Journal of Marketing Science ›› 2022, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (1): 83-103.

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Customer Concentration and Corporate Innovation Performance ——Based on the Perspective of Customer Relationship

Gu Leilei,Wang Hongyu   

  1. Gu Leilei,School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics  Wang Hongyu,School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics
  • Online:2022-01-16 Published:2022-01-16

Abstract: A good micro market structure is not only an important basis to support the domestic and international double-cycle development pattern, but also the key to stimulate the innovation vitality of market players.  With the deepening of the degree of the division of labor and cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises, customers occupy a dominant position in the supply chain.  In such a buyer-led market structure, whether customers and suppliers can form a cooperative relationship of knowledge sharing and value co-creation affects suppliers’ innovation driving force and economic virtuous circle.  Employing resource-based theory, resource dependence theory and knowledge -based view, and retrieving the data of A-share listed companies in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2011 to 2016, this paper investigates the influence of customer concentration on corporate innovation performance from the perspective of customer relationship management.  The empirical results show that,  ( 1) customer concentration has a negative impact on corporate innovation performance; (2) the results are more prominent for state-owned enterprises, enterprises with weak bargaining power and enterprises with high proprietary investment ; (3) marketing capability and environmental dynamism both play a significant role in moderating the impact of customer concentration on corporate innovation performance.  Enterprises with higher marketing capability can reverse the negative effect of customer concentration, and when the uncertainty of external environment is high, such negative effect is strengthened;  (4) moreover, the moderating roles of marketing capability and environmental dynamism are mediated by the moderating role of customer relationship stability.  The conclusions of this study provide some references for the management practice of enterprises and for the government to construct an effective market structure to realize the virtuous cycle driven by innovation.

Key words: market structure,  , customer concentration,  , corporate innovation performance,  , marketing capability, environmental dynamism ,  , dual circulation