A new conceptual lens for marketing: a configurational perspective based on the business model concept

The business model concept has received strong interest among both practitioners and academics. As recent reviews of the literature on business models indicate, the number of articles that deepen the understanding of the role and nature of the business model concept as well as its antecedents and consequences has grown rapidly in the last years (e.g., Zott et al. in Journal of Management, 37(4), 1019-1042, 2011; Wirtz et al. in Long Range Planning, 49(1), 36-54, 2016). Yet, this substantial body of work that covers multiple perspectives and includes studies in a variety of contexts and settings has so far produced a fragmented research landscape that has largely developed in silos. Drawing on configuration theory (Ketchen et al. in Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1278-1313, 1993; Meyer et al. in Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1175-1195, 1993) and recent literature adopting a configurational approach (Fiss in Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 393-420, 2011; Leischnig et al. in Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3576-3583, 2016a), the purpose of this article is to discuss how marketing research and practice may benefit from a business model perspective and configurational thinking. We suggest that a business model can fruitfully be understood as a configuration of components embracing multiple domains and whose interdependent and interconnected structures influence the extent to which a firm can achieve strategic objectives and superior performance. We discuss which elements in business models are particularly linked to the field of marketing and how the role of these elements may differ in alternative configurations of business models. We conclude with an agenda for researchers from marketing and related disciplines that identifies avenues for further research on business models as configurations.