How Big Data Utilization Affect Firms Marketing-related Strategies and Performance: An Abstract

Abstract

One of the major trends in today’s businesses that is developing into a new strategic resource is the transformative big data (BD) phenomenon (Alharthi et al. 2017). While research on low-level operational aspects of BD is flourishing (Lehn 2018), little is known about its impact on firms’ strategies. Strategic orientations guide the firm’s decision-making and action-taking and describe how resources are allocated and employed. While orientations success depends on intelligence (Hakala 2011), BD is a related field of knowledge management (Xu et al. 2016) that provides knowledge that traditional systems cannot provide (Kumar 2018). Hence, firms need to harness the value of data into orientations since it possesses the potential to shift strategic decisions and actions (Mazzei and Noble 2017). This study examines the impact of BD utilization (extent of BD assimilation in decision-making) on firms’ strategic orientation (market, entrepreneurship, and learning) en-route implications on performance (strategic and financial). The three orientations are marketing-related, still attract scholarly attention, and are widely employed by organizations (Gnizy et al. 2014). BD assists in uncovering unforeseen patterns in developing clearer insights on customers, markets, and environments and offers innovative opportunities that improve the development of new strategies (Lee et al. 2014). Hence, BD utilization should enhance strategic orientations, the latter drive performance. Additionally, BD is a positive factor for performance and companies that utilize BD outperform peers (Schmidt et al. 2014). Drawing on data from a sample of managers in firms, this study provides empirical evidence on the BD-strategy-performance relationships. Key findings: BD utilization enhances orientations, which in turn improve performance, and the BD-performance relationship is mediated by the three orientations with stronger effects on strategic rather than on financial performance. The study provides theoretical and practical reflections. BD enriches strategic orientations and can push firms be more market, entrepreneurial, and learning oriented. The role of BD lies in its power to enhance strategic and financial performances directly and indirectly through orientations. The study extends knowledge on the potential for broader impact of BD and adds to the understanding of intelligence theories (e.g., knowledge-based, information behavior system). It offers researchers grounded guidance on strategic utilization of BD and expands knowledge on contemporary antecedents of orientations. Practically, the study unpacks for managers how BD can generate new sources of strategic value as well as the routes through which value is realized.