The impact on competitiveness of customer value creation through relationship capabilities and marketing innovation

Purpose: The identification of customer needs through relationship management and their transformation into marketing innovation are two key processes in customer value creation. When combined, they can improve a firm’s competitive position, not only in terms of profitability but also by reducing costs and promoting the use of technology. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between managerial relational capability and marketing innovation in customer value creation, and to look at how that value creation affects competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach: We analyze 450 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the furniture industry in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (Mexico). To this sample is applied a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model to analyze the impact of management capabilities in relationships and marketing innovation on customer value creation and to determine how the value created affects competitiveness. Findings: The results show that management capabilities in customer relationships and in the way they convert knowledge of customer needs into specific choices in the market have a positive effect on customer value creation, as well as on financial performance, cost optimization and the use of technology, all of which can be used as indicators of competitiveness. Originality/value: The study covers customer value creation in an emerging economy, that of Mexico, and relates it to business competitiveness from a holistic point of view which goes beyond profitability by also including cost reduction and the use of technology.