In highly competitive environments, an organization must create advantages that allow it to generate value for customers and differentiate from the competition (Han et al., 1998). To achieve this, the organization must know and master its environment, inside and outside with their customers, competitors and supply and demand relationships in the market, which means a strong Market Orientation (MO), as the basis for improving the performance of the organization (Grinstein, 2008). For example, organizations that have the typical characteristics of market orientation have the opportunity to segment their customers according to their needs and expectations in order to achieve customization of products (Kirca et al., 2005), in addition to anticipating possible turbulence in the market in which they operate. It helps especially to small enterprises (Gáti & Bauer, 2019). Likewise, previous studies show that the combination of market orientation and other strategic orientations such as innovation orientation or entrepreneurship orientation allows organizations to have better performances (Grinstein, 2008) and get better in market practices (Ružić & Benazić, 2018). These combinations show a close relationship between market orientation and performance in the organization (González-Benito & González-Benito, 2005) and product differentiation (Setiadi et al., 2017).

Likewise, previous precedents such as those of Liao et al. (2011) present a conceptual framework of market orientation from 1995 to 2008, giving the main bases of the concept for researchers who wish to relate to this topic. On the other hand, Ellis (2006)made a meta-analysis of 56 studies in 28 countries, proving the relationship between MO and the performance of the organization. However, there is a need to update the literature because of the growing interest of new researchers. Also, Shah et al. (2015) offer a review of literature focused on small enterprises in the tourism sector of developing countries, identifying factors that can lead to or hinder MO activities in this field, and give some suggestions to understand how MO influences tourism organizations in developing economies. However, this approach is limited to only one sector. Lastly, Vega Rodríguez & Rojas Berrío (2011)analyzed the two most cited models to measure the MO: Markor and MKTOR together with the application in Latin American contexts, however, although the view from developing countries is impressive, this study concentrated only on one country in a region.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main contributions of MO nowadays. We first searched in Web of Science (WoS) with the topic “market orientation” from January 2000 to December 31, 2019, giving 641 articles related to the theme. The results were then uploaded to the Tree of Science (ToS) web platform to identify the evolution of MO. Finally, we recognize the main articles according to the position in the tree, an example of the seminal articles in the root is the study of Narver & Slater (1990)and Jaworski & Kholi (1993). The structural ones in the trunk, such as Gonzalez-Benito & González-Benito (2005) and Kirca et al. (2005).

Consequently, the current article in the leaf is Monterres et al. (2015). The tree-shaped visualization allows us to understand the evolution of the concept and the different contributions over time and identify the different current approaches. For Scientometric analysis, we use citation analysis to determine the different methods (Zuluaga, Robledo, et al., 2016). Thus, the approaches found were the importance of product innovation, the relationship of MO with performance, and the need to create an Internal Market Orientation (IMO).

Next, the theoretical framework that guides the document is presented. The method details the process of searching for and identifying the main articles, the contributions in a chronological way until arriving at the different perspectives identified from the sheets that derived the three most important approaches of the MO that result from this research work.

From a conceptual perspective, Market Orientation (MO) has traditionally been approached from two positions, the first conceiving it as a business philosophy (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990), and the second as organizational behavior (Narver & Slater, 1990). The organizational philosophy is characterized by corporations whose activities are consistent with the achievement of information that allows the dissemination of the same throughout the organization, as well as the acceleration of the firm's response capacity. The other position is part of the company's work from the standpoint of organizational culture.

From the perspective of organizational philosophy, MO has a background and consequences (Cadogan & Diamantopoulos, 1995) . The first ones explain the interdepartmental dynamics, those of centralization and decentralization, formalization, reward systems, and the position of the management against the risks. The consequences refer to business results that are modulated by competition, market, technology, and business performance. On the other hand, the organizational behavior approach of Narver and Slater does not detract from the notion of the market but instead has to do with a scheme of sustainable competitive advantage, taking into account customer orientation, competition, and coordination inter-functional, from a framework of long-term focus and profitability.

