Why are some libraries more market‐oriented than others? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question by examining the pertinent issues underlying the inter‐relationship between market‐orientation and superior service performance.
An integrated methodological approach of qualitative as well as quantitative methods was used to gain knowledge behind the market‐orientation – service performance relationship. The directors and consumers of 33 academic and special libraries participated as respondents in this study.
In total, three kinds of libraries were found: the strong; the medium; and the weak. The findings show that the higher market‐orientation is positively connected with the libraries’ superior service performance.
The implication of this research does suggest that the gap between the service provider and receiver can be closed by increasing the marketing competence of service provider.
The practical implication for libraries is that it pays to be market‐oriented, the ultimate result being higher customer satisfaction.
The relationship between market‐orientation and service performance has yet to be explored and established in the library world. This is one of the first such studies which attempted to investigate this inter‐relationship.
