Succeeding in competitive arenas with arena-relevant marketing capabilities
ISSN: 0309-0566
Article publication date: 19 January 2022
Issue publication date: 2 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to introduce the idea of arena-relevant marketing capabilities and examine their impact on firm performance. Arena-relevant marketing capabilities are capabilities particularly relevant for success in a specific competitive arena in which rivals from different industries try to satisfy customer needs with alternative products and services. The authors focus on the luxury arena and pose the following research questions: Which are the arena-relevant marketing capabilities in the luxury competitive arena (i.e. luxury-arena-relevant capabilities)? (2) What is the relative importance of luxury-arena-relevant vs general marketing capabilities for firm performance in the luxury competitive arena?
Design/methodology/approach
To identify luxury-arena-relevant marketing capabilities, the authors conduct a qualitative study among 21 top managers of luxury brands. A subsequent large-scale managerial survey empirically tests the effects of luxury-arena-relevant vs general marketing capabilities on firm performance.
Findings
The study identifies four luxury-arena-relevant marketing capabilities: perfection in product creation, exclusive pricing, luxury-congruent storytelling and luxury brand inspiration. It confirms empirically that they have a higher impact on firm performance within the luxury competitive arena than general marketing capabilities.
Originality/value
The study takes an innovative perspective on marketing capabilities by linking them with the concept of a competitive arena and underlines the academic relevance of the concept of arena-relevant marketing capabilities for explaining firm performance.
Keywords
Citation
Ehrensperger, E., Greenberg, D., Krohmer, H., Nagel, F., Hoyer, W. and Zhang, Z.J. (2022), "Succeeding in competitive arenas with arena-relevant marketing capabilities", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56 No. 2, pp. 321-350. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-09-2019-0703
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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