Research

Marketing excellence (MXC) is a relatively novel concept that is gaining increasing interest among managers, investors, and academia; it describes a framework of capabilities that can provide a source of long-term competitive advantage and sustained superior firm performance (Barney & Clark, 2007; Kemsa, 2019; Kozlenkova et al., 2013).

After an extensive review of the literature, it has become apparent that the research has thus far focused primarily on defining and achieving MXC for two stakeholder groups (investors and managers) and only studied the individual influence of marketing variables on financial variables. However, the literature falls short on considering the relative contribution of these attributes when evaluating a financial decision. Hence, the study filled this research gap and contributed to the existing literature by exploring the influence of the relative importance of MXC attributes on the overall rating of a firm’s level of MXC, for three different stakeholder groups (Wall Street, Main Street and Academia).

The eight attributes of Alpha M (2.0), the world’s first MXC rating tool, were used to investigate the relative contribution. The research design was composed of two parts: the relative importance of MXC attributes and the MXC rating, which used various methods to test the hypotheses, including direct rating of importance and a full-profile conjoint value analysis. The findings of this study revealed that the MXC attributes were not perceived as equally important, and the concept of MXC (and rating MXC) remains unfamiliar (and neglected) in practice. The paper further provides theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and opportunities for future research.