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Does your library have a marketing culture? Implications for service providers
Rajesh Singh
School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Abstract
Purpose Why are some libraries more market-oriented than others? This paper seeks to answer this question by examining the pertinent issues underlying the marketing culture of Finnish research libraries and the library managements awareness of modern marketing theories and practices. Design/methodology/approach An integrated methodological approach of qualitative as well as quantitative methods was used to gain knowledge on the pertinent issues lying behind the marketing culture of research libraries. The directors and consumers of 33 academic and special libraries participated as respondents in the study. Findings Three kinds of marketing cultures were found: the strong (the high yers); the medium (the brisk runners); and the weak (the slow walkers). These marketing cultures are explained by analyzing the libraries marketing attitudes, knowledge, and behavior permeating their organizations. Research limitations/implications The study shows the extent to which marketing attitudes, behavior, and knowledge are related. Moreover, the results indicate serious implications, not only in the Finnish context, but also for libraries in other cultural contexts as well. Practical implications The practical implication for libraries is that it pays to be market-oriented, the ultimate result being higher customer satisfaction. Originality/value The contribution of the paper lies in the framework showing linkages between the critical components of the marketing culture of a library: antecedents, market orientation, facilitators and consequences. Keywords Organizational culture, Market orientation, Customer satisfaction, Information services, Library management, Finland Paper type Research paper

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Received 23 June 2008 Revised 28 July 2008 Accepted 30 September 2008

1. Introduction Explicating the concept of marketing culture Conventional marketing wisdom holds that marketing adds value by creating an understanding of the value that customers seek, which in turn inuences organizations to create and communicate that value. Therefore, marketing skills appear to be crucial for understanding customer needs and competitors offerings, and for creating and communicating organizations superior offerings. In keeping with this notion, the marketing concept is considered a business philosophy that puts the customer at the centre of overall activities of the organization. The business philosophy can be contrasted with its implementation reected in the activities and behaviors of an organization (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Market orientation (or market-oriented behavior) is a popular term used by marketing practitioners as an indicator of the extent to which an organization implements the marketing concept (Kohli and

Library Management Vol. 30 No. 3, 2009 pp. 117-137 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0143-5124 DOI 10.1108/01435120910937302

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Jaworski, 1990; Pulendran and Speed, 1996). Hence, a market-oriented library is one whose actions are consistent with the marketing concept. These capabilities and conditions are linked to the underlying values of the organization its culture. So far, there has been inconsistency in dening the domain of marketing culture. Some scholars consider market orientation as the culture of a business organization (Narver and Slater, 1990), whereas Kohli and Jaworski (1990) tend to look at market orientation as the managerial behavior of an organization. The positive linkage between market orientation and service performance has been well established in the corporate literature since the early 1990s (Jaworski and Kohli, 1993, p. 96; Slater and Narver, 1994, p. 95; 2000). Although it has been suggested that this relationship holds across different industry sectors and national cultures (Jaworski and Kohli, 1996; Slater and Narver, 2000), there is a less support for a direct contributory relationship between market orientation and performance in service organizations (Caruana et al., 1998; Gray and Hooley, 2002). However, in the library world, the relationship between these two constructs i.e. market orientation and service performance has yet to be explored and established. This equivocality and lack of understanding of how marketing culture contributes to service performance have prompted calls for research to investigate the mechanisms by which market orientation does contribute to the superior performance of libraries (Singh, 2005b). The literature review reveals that the concept of marketing culture is nebulous and has yet to be dened precisely (Luk, 1997). Webster (1995) denes marketing culture as that component of an organizations overall culture that refers to the pattern of shared values and beliefs that help employees understand and feel the marketing and thereby provides them with norms for behavior in the organization. It refers to the importance the organization as a whole places on marketing and to the way in which marketing activities are executed in the organization. This modern approach to marketing implies that marketing culture is something that can be managed (Vranesevic et al., 2002) by putting customer satisfaction at the heart of everything a library does. Thus, all these conceptualizations pose complexities in understanding the domain of marketing culture. As a consequence, the relationship between marketing culture and market orientation seems to be blurred. However, one should not get confused about the concept of marketing culture and market orientation. It should be remembered that culture is not the behavior of individuals in the organization; rather it is the underlying assumptions and attitudes that shape the behavior of individuals within the organization. According to Meldrum (1996), the difference between marketing culture and market orientation is that cultural features will affect the degree of market orientation, i.e. the way in which marketing tasks will be performed. Thus, in keeping with these perspectives, the present research considers market orientation as the prime indicator of the marketing culture and denes marketing culture as the synthesis of specic marketing attitudes, knowledge-underlying beliefs, values and assumption; and of certain marketing practices which lead to superior service performance by the organization (Singh, 2005b). This denition consists of three theoretical constructs: (1) the marketing concept; (2) market orientation; and (3) service performance.

