural equations model

Abstract

Most researchers have studied economic performance linked to market orientation, while a lesser interest has been shown in validating this construct’s measure. We present a study of market orientation designed to obtain a valid measure of the market orientation construct. After presenting a theoretical model of market orientation, it is applied to investigate the usefulness of this construct in insurance companies of two European countries. Key features of the research methodology include several rounds of pretesting, multiple informant assessment, and a covariance structure procedure to show the structural validity of a measure of market orientation. The results show that the measure proposed is represented by a factorial structure that can be interpreted as an overall market orientation factor in both populations and a country-specific additional factor.