Market orientation and strategies in e-commerce companies

This paper discusses the role of market orientation and strategies in the emerging field of e-commerce. In order to understand the influence of marketing on business performance in this new arena, we design a framework of ldquocontingency - structure - performancerdquo using market orientation and strategy typology. Our study focuses on small and medium-sized firms of three major on-line industries in Taiwan: on-line bookstores, travel websites, and on-line retail. An empirical analysis is performed on the data obtained by a questionnaire survey. The results from the survey of websites in Taiwan are as follows. (1) Marketing plays a mediating role, which enables market orientation and strategy typology to influence business performance. (2) Differentiation strategy and market orientation are positively related to marketing. (3) Marketing can enhance business performance.