The market orientation of olive oil consortia in Italy: an explorative analysis

This paper aims to examine the market orientation of Olive Oil Consortia in Italy. Through an explorative qualitative analysis, the study sets out to look in detail at: a) whether and how the principal features and main activities characterizing this fundamental marketing concept are defined and effectively implemented in the organizations under examination; b) whether and how the adoption of market orientation influences their business performance. Findings suggest that Olive Oil Consortia recognize the relevance of customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination in order to develop innovative products that meet customers’ needs and preferences and, consequently, to achieve positive performance. However, the adoption of market orientation constitutes a significant challenge to Consortia that usually focus more on promotion policies and thus require a cultural change as well as the availability of economic and human resources needed to adopt and implement this orientation.