Explication of the nature of marketing culture is a difcult task. In keeping with this notion, this paper attempts to gain an overview of marketing culture by understanding the awareness of the knowledge base of library management about contemporary marketing theories and practices. This paper begins with the review of the literature followed by the methodology used for understanding the pertinent issues underlying behind the marketing culture of Finnish research libraries. It explains different kinds of marketing culture that exist in various libraries and discusses their managerial implications for libraries in general. Furthermore, based on the ndings of the present study, it presents a framework showing the linkages between the critical components of the marketing culture of a library/information service providing institution. 2. Review of the literature Thus far, the major part of the literature in the library world has focused on discussions of the applicability of marketing to libraries, or has consisted of guidebooks demonstrating the application of marketing techniques to libraries (Shontz et al., 2004). Library literature, as White (1997) so trenchantly notes, is replete with theoretical articles, books and how-to-do-it manuals earnestly attempting to deal with marketing the library and its services. Unfortunately, the best of these contributions are supercial (Besant and Sharp, 2000). Rowley (2003) also writes in a similar vein that the majority of the literature on the marketing of libraries and information services are either in the form of how to guides, or case studies of practice in specic contexts. There have been a few studies which have attempted to understand the attitudes of librarians towards marketing (Savard, 1996; Shontz et al., 2004). Some scholars have studied in depth the concept of service quality in libraries (Calvert, 2001; Hernon, 2002a, b; Ho and Crowley, 2003). Public relations activity, being a favorite topic of libraries from the very beginning of the librarianship profession, continued to attract the attention of empirical research (Marshall, 2001; Neuhaus and Snowden, 2003). The long debated pricing issue has also been the theme of recent empirical research (Johannsen, 2004a, b). On the other hand, Orava (2000) echoes that marketing is an attitude of mind emphasizing that it is a question not of money, but of philosophy the attitude of mind that permeates the entire staff. This philosophical aspect is very much concerned with the internal marketing and market orientation concepts. It was very recently that the concept of internal marketing and its strategies were studied in six public libraries in London (Broady-Preston and Steel 2002a, b). Lozano (2000) provided a model for customer orientation from the library managers point of view. Harrison and Shaw (2004) attempted to study the market orientation and marketing culture of all the staff in a public library in Australia. But why are some libraries more market-oriented than others? Remarkably, this fundamental issue has not been often addressed in empirical studies, especially in the library world (Sen, 2006; Singh, 2005a, b). As a consequence of this, the library literature reects remarkably little effort to develop a framework for understanding the implementation of the marketing concept. Even in the corporate literature, such empirical studies about market orientation only began to appear in 1990 when the domain of market orientation was clearly specied in a rigorous fashion (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990). Against this backdrop, the present study is based on the notion that a leader in an organization can have a large impact on its culture, which has been suggested in many earlier ndings (Block, 2003; Brooks, 1996; Hennessey, 1998; Kasper, 2002; McNeil, 2001; Ogbonna and Harris, 2000) Therefore, it is important to learn about market

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orientation, which initiates at the top management level and ows throughout the whole organization, thus resulting in a particular kind of library culture. In keeping with the theoretical constructs explained in the introductory section, this paper seeks to examine the marketing culture of libraries by analyzing the marketing attitudes, knowledge (underlying beliefs, values and assumptions), behavior (market orientation), operational policies and activities, and service performance (customer satisfaction). The assumption of the study is that if the top management of libraries has market-oriented behavior, then their attitudes, knowledge, operational activities and service performance should also be reected accordingly. This article attempts to connect all these theoretical threads of marketing culture. 3. Methodology The research data regarding the marketing culture of libraries were collected from autumn 2002 through spring 2003. The libraries were selected from the home page of Gateway to Finnish Research Libraries, and consisted of 23 university libraries and ten special libraries. The library directors and customers from each library participated as respondents in this study. The aim was not to compare these libraries strictly but to obtain a broader picture of the marketing cultures of libraries representing different disciplines. In keeping with this, the libraries were chosen from diverse subject elds representing different disciplines such as art, theology, humanities, social sciences, law, pure sciences, technology, and economics and business, etc. 3.1 Interview guide for library director A semi-structured interview guide consisting of both open and closed questions was created to collect the data from library directors. It was divided into four sections: (1) marketing attitudes; (2) marketing knowledge; (3) marketing in practice; and (4) demographic characteristics of libraries. 3.1.1 Marketing attitudes. This section consisted of statements which were designed to measure the attitudes of library directors towards different aspects of marketing of information products and services, and the respondents were asked to respond on a scale as to their agreement or disagreement with each statement using a ve-point Likert scale. Attitudes were measured in the following areas: . need for marketing; . convenience to customers (accessibility of services); . concrete evidence and experience of the customers regarding the physical environment; . cost to consumers (pricing issue); . communication with customers (traditional promotional aspects); . the internet as an effective tool for marketing; . quality of library services (modern marketing approaches); . customer appreciation;

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developing relationship with customers; and implications of marketing.

