When market orientation backfires: the asymmetric effects of proactive and responsive orientation on marketing capabilities and performance

Purpose This study aims to examine how proactive and responsive market orientations (RMOs) are associated with the development of digital and traditional marketing capabilities (TMCs) in business-to-business (B2B) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how those capabilities are related to multiple performance outcomes. It also considers whether misalignment between strategic orientation and capability development may constrain performance. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 300 managerial respondents with knowledge of marketing and sales activities in South Korean B2B SMEs, with substantial representation from manufacturing and related sectors. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among proactive and RMO, digital marketing capabilities (DMCs), TMCs and digital innovation, cost reduction, sales and customer performance. Findings The results reveal a clear asymmetry: proactive market orientation is positively associated with both DMCs and TMCs, whereas RMO is negatively associated with both capabilities. This pattern suggests that an excessive focus on expressed customer needs may be related to more limited capability development. DMCs are positively associated with digital innovation performance, cost reduction and sales performance, but are not significantly related to customer performance. TMCs are positively associated with both sales and customer performance. Overall, the findings suggest that digital transformation outcomes are related to the alignment between strategic orientation and capability development. Originality/value This study identifies specialized marketing capabilities as a critical link between market orientation (MO) and performance and documents the asymmetric, potentially limiting role of RMO. It challenges the assumption that all forms of MO are uniformly beneficial and offers a context-sensitive reinterpretation of how strategic orientations are related to capability development in digital transformation settings.