Strategic marketing flexibility and marketing performance: An empirical investigation of beverage businesses in Thailand

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships among four dimensions of strategic marketing flexibility (customer needs fulfillment, marketing effectiveness, marketing positioning advantage and marketing performance) by using marketing knowledge diversity as a moderator. Also, change vision, marketing adaptation orientation, marketing renewal focus, and market heterogeneity are investigated as antecedents of strategic marketing flexibility in the context of beverage businesses in Thailand. The four dimensions of strategic marketing flexibility consist of customer needs diversity focus, dynamic change learning, flexible resource availability, and elastic marketing coordination. Eighty-one beverage businesses in Thailand are used as samples that are the collected data from mail survey questionnaires. The result indicates that two of four dimensions of strategic marketing flexibility, dynamic change learning and flexible resource availability, have a positive influence on both customer needs fulfillment and marketing effectiveness. Only flexible resource availability has a positive effect on marketing positioning advantages that consequently influences marketing performance. In addition, market adaptation orientation has a full positive influence on four dimensions of strategic marketing flexibility; whereas change vision, marketing renewal focus, and market heterogeneity have different a partial effect on these dimensions. However, there is no moderating effect of marketing knowledge diversity on the relationships between its antecedents and four dimensions of strategic flexibility. Theoretical and managerial contributions are suggested in the direction for future research. © 2013 AIBE.