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3.1.2 Marketing knowledge. The second part consisted of only open-ended knowledge-measuring questions. The marketing knowledge of the respondents was elicited in the following areas: . important factors to increase the use of libraries; . efcient ways to increase the quality of library service; . the notion of marketing in the library and information service context; . the utility and importance of marketing; . principles of marketing (which can be applied in library settings); . identication of the target market (clientele base) and the ways to reach to them; . communication with customers; . role of the librarys website in marketing; and . developing a relationship with customers. 3.1.3 Marketing in practice. In this section, the respondents were asked to provide information about certain library data, such as library budget, institutional identity, number of staff and users, the various services provided, library policies, the availability of infrastructure, time and budget spent on marketing-related activities, decision-making pattern, market orientation, various promotional activities, service philosophy, current status of their marketing efforts and the barriers/constraints faced by them in implementing marketing principles and techniques. In library and information services, there is a paucity of studies that have measured market orientation. The market orientation activities of libraries were measured on a ve-point Likert scale by adapting and modifying the model of Lozano (2000). Lozanos model covers the following aspects in the context of libraries: . customer-market orientation; . organizational culture; . function integration and co-ordination; . long-term view, marketing training, competition orientation; and . some quality related aspects. However, Lozanos model does not classify the above aspects specically into different dimensions. Therefore, it remains unclear which statements of Lozanos model are applicable to which particular aspects or dimensions of market orientation in the context of libraries. 3.1.4 Demographic characteristics of libraries. This interview guide also requested information about certain personal and professional characteristics such as qualications, years of experience, exposure to marketing workshops/seminars and marketing education, etc.

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3.2 Questionnaire for library customers As explained earlier, an analysis of customers feedback was also sought, as marketing is considered basically an attitude towards customer satisfaction. This questionnaire was intended to measuring the service performance of the libraries as perceived by their customer base so that the marketing effectiveness of their services could be gauged. Moreover, it could also help us analyze the role that market orientation plays in the service performance of libraries. The statements of this questionnaire were adapted and modied from Calverts (2001) questionnaire which compared variations in expectations of library customers of New Zealand and China. The help of library management was sought in distributing the questionnaire, which resulted in a higher return rate. Overall, 165 questionnaire were returned out of 330, which amounted to 53 per cent of the population. A minimum of three and a maximum of ten questionnaires were returned from each library. Most of the questions were measured on the Likerts scale which consists of major issues concerning the customer satisfaction on service performance of libraries. The marketing effectiveness of the library services were understood from the customers point of view in the following areas: . accessibility of services and products; . study environment; . equipment; . usefulness of collections; . condition of collections; . customer-centeredness of services; . staff attributes; . customer appreciation; . overall quality; and . customers opinions about pricing issue. The ndings explained in the later section titled Benets of being market-oriented, are based, primarily, on the assumption that a superior service performance is associated with higher levels of market orientation, which is created by the employees in the organization and calls for them to be bonded by a common set of library beliefs and values. 3.3 Different procedures for data analysis This research has used a combination of qualitative as well as quantitative methods in order to understand the overall impression of the librarys marketing culture, which helped to analyze the required in-depth issues adequately. The quantitative responses from the interview guide with library directors as well as customers were coded in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Since market orientation has been considered an important indicator of a librarys marketing culture, from the statements shown in the Appendix, a factor called market orientation was derived using factor analysis method. The market orientation scale, adapted and modied from Lozano (2000), consists of 23 statements. All items of the above scale were measured on a ve-point Likert scale. The reliability analysis revealed a Cronbachs a coefcient of 0.8601 for the overall model. This reinforces the reliability of the scale and internal

consistency of its items. Based on this factor of market orientation, libraries were classied into three categories on the assumption that if respondents have market-oriented behavior then their marketing attitudes, knowledge, operational activities and service performance should also be in accordance with this assumption: (1) weakly market-oriented (the lower 25 percent of the market orientation scores); (2) medium market-oriented (the middle 50 percent of the market orientation scores); and (3) strongly market-oriented (the top 25 percent of the market orientation scores). Considering the small sample (33 libraries), the main outcome of the study is qualitative. However, different statistical methods such as factor analysis, ANOVA, and cross-tabulation, etc. have been mostly used to pin-point causality and relationship, usually between independent and dependent variables. 4. The results of empirical analysis 4.1 The three levels of market orientation Market orientation, regarded as the implementation of the marketing concept, is the foundation of modern marketing management. This section reports the differences in the levels of market orientation across the different groups of libraries, measured with the help of the statements shown in the Appendix. This study attempts to understand the market orientation of the libraries by classifying it into the following different dimensions: . customer philosophy; . inter-functional coordination; . strategic orientation; . responsiveness; . competition orientation; and . pricing orientation. Based on factor and ANOVA analysis, three levels of market orientation are identied: weak, medium and strong (see Figure 1). The means, F value and signicance levels for the different dimensions and items of market orientation are presented in the Appendix. 4.2 The cultural prole of the three market-oriented groups The cultural proles of the three market oriented groups were analyzed by synthesizing the ndings of their market orientation, marketing attitudes, knowledge, operational policies and activities and demographic characteristics. Based on their cultural proles, the three market-oriented groups were given three different metaphors: (1) strongly market-oriented libraries were termed high yers; (2) medium market-oriented libraries were termed brisk runners; and (3) weakly market-oriented libraries were termed slow walkers.

