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2.1.2 Customer Orientation
According
to Craven
and Percy, Customer Orientation also known Market Orientation,
is a business perspective that makes the customer the focal point of a company’s total
operations.
Customer
orientation
is
central to
discussions
about
marketing
management
and strategy
(Day, 1992) A customer orientation
guides a
firm toward an
understanding
of
its
market structure and segments and helping in providing an understanding of which
capabilities and processes would
make the best investment priorities (Day, 1994). In this
case, which of the 4P’s in the marketing mix strategy should be emphasized in a
restaurant business? More recently, Deshpande´ and Farley (1998, p. 226) defined
customer
orientation
as
‘the
set
of
cross-functional processes and activities directed at
creating and satisfying customers through continuous needs assessment’.
Another Definition by Narver and Slater (1990), describe Customer Orientation as an
organizational
culture,
which
effectively
and efficiently creates
all
the
necessary
conditions
for
generating superior value to customers. Woodruff defines Customer value
as a customer’s perceived preference for and evaluation of
those products attributes,
attribute
performances,
and
consequences
arising
from use
that
facilitate
(or
block)
achieving
the
customer’s
goals
and
purposes
in
use
situations.
In addition,
the
study
of
perceived
customer
value,
what
it
means
and
what
it
is,
represents an
attempt
to
understand what customer’s desire or need so that a seller can have a competitive
advantage in the marketplace (Martinette, 2003). The way that customers define value
evolves
into
the
guiding
force
for
deciding
what
to
improve
(Woodruff
and
Gardial
1996)
and
knowing
how
to
improve
it
(Martinette,
2003).
Given
this
assumption,
one
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