Customer Orientation of B2B Firms in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Russia

Abstract

While the field of customer orientation (CO) has been studied extensively since the 1990s, there have hardly been any attempts to review the concept with consideration of the specifics of B2B markets, especially in the context of the emerging economy. This paper explores the specifics of B2B firms’ CO on the example of Russia’s emerging economy. The empirical survey of 272 Russian B2B firms represents the platform for applying well-established CO measurement tools as an integrated complex measure. The results of factor analysis identify a critically important aspect of CO, which helps to differentiate the customer oriented firms from those with “declared” CO. The study indicates a need to revisit well-established marketing concepts and their measurement approaches in B2B markets on the example of CO in Russia.