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Figure 1. Estimated marginal means of market orientation

An overview of the relationship of the three marketing cultures in relation to their function and philosophy is presented in Figure 2. 4.2.1 The high yers: strongly market-oriented libraries. In most of the dimensions customer philosophy, inter-functional coordination, strategic orientation, pricing

Figure 2. Marketing approaches of different library cultures

orientation and competition orientation excluding responsiveness, the strongly market-oriented libraries perform at a high level. They approach marketing with the prime aim of identifying and meeting customer information needs. To them, this is the most important activity for the survival of libraries. The culture of these libraries could be called high yers according to Hooley and Lynch (1985), who termed the top performing companies of their study as high yers and the remaining organizations as also rans. The marketing culture of the high yers seems to be market oriented, which means they try to put the customer at the heart of their activities. The analysis of market orientation, marketing attitudes, and knowledge of these libraries demonstrates that they keep on stressing the importance of customers as the top priority of the marketing concept. But, there are some shortcomings in the operational policies and activities of these libraries which pushes them behind the medium market-oriented group. However, in sharp contrast with the weakly market-oriented libraries, the marketing approach of the high yers is proactive towards their customers. They believe in fullling the call of the information-age customer who is asking libraries, This is what I (the customer) want, wont you (the library) please make it (Kotler, 2003). Therefore, because of their belief in modern marketing values, the high yers can also be regarded as modern marketing believers. This can be attributed to their marketing education and more exposure to seminars and courses, as shown in the ndings. However, some respondents have also been found to be strongly market-oriented without having any formal education in marketing. The majority of the library directors were found to have professional experience of 16-25 years or more than 26 years. The attitudes of the high yers shows similarity with a recent study by Shontz et al. (2004), who showed that the most positive attitudes towards marketing were associated with higher professional experience of librarians. Moreover, their ndings also showed that the positive attitudes of marketing were positively related to respondents higher exposure to marketing seminars and conferences. The current research supports the ndings of Shontz et al. (2004) to a large extent. However, it has also been found that there can be some exceptions, in that a person can be strongly market-oriented without such exposure, and likewise one can also be weakly market oriented in spite of a lot of exposure to marketing seminars and conferences. Briey, the marketing culture of the high yers appears to be in line with the emerging notions of contemporary customer-centered relationship marketing. This kind of marketing culture has been found mostly in medium-sized libraries but it is also visible in small and large libraries as well. 4.2.2 The brisk runners: medium market-oriented libraries. The marketing culture of the medium market-oriented libraries is library centered. Libraries with kind of marketing culture could also be called brisk runners as these libraries are briskly running their promotional and charging activities, which are highest across the three market orientation groups. They put the most concerted effort towards these goals, which satisfy traditional marketing approaches. Due to this, the brisk runners could also be termed traditional marketing advocates. The marketing approach of libraries is more in line with a production orientation (Kotler, 1988). It was revealed throughout the analysis of market orientation, marketing attitudes, knowledge and operational policies that this group keeps emphasizing the two Ps of the classic marketing mix:

