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The purpose of this study is to investigate the Finnish welfare state from the point of view of the production and funding of care services. The authors examine the views of different generations as to which agency should be responsible for providing care services, and how such services should be financed.

The data used in the study was gathered in May 2011 in Finland, informants were aged 18 and 74 (n=1,011). Statistical methods used were analysis of variance (ANOVA), cross tabulation and multinomial logistic regression analysis (MLRA).

The authors’ results show that most of the respondents hoped to be able to take care of themselves in their senior years. If this were impossible, the public sector was seen as the primary service provider. As expected, most of the respondents thought that the service system should be funded with tax revenue. Nevertheless, the authors’ results show that younger people are more willing than older people to take personal responsibility for funding the care services they need in their old age.

The research findings indicate that in the future respect and the role of individual preparedness will be stronger. The fact that younger generations react seriously to individual preparedness may be vital for the whole system since public economic resources are limited. At the same time, research results exert pressure on decision‐makers and current systems to create new, innovative options for funding and organising services.

The study investigates the development of three key strategic marketing constructs – market orientation, marketing-related business process capabilities and marketing performance measurement – as well as their performance implications over a period of six years in a Nordic setting. The aim of the study is to shed light on recent developments in contemporary strategic marketing, and thereby to identify managerially relevant points of focus for the future.

The study builds on a national-level survey study conducted among Finnish companies of various sizes representing different industries and market positions in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. The data capture the development of strategic marketing over the most recent business cycle, from the upturn to the financial crisis of late 2008, the following downturn and the recent tentative recovery.

The findings shed light on the changing role of the three key strategic marketing constructs over the years. Particularly, the study supports the recent notion that market orientation is no longer a differentiator, but a standard. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the varying role of marketing-related business process capabilities over the changing business cycle. Finally, the study shows that marketing performance measurement maintains its beneficial impact on firm performance across years and across the business cycle.

By investigating recent developments in the field of strategic marketing, taking into account the changing business cycle and the broader trends and developments in the field, this study provides insights for managers of both product and service businesses on how to better adjust their marketing efforts to the contemporary business environment and its economic development.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study on a national level that longitudinally investigates the role and impact of the three key strategic marketing constructs, with a particular focus on their relative performance impact over time.