The customer-centric logic of multi-product corporations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulate a customer-centric logic to explain the strategic behavior of multi-product corporations whose portfolio of complementary product offerings belong to diverse industries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a theoretical framework to explain the heterogeneity in multi-product corporations ' motivation and ability to leverage the demand-side strategic assets developed in their home-markets to enter new markets and thereby improve their long-run corporate performance. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for strategic behavior of multi-product corporations in various industrial sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, consumer discretionary and staples, real estate, and so on. Originality/value – The profitable applicability of demand-side strategic assets to new contexts should be explained both by the motivation of multi-product consumers (to purchase a portfolio of complementary products from a diversified seller) as well as the motivation of multi-product corporations (to leverage their demand-side strategic assets to enter new markets).