Likewise, for these two perspectives, two MARKOR and MKTOR scales have been applied and validated in different geographical and sector contexts have been developed, in addition to considerable sample sizes, such as various adaptations and suggestions (Vega Rodríguez & Rojas Berrío, 2011) for the advancement of knowledge in this field. Therefore, how this concept has been constructed from a historical perspective is insisted; thus, the evolution can be evidenced over time, and even more importantly, its current approaches. In such a way that the revision and updating of the field can be approached from this perspective, based on the most relevant approaches, beyond the theoretical, emphasizing the empirical.

The methodological strategy contemplates three phases (see Figure 1); in the first one, we use scientometric metrics to analyze the importance of the topic to have an overview of its relevance (Hrehová & Žiaran, 2016; Hurtado-Marín et al., 2021, Sepulcri et al., 2020). Secondly, the Tree of Science algorithm to understand scientific development over time. In the third, an analysis of co-citations to identify the main subareas of the MO. In the next part, each of the steps will explain in detail.

Figure 1

The purpose of this article was to identify the importance, evolution (past, present, and future) and emerging approaches to MO. MO can be considered a mature theory in science since it has had a stable growth of 5.63% since 2004. Using the analogy of Tree of Science (root, trunk, and leaves), a path was made from the classic articles to the most current. Finally, three main approaches were found according to the number of items in each cluster: product innovation, organizational performance, and Internal Market Orientation (IMO).

The results showed that product innovation is an essential pillar for proper MO implementation in organizations. For example, it is currently mandatory for organizations to implement processes of technological implementation and to update aimed at improving products. In this sense, knowledge management also appears as an essential variable for companies to improve their MO. Additionally, marketing campaigns become more natural to implement if there are innovative products in contrast to promoting the same products for a more extended period.

One of the results that have been confirmed from this analysis is the close relationship between MO and performance. MO becomes a fundamental strategy to improve performance in organizations; that is, companies with better organizational strategies and structures to connect with the needs of their clients stand out over those that do not have these characteristics. This approach shows that MO is improved in developed countries but that there are no differences between company sizes.

The latter approach shows the importance of the organization's employees being trained with a customer orientation defined as an Internal Market Orientation (IMO). IMO stands out today because companies are in closer contact with customers due to information technologies and the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to train their employees in customer service processes and to become an organizational culture.

The relationship between technology and innovation could provide exciting elements in the future to better understand MO (Duan et al., 2020). Due to the rapid technological development that has been generated in recent years, companies are increasingly facing challenges within their organizations to understand the dynamics of their customers. Additionally, disruptive businesses such as Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb have shown the importance of technology in the development of new products by changing market rules. This technology is also related to the ability of organizations to manage their clients' information and operations, which leads to Big Data processes internally and externally (eg, social networks) (Lin & Kunnathur, 2019).

Regarding the use of MO in organizations, the authors cited to conclude that the use of MO will give organizations the ability to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Concerning the use of MO with other organizational orientations, the articles consulted showed that MO could be mixed with entrepreneurship orientation and innovation orientation to generate competitive advantages in organizations. For proper MO implementation in organizations, they must understand the climate, culture of the firm, and the environment in which they operate. For example: for the analysis of the conditions in the firm, the following questions can be used: is there a facility for leadership? Is there decentralized strategic planning?, learning capacity of the organization? Correct alignment of these aspects will be reflected in the development of new products, consumer satisfaction, and increased sales (Slater & Narver, 1995).

One limitation of the research was the use of only one database for the selection of scientific articles. Subsequent studies could identify different perspectives through qualitative methods with case studies to validate the findings of the present investigation. For organizations that pursue competitive advantage it is necessary to deploy the concept of marketing throughout the organization and, according to the business model, define a strategy with other orientations that allow them to be unique in the market and achieve the satisfaction of all the exciting parts.