Abstract

The study examined the effect of market orientation on corporate performance of insurance firms in Nigeria. The
specific objectives of the study include determining how the various indices of market orientation like customer
orientation, competitor orientation and inter functional coordination have influenced the corporate performance
of these insurance firms. This study adopted a survey research methodology to examine the market orientation
strategies of insurance firms in an attempt to attain their desired performance potential. The hypotheses in the
study were tested using Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficient (r), multiple regression and partial correlation
analyses to determine the strength of relationships and effects of dependent/independent and moderating
variables respectively. Fifty two respondents of the insurance firms indicated that there was a positive
relationship between market orientation and corporate performance in the insurance industry. The result also
revealed that age of the firm and market information system has weakly moderate the relationship. The research
findings show that the insurance firms that engage in market orientation recorded progress while those that have
not applied this strategy experience low performance. We conclude that only the combination of customer focus,
competitor focus and inter functional coordination can drive performance. This study, therefore, is of the view
that insurance firms operating in Nigeria should emphasize market orientation if their objectives are to enhance
their corporate performance.

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