Ragnhild Silkoset

Co-market Orientation in Networks: Evidence from the Tourism Industry Ragnhild Silkoset

Companies that are market-oriented are superior in terms of ability to adapt to a constantly changing market. On this basis, the author tests what happens when companies implement market orientation on an inter-organizational level - labeled co-market orientation. Co-market orientation strongly increases companies' ability to handle problems that arise in the network, hence (1) free riders, such as willingness to participate in the joint marketing of a destination, (2) unsolved tasks such as cleaning up and maintenance of public areas, and (3) unsynchronized activities, such as the absence of coordinated opening hours. The book maps the mechanisms that motivate companies to participate in a co-market orientation. The empirical analysis shows that co-market-oriented tourist businesses in the greater work to maximize the destination collective interests, despite the fact that such behavior is in conflict with the companies' short- term self-interest. The book is also informative for other networks with collective customers such as shopping malls.