The relationship between market-oriented activities and market-oriented culture: implications for the development of market orientation in nonprofit service organizations

Market orientation is the means by which the theoretical marketing concept is implemented. As of yet, however, no agreement has been reached on the exact nature of market orientation. It is viewed as a cultural construct, a behavioral construct, or a hybrid incorporating both cultural and behavioral aspects or as separate behavioral and cultural constructs that are causally related. Our study is an investigation of alternative models that incorporate separate cultural and behavioral constructs and the relationship between them. In the nonprofit service organizations studied here, results show that a positive relationship between market-oriented behaviors and organizational performance is mediated by market-oriented culture. The study contributes to an understanding of the theoretical relationship between market-oriented culture and behaviors in nonprofit organizations, and also to the managerial processes involved in introducing market orientation into this sector. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.