Market Orientation

Marketing orientation is both the key objective of most food producers and their biggest challenge. Connecting food and agricultural production with the changing needs and aspirations of the customer provides the means to ensure competitive advantage, resilience and added value in what you produce. But market orientation is not something that you can just buy in or bolt on to what you do. Market orientation is a matter of changing the culture of your organisation; finding ways of learning more about your customers and understanding their needs; changing your development and reward systems to educate your employees; it may also involve significant changes to your production processes. This comprehensive collection of original research explores the challenges and opportunities associated with market orientation along the food supply chain; from the animal feed industry to meat retailing and from organic foods to old world wines. All the chapters provide exceptional insight into understanding how market orientation can benefit food suppliers and how it is essential for long-term success.
About the Author: Dr. Adam Lindgreen is professor of marketing at Cardiff University. Previously, he was professor of strategic marketing at Hull University Business School, UK. After graduating in engineering, chemistry, and physics, Dr. Lindgreen first finished an MSc in food science and technology at the Technical University of Denmark and is now a European Engineer (EurIng); he then finished an MBA at Leicester University. In 2000, he received his Ph.D. at Cranfield University. He has published widely, and his awards include Industrial Marketing Management's Outstanding Article 2005. His research interests include business and industrial marketing management, consumer behaviour, experiential marketing, and corporate social responsibility. Dr. Martin K. Hingley graduated in agricultural and food marketing from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne; he has an MPhil in marketing from Cranfield University; and a PhD in marketing from the Open University. Dr. Hingley was a reader in marketing and supply chain management at Harper Adams University College, the leading UK university specializing in agri-food business, and is now professor strategic marketing at Lincoln University. He is a visiting fellow to the University of Hull Business School and held a fellowship endowed by Tesco Plc. Dr Hingley has wide business experience in the international food industry and has spent time in provision of market and business analysis with the Institute of Grocery Distribution. He has presented and published widely in applied food industry marketing and supply chain relationship management. He serves on the board of several scientific journals. Dr David Harness holds an undergraduate degree in management from Aston University, an MPhil from Birmingham City University, and a Ph.D. from Huddersfield University. He is currently a senior lecturer in strategic and international marketing at Hull University Business School. His commercial experience was gained in retail banking, and he has conducted consultancies in a range of industries in the areas of service product management, value marketing, customer care, and relationship marketing. Dr Paul Custance graduated with a BA (Honours) in agricultural economics from the University of Nottingham. This degree was followed by a Ph.D. in Economics. For the past 20 years, he has been a principal lecturer in marketing at Harper Adams University College based in Shropshire (United Kingdom). Dr Custance is the former director of ruralconsultancy.com, which undertakes industry-orientated research and consultancy and which produced more than 250 reports for a wide range of clients including government bodies, regional development agencies, multinational companies, and local and regional small and medium-sized enterprises during his time as director. He has presented papers at conferences for more than 30 years and refereed papers for several academic journals.