Direct and indirect customer orientation in multi-sided platforms: a stakeholder perspective

Purpose Customer orientation (CO) theory has developed largely within a firm-centric frame, leaving open how it is enacted and coordinated across independent actors in multi-sided platforms (MSPs). This study develops and empirically specifies two complementary CO forms – direct customer orientation (DCO) and indirect customer orientation (ICO) – and examines how their interplay generates synergies or conflicts. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative single case study of Airbnb combines platform content analysis with 23 semi-structured interviews with hosts and guests. Findings DCO captures how platform and supply-side actors each enact customer-oriented behaviors toward their respective customers, establishing supply-side actors as CO agents alongside the platform. ICO captures the platform's meta-capability to enable, amplify and align supply-side DCO through governance mechanisms, data infrastructure and community systems. Their interplay generates emergent synergies when compatible motivations amplify collective customer value and structural conflicts when legitimate orientations prove incompatible within a shared governance architecture. Practical implications The results offer guidance on how platform managers can design governance mechanisms that enable supply-side DCO and manage inter-stakeholder tensions and on how supply-side actors can strategically develop and express their customer orientation within MSPs. Originality/value This study establishes supply-side actors as independent CO agents, provides the first empirical specification of ICO as a platform-mediated indirect CO pathway and documents the synergy and conflict dynamics their interaction produces – extending CO theory beyond organizational boundaries.