Marketing's take on socio-economic performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose that a stakeholder orientation (SO) can explain social and economic performances. It happens because the more the organisation acquires and disseminates stakeholder intelligence, the more it will be aware of the needs of different stakeholder groups, bending the decision making towards less powerful stakeholders and creating social performance. At the same time, more stakeholder intelligence is a strategic resource to be exploited favouring the economic performance. Moreover, it is proposed this effect is mediated by social motivations. Design/methodology/approach In all, 251 Brazilian agricultural cooperatives were sampled and a survey primary data collection method was applied. To test our hypothesis, the partial least squares structural equation modelling method is used. Findings It is found that SO positively influences social and economic performances. Social motivation mediates the relationship between SO and social performance. Originality/value Social performance has gained importance because strategies harmful to society are not acceptable anymore and because of the link with economic performance. However, the strategic marketing literature is still scant on how marketing can drive economic and social performance at the same time.