What marketing strategy is grounded in understanding and responding to market needs and wants?

The marketing strategy that is grounded in understanding and responding to market needs and wants is market orientation. This approach emphasizes aligning a company's offerings with the demands of the marketplace by gathering and analyzing information about consumers, competitors, and overall market conditions. A market-oriented company actively seeks to understand customer preferences and behaviors, allowing it to develop products and marketing strategies that effectively meet those needs.

This strategy contrasts with product orientation, which focuses primarily on the product itself rather than the market needs, and customer orientation, which is more about satisfying individual customer needs rather than broader market needs. Relationship orientation focuses on building long-term relationships with customers, which is an important aspect but is not as directly concerned with overall market understanding and responsiveness. Hence, market orientation is specifically characterized by its commitment to adapting and responding to the needs and wants present in the marketplace.