Lone wolf or social monkey? The role of marketing outsourcing in the development of second-order marketing competences

Abstract

Marketing outsourcing has been increasing for decades due to its well-known benefits, even though the development of dynamic marketing capabilities can be severely damaged as a result. This study focuses on the conditions under which marketing outsourcing favors organizational learning. We found that the relationship between marketing outsourcing and second-order marketing competences resembles an inverted U curve. The first-order marketing competences and absorptive capacity positively moderate this relationship both individually and jointly, by shifting the U-curve to the right. Thus, any firm has an optimum level of beneficial outsourcing that depends on how skilled it is in the outsourced marketing function and its ability to assimilate and apply new knowledge. Our findings provide learning-related criteria for the outsourcing decision. Firms that will consider them can develop a knowledge-based competitive advantage while still enjoying the benefits of outsourcing. Against the common wisdom, we show that the development of new marketing capabilities is an equally challenging task for marketing functions with both low and high knowledge intensity.