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(1) pricing; and (2) promotion. These two aspects dominate this culture more than anything else. They seem to acknowledge the role of marketing in implementing these two Ps. But, in doing so, the proactive functional orientation of marketing identifying and meeting customer information needs is left behind in their inclination towards library-governed policies and procedures. This does not mean that they are ignorant towards their customers. They believe in building a relationship with their customers with the means of various promotional efforts. The libraries of this medium group are still in the traditional toolbox of marketing. The respondents are having marketing education, and exposure to marketing seminars and conferences. Their professional experience is also in the range of 16-25 or 26 or more years like the high yers. This kind of marketing culture was found in all kinds of libraries, i.e. small, medium, and large. In brief, the marketing approach of the brisk runners towards customers is in line with the manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution who said: This is what I (the library) make, wont you please buy (use) it (Kotler, 2003). 4.2.3 The slow walkers: weak market-oriented libraries. Weak market oriented libraries are termed slow walkers because of their low prole in market orientation, marketing attitudes, knowledge, operational activities, and service performance. Instead, their library values seem to be focused on issues other than marketing. They have been found to be slow when it comes to marketing. In practice, they actually are involved in marketing activities but prefer to call it disseminating information, thus reecting a hesitation in accepting the idea of marketing in libraries. Because of this, the marketing culture of the slow walkers seems to be of agnostics, keeping a general picture of marketing as a notion that does not have much to do with libraries. The weak market orientation, attitudes, knowledge and behavior of these libraries towards marketing go hand-in-hand. One possible reason behind this could be the lack of adequate marketing education and exposure to marketing seminars and workshops, as the ndings indicate. The members of this marketing culture also possess less professional experience, falling into the range of 1-15 years. Even though a few libraries in this group possess excellent marketing knowledge and a deep understanding of the benets of the application of the marketing concept like the high yers, their knowledge is not reected in their library operations. Because of this typical characteristics, and also the wait and see approach of members of this group, this type of marketing culture could also be termed spectators when it comes to implementing marketing philosophy. The libraries belonging to this group have a long way to go in adopting what is generally regarded as a market orientation because they lack a proactive functional orientation of identifying and meeting customer information needs from the marketing viewpoint. However, they try to build relationships with their customers and maintain regular contacts, not as a means of increasing their understanding of their customers information needs, but rather as a usual service-oriented Finnish way of serving customers. The slow walkers do not seem to appreciate marketing as a guiding service philosophy either. Their approach to serving customers is reactive and does not manifest the penetration of the marketing concept anywhere. Let the interested customers come to the library seems to be the hallmark of such a culture.

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5. Benets of being market-oriented This research has shown that there are major differences in the market orientation of the research libraries. The three kinds of marketing cultures have been labeled high yers, brisk runners, and slow walkers. However, the most important question put forward in this research is how benecial a highly developed marketing culture is to a library. The answer to this question was sought by analyzing the opinions of the consumers on different services offered to them by their libraries. Figure 3 illustrates that a higher market orientation is connected to a higher extent with the service performance of libraries. The highest mean (4.97) of libraries overall service performance is observed in the high yers (the strong group) followed by the brisk runners (the medium group; mean of 4.93). The slow walkers (the weak group) obtained comparatively lower means (4.73) in contrast to the high yers. Though the nding is not signicant statistically, nevertheless it does indicate a positive trend and linkage between the two constructs, which is that a greater degree of market orientation corresponds to a greater level of achievement in the service effectiveness of the library services, the ultimate result being higher customer satisfaction. The overall picture of the customer satisfaction with the service performance of libraries in three different marketing cultures is displayed in Table I. The market-oriented efforts of the high yers can be seen in the higher satisfaction of their customers. They stand out from the rest in providing customer satisfaction through superior service performance in most aspects. They put more effort into ensuring the accessibility of library materials by providing adequate promotional guidance to customers. Customers are satised with the physical environment and the working condition of library equipment. Customers acknowledge the usefulness of the librarys collections in providing solutions to their information problems. Customers also show satisfaction with various library services such as circulation, inter-library loans, opening hours, promotional activities, computer printers, etc. However, they are quite critical about staff assistance in helping them to use the learning resources of the libraries as well as the condition of collections, even though they show satisfaction with the overall service performance of libraries.

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Figure 3. Overall means of service performance of libraries in relation to market orientation

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Service performance indicators of libraries Slow walkers Brisk runners Accessibility of services and products Study environment Satisfaction with library equipment Usefulness of collections Condition of collections Customer centeredness of services Staff attributes Customer appreciation Customers opinion on pricing issue Justication of library to charge fees Charging external users Willingness to pay Overall quality Lowest Medium Medium Lowest Highest Lowest Medium Medium Medium Highest Lowest Lowest Medium Lowest Lowest Medium Medium Equal to high iers Highest Lowest Lowest Lowest Medium Almost equal to high iers

High yers Highest Highest Highest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Highest Medium Highest Highest

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Table I. Customer satisfaction with the service performance of libraries in the three market orientations

