“What you measure is what you will get”? Exploring the effectiveness of marketing performance measurement practices

Marketing accountability and the measurement of marketing performance have long been reported as a significant challenge for management globally. To address the increasing demand for marketing accountability, companies across the world are investing resources in developing and improving their marketing performance measurement (MPM) practices. MPM practices in Irish firms were reported to be less well developed than those reported in other countries. This study aims to investigate if and how MPM practices have changed since then, by means of a comparative analysis which contrasts secondary data collected by O'Sullivan in 2007 and primary data collected in 2015. This study also seeks to examine the impact of MPM practices on firms’ marketing capabilities and firm performance. Based on survey data collected from 210 Irish managers, this study finds that companies adopting comprehensive MPM practices tend to develop enhanced marketing capabilities and achieve better firm performance than those adopting less comprehensive MPM practices.