2019

Haapio, Hannele; Karjaluoto, Heikki; Mero, Joel

Firms are under increasing pressure to remain relevant for their customers and need to rethink how to remain market-oriented in the digital age. This is evident in the banking sector where the traditional banks are gradually being challenged by digital native competitors and growing customer demands. Consequently, this study examines what it takes to be market oriented in the banking sector at the age of increasing digitalization. Specifically, we focus on developing the theory on the antecedents of MO and examine how banks can regain market orientation under changing market conditions. Although Market Orientation (MO) has been a widely studied concept that has been applied in numerous different contexts, the role of digitalization as the transformer of MO is not well understood. The main findings of this study indicate market orientation at the digital age is manifested as the firm’s ability to offer seamless and valuable customer experience across all service channels. Realizing this ideal necessitates a low organizational structure, managerial understanding of data and technology usage, interdepartmental management of external partnerships, as well as a managerial mindset that is genuinely concerned about customer needs.