The service performance of the brisk runners is of the medium type. Typical of their service performance is the highest customer satisfaction with staff attributes across the three groups of libraries. Customers are satised with the borrowing, inter-library loans, organization of library materials, opening hours and promotional activities of the libraries. However, they are dissatised with the working condition of library equipment and the physical study environment. Customers are also critical of the libraries collection procurement policies and teaching programs for users. Nevertheless, they are quite satised with the overall service performance of the libraries. Figure 3 reveals that the service performance of the slow walkers is not found to be superior. Instead, it goes in hand-in-hand with their weakly market oriented behavior. The customer evaluation of the libraries revealed that they do not put enough effort into raising the accessibility of services and products. Even though such libraries were found in the attitudinal measurement to assign low priority to the physical environment, their customers seem to be satised with their current physical environment. These libraries customers are dissatised with most of the library activities and services directed towards them. This includes circulation, inter-library loans, staff attributes, promotional activities, usefulness of collections, and working condition of equipments, etc. Only the condition of the collections were rated as being superior by customers. This demonstrates once again that the primary interest of these libraries is inward and collection-bound. The concerns of the customers for whom the library is meant are overlooked. 6. Discussion Based on the discussion of the cultural proles of the three groups it can be assumed that there are considerable variations in the marketing culture of different libraries and also signicant variations in their service philosophies. The ndings of this research show that a higher market orientation is connected to a higher extent with the service performance and customer satisfaction of libraries. This nding is particularly important in the sense that it manifests that marketing culture consists of a certain set of beliefs and knowledge (which form a specic attitude towards marketing) and the implementation of a certain set of activities that actually put the attitude of marketing

into practice (market orientation), leading to superior service performance of libraries. The current research is line with the recent emerging perspective (Krepapa et al., 2003; Steinmann et al., 2000; Webb et al., 2000) that suggests that benecial strategic insights may be gained when service rms take into account their customers view on the organizations level of market orientation. A review of the market orientation literature reveals that researchers initially considered and measured market orientation as a management-perceived phenomenon (Narver and Slater, 1990; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Likewise, Lozanos (2000) customer orientation model also takes into account only the library managers point of view. In this sense, adopting solely a management-dened view of market orientation is one-sided, in that it ignores the vital role that customers play in terms of value recognition (Webb et al., 2000). Recent thinking, however, suggests that because market orientation contains a strong customer focus, an organization can be accurately described as market-oriented only when its customers perceive it as such (Krepapa et al., 2003). Hernon (2002a, b) also argues that if customers say there is quality service, then there is. If they do not, then there is not. It does not matter what an organization believes about its level of service. Therefore, the ndings of the current research assume importance in the sense that they reveal that a higher level of market orientation of libraries may result not in perfect service performance but in undoubtedly superior service performance, as the customers feedback conrms. In brief, the overall ndings of this research suggest that market orientation is a valuable tool for identifying differences between library and information service providers and customers perceptions. Moreover, addressing the market orientation gap between the librarys level and its customers level is more logical for formulating strategies to enhance customer satisfaction. Of real interest to library management is how to change perceptions of us versus them (a wide market orientation gap) to we (consensus of market orientation perceptions) in other words, how to move away from transactional standpoints towards collaborative perspectives. Closing the gap can be achieved by adjusting the market-oriented behaviors of the library service provider to be consistent with customer expectations and by managing customer expectations. Since this is one of the rst studies examining the relationship among marketing culture, market orientation, marketing attitudes and knowledge and service performance in the context of library settings, the present ndings are indicative rather than conclusive. The implications of the study are clear. The research must be replicated in diverse environments and over time to increase the condence in the nature of the marketing culture of libraries. 7. Managerial implications Why are some libraries more market-oriented than others? The present research answers this question by examining the pertinent issues underlying the marketing culture of different research libraries and the library managements awareness of modern marketing theories and practices. The implication for libraries is that it pays to be market oriented, the ultimate result being higher customer satisfaction. The present research resulted in numerous implications about what library leadership can do in order to improve the marketing culture within their libraries. The most apparent implication of this study is that there are in fact numerous factors such as lack of marketing competence and many other conceptual barriers that can be augmented by

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library authorities in their pursuit of providing customer satisfaction. Libraries should measure their current levels of market orientation and the characteristics of libraries leadership, staff attitudes, library structure, procedure, policies and internal functional systems. There is a need to carry out regular assessment of the library services and products by analyzing the information requirements of customers. Another implication of the study is the need for libraries to acquire marketing competences to support their customer-focused operations. The level of customer satisfaction is rst and foremost dependent on customers expectations and whether the library is able to meet these expectations. A librarys service performance in satisfying its customers is a necessity. This study has contributed to the existing literature in a number of ways. First, from an empirical viewpoint, it has investigated the attributes of marketing culture through a study of research libraries in the Finnish environment. Second, from a theoretical standpoint, the association between libraries perceptions of the importance placed on market orientation and service performance has been investigated. This research delineates the signicant underlying dimensions of libraries market-oriented behavior, which were found to be critical in determining the market-oriented behavior of libraries. These dimensions are: . customer philosophy; . inter-functional coordination; . strategic orientation; . responsiveness; . competition orientation; and . pricing orientation. In addition, this research also shows the extent to which market orientation, marketing attitudes, knowledge and skills, and service performance are inter-related. A strong positive association was found to exist between market orientation and marketing attitudes and knowledge. Considering the scant empirical evidence in the library literature, this issue is of major signicance. Moreover, the results of this study indicate serious implications, not only in the Finnish context, but also for libraries in other cultural contexts. Based on the ndings of the present study, it can be assumed that a genuine marketing culture of a library represents a synthesis of certain attitudes, marketing knowledge and of certain practices which lead to the superior performance of libraries. Several insights can be drawn into the nature of marketing culture, market orientation and service performance of libraries based on the results shown in the previous sections. Thus, on the basis of overall ndings, Figure 4 shows a model showing the relationship between the critical components of the marketing culture of a library and its service outcomes, which comprises four sets of factors: (1) antecedents, which foster or discourage a market orientation; (2) the market orientation construct; (3) facilitators, or variables that either strengthen or weaken the relationship between market orientation and service performance; and (4) the consequences of a market orientation.

