This article uses information from two data sources, Compustat and Nexis Uni, and textual analysis to measure and validate the brand focus and customer focus of 109 U.S. listed retailers. The results from an analysis of their 853 earnings calls in 2010 and 2018 outline that on average, both foci increased over time. Although both foci vary substantially, brand focus varies more widely across retailers than their customer focus. Both foci are independent of each other. Specialty retailers have the highest brand focus, and internet & direct marketing retailers have the highest customer focus. A positive correlation exists between a retailer’s customer focus and its profitability, but not between a retailer’s brand focus and its profitability. The authors use the results to generate a research agenda that can direct future research in further systematically exploring firms’ brand and customer focus.

本文使用来自 Compustat 和 Nexis Uni 两个数据源的信息以及文本分析来衡量和验证 109 家美国上市零售商的品牌关注度和客户关注度。对 2010 年和 2018 年 853 次财报电话会议的分析结果表明，平均而言，这两个焦点都随着时间的推移而增加。尽管这两个焦点差异很大，但零售商之间的品牌焦点差异比客户焦点更大。两个焦点相互独立。专业零售商的品牌关注度最高，而互联网和直销零售商的客户关注度最高。零售商的客户关注度与其盈利能力之间存在正相关关系，但零售商的品牌关注度与其盈利能力之间不存在正相关关系。