Embedded lead userness and customer orientation behavior

4 Embedded lead userness and customer orientation behavior 

In conceptualizing customer-oriented behavior, I follow Stock and Hoyer (2005, p. 537), who build on Saxe and Weitz (1982) and define customer-oriented behavior [...] as the ability of the salespeople to help their customers by engaging in behaviors that increase customer satisfaction . As the exclusive focus on salespersons is too narrow for this work, 1 will take the view that customer-oriented behaviors can be found throu out all employees within a firm. Other researchers, who point out the transferability of this concept from marketing and salespeople to other employees, take a similar perspective (Gummesson 1991 Kennedy etal. 2002). 

Thakor and Joshl (2005) find that employees are more likely to be customer oriented, when they think that their work is meaningful with respect to their own value system (cf. Hackman and Oldham 1980). 1 posit that embedded lead users are more likely to perceive their Job as more meaningful than ordinary employees, as they profit from corporate innovation directly, see the outcome of work effort in reality, and value the work they carry out. 

Next to the cognitive closeness, relational proximity also fosters the customer orientation of embedded lead users. Schlosser and McNaughton (2007) find empirical support for the notion that higher interaction with customers leads to hi er customer orientation. 

Hypothesis 8 The higher the lead usemess of employees the hyher their customer orientation behavior. 

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