Cooperate or compete: the relationship of strategic orientation and firm performance for farmers' market vendors

Abstract

While sustainable retailing continues to be a focal point in the United States for many businesses as a response to consumer demand, little research has considered the importance of strategic orientation within this domain and how it may affect performance. This study reviews the impact of strategic orientation on performance within one specific sustainable retailing domain – the farmers’ market. Using farmers’ market vendors for the study and employing a survey methodology that highlighted constructs of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation, a structural equations model was developed and tested that also included potential moderating effects of longevity of market vendors at their respective markets. Results indicated that a significant positive relationship existed between social capital and firm performance, while no significant relationship was found for entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. No moderating effects of the construct longevity on the proposed relationships were found. Implications and future research directions are provided.