The Market Orientation, Seven Marketing Activities Lever (7As), and Expectations of Service Toward Service Performance: An Empirical Evidence of Three to Five Star Hotels Business in Thailand

Abstract

Market orientation is the set of capability for creating and offering values to the customer through market activities that can create into two ways: proactive market orientation (PMO) and responsive market orientation (RMO). Nevertheless, there has been much empirical research of both market orientations in new product and innovation product success but still has lacked is the challenge for generalizing both market orientation in service concept. In addition, in this study offer the seven marketing activities (7As) as mediator role between both market orientations for thought mobilization to superior service performance. In this study, the researcher provides much attention to the hotel business in Thailand. Thailand has a well-developed hotel industry, and stable growth rates in the tourism industry have resulted in significant investments in the country's hotel industry. Also, the record from the gross domestic product shows that the hotel businesses in Thailand contributed highest in the service sectors.

To fulfill this research gap, the primary purpose of this research is to investigate the relationships among PMO and RMO, 7As, service performance and the moderating effects of expectation of service. The 7As is proposed based on seven activities including anticipation activities, adaptation activities, alignment activities, activation activities, accountability activities, attraction activities, and asset management. The resource base views theory, the knowledge base view, market capability, and dynamic capability are applied to describe the relationship between these variables. The population is the hotel businesses in Thailand, and the sample size totals 255 firms (127, 3-star hotels and 128, 4-5-star hotels). A mail survey questionnaire collected the data and sent directly to the marketing directors or marketing managers of each firm. Structural equation model tested hypotheses. The results of the findings reveal they are as follows.

The results indicate that PMO and RMO can be used in all-star hotels. However, RMO only is suitable for use in 3-star hotels. For 4-5-star hotels cannot being to both market orientations effect toward service performance. In addition, the research indicates that relationships among PMO and RMO in all-star hotels, 3-star hotels, and 4-5-star hotels have a substantial positive impact on 7As. It shows that 7As appropriate using on marketing strategy process in the hotel business.

The outcomes reveal that some activities have a different between 3-star hotels and 4-5-star hotels to impact on service performance. Thus, the hotel manager should be appropriate marketing activities being to using in the marketing strategy of a hotel. Besides, the hotel manager should beware in activation activities, adaptation activities, and attraction activities in marketing strategy process that do have to negative impact and not a relationship on service performance. Moreover, the results show that all-star hotels and 3-star hotels and 4-5-star hotels have a difference in full and partial mediator role effect between PMO and RMO, 7As and service performance. Finally, the findings indicate that 7As do not have the differences between 3-star hotels and 4-5-star hotels being too in marketing strategy process impact on expectations of service in service performance.

In conclusion, RMO, PMO, and 7As play a significant role in creating marketing capability and marketing activities for the marketing strategy process in service performance. Notably, the service sector can take utility of the PMO and RMO, and 7As that are appropriate to the hotel industry. This finding provides a unique theoretical contribution in expanding the previous knowledge and literature review of market orientation. Moreover, this finding indicates the importance of 7As for increasing the marketing strategy for firms' competitive advantage and receiving superior performance. Furthermore, researchers should consider reinvestigating other industries to compare the findings and gains for greater generalizability in the future.

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