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Figure 4. Model showing the linkages between critical components of the marketing culture of a library and its service outcomes

8. Conclusion The analysis of the whole ndings reveals that the concept of marketing has very varied status in libraries. A small proportion of libraries (the high yers) nd marketing challenging and demanding. These libraries use modern marketing theories and applications to gain a competitive advantage for providing a successful customer-centered service. In other libraries, the marketing concept does not always dominate the libraries organizational thinking. Moreover, the concept of marketing has a poor image in the mind of these libraries. However, the results of this research show that a strong market-oriented approach brings more satisfaction to customers. Marketing theories can thus be used to bring better strategic and operational marketing knowledge and know-how to library managers in an understandable and useful way. The ideas of relational marketing t better into libraries functions and help to provide appropriate solutions to customers information needs by delivering value to them, which in turn really does satisfy them. However, it should perhaps be mentioned that this does not mean that the traditional user-based service philosophy of the libraries should be abandoned, but further a more useful and effective means of assistance should be developed for users, that is, a relational-based marketing system should be built that will help libraries to become more efcient and effective from the customers point of view.

References Besant, L.X. and Sharp, D. (2000), Libraries need relationship marketing, Information Outlook, March, pp. 17-22.

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Lozano, A.R.P. (2000), A customer orientation checklist: a model, Library Review, Vol. 49 No. 4, pp. 173-8. Luk, S.T.K. (1997), An examination of the role of marketing culture in service quality, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 13-20. McNeil, M. (2001), The reliability of Websters marketing culture instrument: some western Australian ndings, Asia Pacic Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 66-78. Marshall, N.J. (2001), Public relations in academic libraries: a descriptive analysis, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 116-21. Meldrum, M. (1996), Critical issues in implementing marketing, Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 29-43. Narver, J.C. and Slater, S.F. (1990), The effect of a market orientation on business protability, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, October, pp. 20-35. Neuhaus, C. and Snowden, K. (2003), Public relations for a university library: a marketing programme is born, Library Management, Vol. 24 Nos 4/5, pp. 193-203. Ogbonna, E. and Harris, L.C. (2000), Leadership style, organizational culture and performance: empirical evidence from UK companies, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 766-88. Orava, H. (2000), Marketing is an attitude of mind, in Savard, R. (Ed.), Adapting Marketing to Libraries in a Changing and World-Wide Environment, Saur, Munchen, pp. 84-9. Pulendran, S. and Speed, R. (1996), Planning and doing: the relationship between marketing-planning styles and market orientation, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 12, pp. 53-68. Rowley, J. (2003), Information marketing: seven questions, Library Management, Vol. 24 Nos 1/2, pp. 13-19. Savard, R. (1996), Librarians and marketing: an ambiguous relationship, New Review of Information and Library Research, Vol. 2, pp. 41-55. Sen, B. (2006), Dening market orientation for libraries, Library Management, Vol. 27 Nos 4/5, pp. 201-17. Shontz, M.L., Parker, J.C. and Parker, R. (2004), What do librarians think about marketing? A survey of public librarians attitudes toward the marketing of library services, Library Quarterly, Vol. 74 No. 1, pp. 63-84. Singh, R. (2005a), What kind of market orientation exists in Finnish research libraries? Implications for managing customer knowledge and relationship, Managing Modern Organizations with Information Technology: Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference of IRMA, San Diego, CA, May 15-18, pp. 899-901. Singh, R. (2005b), Marketing Culture of Finnish Research Libraries: An Analysis of Marketing Attitude, Knowledge and Behaviour, Abo Akademi University Press, Abo. Slater, S.F. and Narver, J.C. (1994), Does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance relationship?, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 1, pp. 46-55. Slater, S.F. and Narver, J.C. (2000), The positive effect of a market orientation on business protability: a balanced replication, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 48, pp. 69-73. Steinmann, C., Deshpande, R. and Farley, J.U. (2000), The antecedents and consequences of customer centric marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 55-6.

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Appendix

A marketing culture
All libraries (n 33) mean 3:3794 3.7475 Weak MO (n 8) mean 2:5652 3.0833 Medium MO (n 17) mean 3:4834 3.8824 Strong MO (n 8) mean 3:9728 4.1250

Market orientation (MO) dimensions (F 43:765, p 0:000) Customer philosophy (F 6:637, p 0:004) 1. In the library, there is a great awareness of the importance of being an organization prepared to meet the users needs and wishes (F 6:846, p 0:004) 2. The knowledge of our customers needs and wishes is the base for all marketing activities of the library (F 9:134, p 0:001) 3. Its very difcult to fulll our promises all the time (F 0:029, p 0:971) Inter-functional coordination (F 10:277, p 0:000) 1. The activities of different library departments are coordinated in a way that improves the users level of satisfaction (F 18:976, p 0:000) 2. Our staff work as a team: we share responsibilities, information and decision making (F 4:096, p 0:027) 3. Credit for achievement is shared by all levels of the organization, not just by the management (F 2:455, p 0:103) 4. In our library, we have put emphasis on developing communication channels to guarantee that the opinions of the staff who interface with the users are taken into consideration (F 2:271, p 0:121)

135

4.61

4.00

4.71

5.00

3.85 2.79 4.0758

2.50 2.75 3.1250

4.18 2.76 4.2500

4.50 2.88 4.6562

3.58

1.88

4.00

4.38

4.36

3.63

4.41

5.00

4.09

3.25

4.29

4.50

4.27

3.75 2.2361 3.4641

4.29

4.75 3.9861

Strategic orientation (F 40:105, p 0:000) 3.2929 1. We regularly collect information on the needs and wishes of our customers (F 8:051, p 0:002) 3.88 2. We have differentiated offers and differentiated plans for the various users segments (F 2:138, p 0:116) 3.12

2.75

4.06

4.63

2.50

3.06

3.88 (continued)

Table AI. Comparing different dimensions of the groups of libraries

LM 30,3

Market orientation (MO) dimensions (F 43:765, p 0:000) 3. For each user segment, we have identied the critical success factors in the use of our services (F 6:577, p 0:004) 4. We introduce changes in the specications or in the characteristics of our services/products when we identify new user needs (F 26:758, p 0:000) 5. When preparing strategies, the library takes into account the impact of changes in the environment (F 3:781, p 0:034) 6. Staff members responsible for library areas or services have marketing experience or knowledge (F 10:171, p 0:000) 7. We are very careful in the selection of staff who interact with customers (F 2:179, p 0:082) 8. We thoroughly train the staff members who interact with customers (F 11:406, p 0:000) 9. It is not possible/necessary to treat all users equally (F 1:195; p 0:317) Responsiveness (F 2:029, p 0:149) 1. We put effort into adapting as much as possible our services to the specic needs of each customer (F 4:874, p 0:015) 2. If any information is not available in the library, then we have no responsibility to provide suggestions on where to look for information outside the library (F 4:837, p 0:015) 3. Sometimes, it is hard to reach the quality standards we set to ourselves (F 0:504; p 0:609)

All libraries (n 33) mean 3:3794

Weak MO (n 8) mean 2:5652

Medium MO (n 17) mean 3:4834

Strong MO (n 8) mean 3:9728

136

2.73

1.75

2.71

3.75

3.48

1.63

3.88

4.50

4.58

4.13

4.65

4.88

2.30

0.87

2.65

3.00

3.18

2.13

3.41

3.75

3.42 2.94 3.1438

2.00 2.38 3.2500

3.59 3.18 3.3235

4.50 3.00 3.8438

3.97

3.25

4.00

4.62

4.27

4.88

3.65

5.00

2.61

2.25

2.65

Table AI.

2.88 (continued)

Market orientation (MO) dimensions (F 43:765, p 0:000) 4. Although its good to show respect for our users, listen to them, pay due attention to their problems and treat them as individuals, for some reason we dont behave as such in practice all the time (F 0:296, p 0:746)

All libraries (n 33) mean 3:3794

Weak MO (n 8) mean 2:5652

Medium MO (n 17) mean 3:4834

Strong MO (n 8) mean 3:9728

A marketing culture

137
2.88 2.63 3.00 2.88

Competition orientation (F 15:226, p 0:000) 1. At some point, we have carried out an in-depth analysis of our main competitors and of the strengths and weaknesses of each one of them 1.85 Pricing orientation (F 5:221, p 0:011) 1. We have a precise idea, by user typology, of the cost and benet as a function of the level of use of each one of services (F 4:369, p 0:022) 2. We have considered the cost-benet ratio for each one of the services and the convenience of relocating them, promoting them or getting rid of them depending on their level of use or the importance given to them by users (F 4:016, p 0:028) 2.4848

0.75 1.6875

1.82 2.5882

3.00 3.0625

2.55

1.75

2.59

3.25

2.42

1.63

2.59

2.88

Table AI.

Corresponding author Rajesh Singh can be contacted at: rajesing@interchange.ubc.ca

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